Katutandike - Let's Get Started - Transforming Lives in Uganda

Recommendations for the education of the Deaf will be sowed on fertile ground by the Government

Over 100 people including representatives from Government, civil society, parents and teachers of Deaf children, national, regional and international disability organisations working on deafness met in Kampala from 15 – 17 August to discuss the best way forward towards the education of the Deaf child in Uganda.  This was the first ever key forum in Uganda that focused on the issue of education for the Deaf.

The strong turnout was a clear indication of the support for the issue of Deaf education and provided a great platform for idea exchange and generating greater empathy and understanding about the best methods to educate the Deaf child.

The Minister of State for Elderly and Disability and for Higher Education, Hon. Sulaiman Madada was the guest of honour representing H.E the President of Uganda. In his opening address he pledged the commitment of the Government towards the importance of this symposium by stating that “the
Recommendations for the education of the Deaf will be sowed on fertile ground by the Government”. Other Government representation included Hon. Alex Ndeezi MP, Uganda's first Deaf Member of Parliament & Executive Director, Uganda National Association of the Deaf and MP Nokrach William (representing PWDs in the Northern region). The Ministry of Education was represented by Mr. Christopher Okecho (Assistant Commissioner for Special Needs Education).

The keynote presentation was delivered by Professor Okoth Okombo from the University of Nairobi. In his address he stated, “Deaf children need to feel a sense of human dignity, and must ‘feel’ listened to and that the main reason why Deaf children are failing in education is because there are no teaching methods in training teachers of the Deaf”. He further added that “it is a tragedy for any human being to grow up without a language”.

Over the technical sessions of the two days, the participants deliberated on the benefits and challenges of various methodologies on educating the Deaf, and listened closely to various professional opinions and voices from the ground – and most importantly, from the Deaf themselves. During the final session, the participants developed key recommendations to be presented to Government with the sincere hope that these recommendations will be considered in a manner that will initiate a robust process and action that will enable the formulation of Deaf-friendly policies on the education of the Deaf and the Hard-of-hearing child in Uganda. The four emergent areas of recommendation included – Policy review to include areas pertaining to the education of the Deaf and the Hard-of-hearing child, Data Collection, Teaching Methods, and Deaf-friendly educational resources development.

The event was led by Ka Tutandike Uganda and supported by Ka Tutandike Trust UK, the Commonwealth Secretariat and Leonard Cheshire Disability.

For further information, please contact:

Christine Semambo Sempebwa, CEO Katutandike Uganda  - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it    +256 772 466316
Julius Nkuraija, Programme Manager - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Anisha Rajapakse, Ka Tutandike Trust UK - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it