Ugandans, ActionAid Improve Education for Hearing-Impaired Students
Uganda, which prides itself on having five disabled members of parliament, has numerous laws in place to protect all people with disabilities, including deaf people. However, it has not been the creation of these laws that have proven challenging but rather the implementation that has posed road blocks for some Ugandans. ActionAid is serving as an advocate for hearing-impaired children in Uganda and working to provide them with equal opportunities for education.
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According to the “People with Disabilities Act of 2006,” as well as other laws and policies in the African nation, all hearing-impaired children are entitled to a quality education by schools and teachers able to meet their special needs. In reality, the current structure of public schools and the resources allocated for disabled students are less than comprehensive and hearing-impaired children are not receiving the “Universal Education for the Deaf” their government promised.
The official ratio for hearing-impaired children is one teacher for 10 pupils.These laws, however, are not enforced and schools with hearing-impaired children often do not have sign language instructors at all.
Comprehensive national data on the number and the academic situations of hearing-impaired children is not available, although the non-existent data is critical for the Ugandan Government to address these students’ needs.
ActionAid is partnering with the Uganda National Association of the Deaf to help turn the Ugandan disability laws into everyday practices. Together, we are calling on the government to step up and provide nationwide quality education for all hearing-impaired pupils.
Hearing-impaired children are often stigmatized and hidden by their parents out of shame.
Deborah Yyute Oyuu, an ActionAid project coordinator who was born deaf but received an education through sign language, says that children are often empowered though education. Deborah says she believes that quality education is key to improving the livelihoods of the hearing impaired. Without an education, she added, these children are more vulnerable to threats like HIV and AIDS and will not be as well respected in their communities.
Nantege Sandra was born deaf and is currently attending Kinyinya primary school with 75 other deaf children in Uganda’s Chaka district, thanks in part to ActionAid. When Nantege began school, she was in a special unit of a hearing school with inadequate accommodations. Parents of hearing-impaired children in the community joined forces to demand a special school to address their children’s needs.
With the assistance of ActionAid, their goal became a reality for Nantege and the community when a school for deaf and hearing-impaired students was built. Today, Nantege is taught her lessons by two sign language instructors and two special needs teachers, and a dorm, funded by ActionAid, was also constructed for Nantege and her peers.
ActionAid and the Uganda National Association of the Deaf have also established similar schools in the Kyenjonjo, Mbarara and Isingrio districts as part of the Kambara Deaf Development Project. The project also supports adults who are eager to learn sign language. Although many deaf and hearing-impaired Ugandan children still cannot access a quality education, ActionAid is working to set a higher precedent of honoring disability laws in Uganda.
