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http://allafrica.com/stories/200606121314.html
IN a bid to address the ever-increasing demand for Special Needs Education (SNE), the Government has built a secondary school for the deaf in Wakiso district. The boarding school is the first of its kind in the country.
During his 2001 presidential campaigns, President Yoweri Museveni pledged to construct four special schools to cater for special needs education. Wakiso Secondary School for the Deaf is one of them.
Martin Omagor Loichan, the Commissioner Special Education, in the Ministry of Education and Sports, says the school "marks a very big step for the Department of Special Education and the country as a whole."
"There is a certain group of children with disabilities that can neither be accommodated under integration nor inclusive education. The deaf are such children. We were having difficulties finding a secondary school for them. More children are bound to go to school," Omagor says.
He says the school, which will accommodate 200 students, is not yet complete, but because of the urgency, other facilities will come later.
The school project, that is divided in two phases, has just had phase I completed. The Government has just released sh800m to embark on the second phase.
The first phase of the approximately sh2b project, covered construction of staff quarters, classroom blocks, dormitories and laboratories. Funds for phase two will cover more classroom blocks, dormitories and other functional structures like the kitchen, stores and school dispensary.
"We started in rented premises and it was costly for us. For the meantime, the school will only handle students in O' Level. By the time they join A' Level, we should have finished phase II," Omagor says. However, there are many likely challenges especially as far as staffing and the syllabus are concerned. Omagor says there are no teachers that have specialised in teaching the deaf at secondary level, so the ministry will have to invest in on-job training.
"We took the Makerere University teachers that have just qualified and gave them interviews. The ones that passed will be trained on the job. The courses will be short but intensive.
"The school head and the teachers will have to employ their expertise to modify the curriculum to suit the needs of these people. But teaching the deaf calls for minimal adjustments. The main problem is language because sign language is different from ordinary grammar," he says.
Tereza Akoremo, the school's headteacher says one of the challenges the Government should address if it is to realise any achievements in special needs education is motivation of teachers because they take a lot of time to explain a topic or subject compared to an ordinary class.
"We take much longer time to cover the syllabus because teaching deaf students takes longer and more effort compared to an ordinary class.
"It is also very different to convert to classroom and written grammar especially for those that were born deaf. In fact, teaching certain subjects like art, chemistry, mathematics and physics proves very hard because some things covered there do not have translation into sign language," Akiromo says.
She says parents are not very cooperative in bringing their children who have a hearing impairment to school and would prove even harder with a boarding school, as some mothers do not want to let go of their 'special children.'
Others do not want to pay fees for these children because they think they will not reap any benefits from them, hence the school has to gamble to meet the operational costs.
"The ministry has come in to help us kick off but as you know with government envelopes, we just have to pray that they continue assisting us cover for some of our students," she says.
Akiromo says the school operates like any other school in terms of curriculum and fees structure, save for the 'special services provided like friendly positioning of the doors, interpretation facilities and guides for those with secondary disabilities like the case of the deaf-blind.'
She says these students need more visual aids like computers, special lighting facilities in classrooms, televisions and other facilities to enhance their sight and compensate for the hard of hearing.
Nevertheless, Francis Akope, a senior officer SNE, who has been monitoring the school's progress, says that having a special secondary school for the deaf is a big milestone.
He says most of the students would cross to neighbouring special needs schools in Mumias, Kenya on completion of primary education.
He says the ministry tried to integrate deaf students in Ngora Secondary School but realised that they were not benefiting much.
"We shall soon be constructing a similar school in Mbale. The land has already been handed over to the district and through the African Development Bank, the funds will be disbursed. We also expect to develop another school in Lira. These are good initiatives," Akope says.
He says the Kyambogo University, under the department of Special Needs, is also developing the sign language to suit the national curriculum and the Uganda National Examinations Board has also set up a special desk to cater for special needs.
IN a bid to address the ever-increasing demand for Special Needs Education (SNE), the Government has built a secondary school for the deaf in Wakiso district. The boarding school is the first of its kind in the country.
During his 2001 presidential campaigns, President Yoweri Museveni pledged to construct four special schools to cater for special needs education. Wakiso Secondary School for the Deaf is one of them.
Martin Omagor Loichan, the Commissioner Special Education, in the Ministry of Education and Sports, says the school "marks a very big step for the Department of Special Education and the country as a whole."
"There is a certain group of children with disabilities that can neither be accommodated under integration nor inclusive education. The deaf are such children. We were having difficulties finding a secondary school for them. More children are bound to go to school," Omagor says.
He says the school, which will accommodate 200 students, is not yet complete, but because of the urgency, other facilities will come later.
The school project, that is divided in two phases, has just had phase I completed. The Government has just released sh800m to embark on the second phase.
The first phase of the approximately sh2b project, covered construction of staff quarters, classroom blocks, dormitories and laboratories. Funds for phase two will cover more classroom blocks, dormitories and other functional structures like the kitchen, stores and school dispensary.
"We started in rented premises and it was costly for us. For the meantime, the school will only handle students in O' Level. By the time they join A' Level, we should have finished phase II," Omagor says. However, there are many likely challenges especially as far as staffing and the syllabus are concerned. Omagor says there are no teachers that have specialised in teaching the deaf at secondary level, so the ministry will have to invest in on-job training.
"We took the Makerere University teachers that have just qualified and gave them interviews. The ones that passed will be trained on the job. The courses will be short but intensive.
"The school head and the teachers will have to employ their expertise to modify the curriculum to suit the needs of these people. But teaching the deaf calls for minimal adjustments. The main problem is language because sign language is different from ordinary grammar," he says.
Tereza Akoremo, the school's headteacher says one of the challenges the Government should address if it is to realise any achievements in special needs education is motivation of teachers because they take a lot of time to explain a topic or subject compared to an ordinary class.
"We take much longer time to cover the syllabus because teaching deaf students takes longer and more effort compared to an ordinary class.
"It is also very different to convert to classroom and written grammar especially for those that were born deaf. In fact, teaching certain subjects like art, chemistry, mathematics and physics proves very hard because some things covered there do not have translation into sign language," Akiromo says.
She says parents are not very cooperative in bringing their children who have a hearing impairment to school and would prove even harder with a boarding school, as some mothers do not want to let go of their 'special children.'
Others do not want to pay fees for these children because they think they will not reap any benefits from them, hence the school has to gamble to meet the operational costs.
"The ministry has come in to help us kick off but as you know with government envelopes, we just have to pray that they continue assisting us cover for some of our students," she says.
Akiromo says the school operates like any other school in terms of curriculum and fees structure, save for the 'special services provided like friendly positioning of the doors, interpretation facilities and guides for those with secondary disabilities like the case of the deaf-blind.'
She says these students need more visual aids like computers, special lighting facilities in classrooms, televisions and other facilities to enhance their sight and compensate for the hard of hearing.
Nevertheless, Francis Akope, a senior officer SNE, who has been monitoring the school's progress, says that having a special secondary school for the deaf is a big milestone.
He says most of the students would cross to neighbouring special needs schools in Mumias, Kenya on completion of primary education.
He says the ministry tried to integrate deaf students in Ngora Secondary School but realised that they were not benefiting much.
"We shall soon be constructing a similar school in Mbale. The land has already been handed over to the district and through the African Development Bank, the funds will be disbursed. We also expect to develop another school in Lira. These are good initiatives," Akope says.
He says the Kyambogo University, under the department of Special Needs, is also developing the sign language to suit the national curriculum and the Uganda National Examinations Board has also set up a special desk to cater for special needs.