|  National Symposium on Education of the Deaf Child to be held in August 2011
Ka Tutandike Uganda with support from Ka Tutandike Trust UK, the Commonwealth Secretariat and Leonard Cheshire International will convene a National Symposium to identify best methodologies towards the education of the Deaf and the ‘hard-of-hearing' child in Uganda. This event will be held from 15 - 17 August 2011. The venue will be confirmed shortly.
Local NGO partners working in the area of Disability and Deafness gathered at the Ka Tutandike offices on 30 March to share ideas, perspectives and planning towards the convening of this symposium.
This symposium intends to assess the role that is played by stakeholder institutions in addressing the needs and aspirations of the Deaf and to build linkages between stakeholders and particularly civil society for the purpose of determining an agreed path towards effective and viable education strategies aimed at the Deaf and those ‘hard-of-hearing. A report and recommendation from the symposium will be circulated to key stakeholders in order to mobilize agreed action. Given the absence of a policy towards education of the Deaf in Uganda, the key recommendations and strategic directions identified and agreed by stakeholders at the Symposium will be presented to the Government to assist authorities towards the formulation of a national policy for the education of the Deaf in Uganda.
This symposium does not seek to endorse or lobby for the acceptance of one method over another. Instead the objective of this initiative will be to examine the benefits and challenges of each methodology - whether it be an ‘inclusive/mainstream education ‘approach or a ‘special schools' approach that would ultimately benefit the Deaf child and would enable him/her to seamlessly integrate into society and be accepted and respected as a productive citizen.
This event will be an opportunity for all relevant stakeholders, including Government, Disabled Peoples Organizations (DPOs), national and international NGOs/CSOs working with the Deaf. We also hope to have representation by families of Deaf children as they are important partners or stakeholders for the implementation of education and sensitizing the community to the needs and rights of the deaf child. Representatives from media institutions will also be invited as observers in order for them to interact with participants and understand about disability and Deafness so that they will be well informed in their future reporting of disability-related news. It is hoped that with sensitive and socially responsible reporting of disabled persons and the Deaf, it will dispel any negative connotations and myths that leads to social stigma and discrimination
This will be a first step towards beginning concrete dialogue and action towards ensuring that at least the next generation of Deaf children will not face the levels of loneliness and frustration experienced by so many Deaf people today.
For further information, please contact Anisha Rajapakse (Projects & Partnership Manager / Ka Tutandike Trust UK)
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