When the Special Needs and Inclusive Education (SNIE) policy was drafted in 2011, children with disabilities (CWDs) were expected to have equal education opportunities.
But as YUDAYA NANGONZI found, there has been no concerted effort to push for implementation of the policy, leaving CWDs struggling to cope in ordinary schools.
Sarah Ayesiga, the principal education officer for Special- Needs Education (SNE), says the policy has been subjected to unending scrutiny by cabinet and former education minsters.
“Whenever the policy reached cabinet, fresh issues would come up. Cabinet said the policy requires a lot of money but our special-needs department gets the lowest portion on the education budget,” Ayesiga said.
She feels the policy should already have been passed but, “the attitude, and maybe lack of awareness, on special needs of our education minsters was not good at all”.
However, not all is lost. Government institutions are now strategising to ensure that inclusive education is given priority.
Ayesiga told The Observer that with support from Unicef, the SNE department is set to validate the policy to address the contentious issues like limited data on the SNE learners, teachers, funds and infrastructure.
Since April 1, the education ministry has been registering all SNE teachers across the country in order to come up with a comprehensive report on the shortage of these teachers.
“We keep crying to government that we don’t have qualified SNE teachers but we even don’t know how many we have trained, left the profession or even willing to work as teachers instead of administrators,” Ayesiga said.
So far, 1,200 special-needs teachers have registered at the department’s office located on Legacy towers in Nakasero. Ayesiga said teachers who cannot access their offices are currently registered through their respective district inspectors of schools after presenting their academic qualifications for validation.
Currently, there are 17 special-needs primary schools, 108 primary schools with units/annexes, four special-needs secondary schools, 18 secondary schools with units/annexes and one PTC with a unit/annex in the country. According to Ayesiga, the department is seeking to find the appropriate teacher to student ratio in the schools. Such statistics will be incorporated in the policy before they send it back to cabinet.
Starting this month, the department will also validate the non-formal education policy, developed to run concurrently with the SNIE policy. This policy, also not yet passed by cabinet, targets disadvantaged children like pastoralists, refugees and street children, according to Ayesiga.
Meanwhile, the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) is also working on a separate policy on inclusive education. Daniel Alenyo, the Uneb senior examinations officer for SNE, said discussions on the matter are at an advanced stage.
“We are moving on well with our policy. We hope by the time it reaches cabinet, it is not stalled [like that of Special-Needs and Inclusive Education],” Alenyo said.
The Uneb SNE desk handles PLE, UCE, UACE and exams of Business, Technical and affiliated institutions.
At a recent consensus-building meeting on inclusive education at Metropole hotel, Kyambogo University special-needs lecturer Dr Eria Paul Njuki urged the education ministry to treat inclusion as a way of making every student welcome with their unique needs and learning styles.
“At no time does inclusion require classroom curriculum, or the academic expectations, to be watered down. On the contrary, inclusion enhances learning for students, both with and without special needs,” Dr Njuki said.
He explained that inclusion has been misinterpreted for mainstreaming which holds that students with special needs be placed in the general education setting solely when they can meet traditional academic expectations with minimal assistance.
Njuki urged schools of the future need to ensure that each learner receives the individual attention, accommodation, and support that will result in meaningful learning.
SHORTAGE OF STAFF
While the SNE department is making efforts to validate the policies, Ayesiga wants staffing needs addressed. These include an assistant commissioner for SNE, one senior education officer, two principal education officers; one for inclusive education and non-formal education at the ministry.
“The one for inclusive education died in November last year and we don’t know when he will be replaced,” she said.
The department is also short of a secretary, with an office attendant doubling as one to serve the department’s only six staff.
nangonzi@observer.ug