Financing Special Needs Education in Uganda.

1Financing Special Needs Education in Uganda.
Financing Special
Needs Education in Uganda.
Tracking flow of funds for Special Needs Education
in Abim, Kibale and Agago Districts
Financing Special
C
S B A G
Budgeting for equit
y
Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group

2 Financing Special Needs Education in Uganda.
Financing Special Needs Education in Uganda.
was produced by the Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG) with support from the
Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) under the Gender and Local Accountability Project. The
contents of this publication are the responsibility of CSBAG and not of our development partners.
© 2013
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements....................................................................................................................... 2
Acronyms ............................................................................................................................... 3
FOREWARD .............................................................................................................................7
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY................................................................................................................... 8
1.0 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................... 11
2.0 METHODOLOGY.............................................................................................................. 13
3.0 SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION IN UGANDA: CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND....................... 16
4.0 THE LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION....................... 21
5.0 THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE DELIVERY OF SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION IN
UGANDA.......................................................................................................................... 25
6.0 PLANNING AND BUDGETING FOR SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION...................................... 30
7.0 PROGRESS AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF SPECIAL NEEDS AND INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN
UGANDA.......................................................................................................................... 41
8.0 CHALLENGES FACED IN THE PROVISION OF SNE............................................................. 46
9.0 CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS...................................................... 49
ANNEXES ............................................................................................................................. 50
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 52
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Distribution of population aged 5 years and above by degree of difficulty according to
functional domain (%)............................................................................................................. 16
Table 2: International instruments guaranteeing the right to SNE....................................................... 21
Table 3: National laws and policies....................................................................................................... 22
Table 4: Stakeholders involved in delivery of SN&IE at local level........................................................ 26
Table 5: Special Needs Education in the Kibaale DDP (Sector 06: Education and Sports, Subsector 64:
Special Needs Education)......................................................................................................... 30
Table 6: Comparison of Special Needs with other Ministry Departments............................................ 32
Table 7: Disaggregated expenditures between special needs and guidance and counseling............... 32
Table 8: Detailed breakdown of Special Needs Education Budget…………………………………….................. 34
Table 9: Breakdown of allocations within Special Needs Education services........................................ 36

Table 10: Aid funding for special needs in comparison to education sector........................................... 37
Table 11: Budget performance for special needs.................................................................................... 38
Table 12: Progress on some planned SNE activities................................................................................ 39
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Types of disabilities within study districts............................................................................... 17
Figure 2: School attendance by children with disabilities in the study districts..................................... 17
Figure 3: Class distribution of children with special learning needs in the study districts..................... 20
Figure 4: National Stakeholders involved in the delivery of Special Needs Education........................... 29
Figure 5: Special Needs Education Budgets - FY2008/09 - 2013/14....................................................... 33
Figure 6: Wage and Non-wage allocation for Special Needs Education................................................. 35
Figure 7: Aid funding for Special Needs Education................................................................................. 37
Figure 8: Quarterly release process........................................................................................................ 40

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG) is grateful to all the respondents who
shared information that provided the basis for this report. We are particularly indebted
to the stakeholders consulted during this study including the Local Government technical
staff at district and sub-county level in the districts of Abim, Agago and Kibaale, civil
society organisations, head teachers as well the communities and parents of children
with various impairments.
We are also grateful to all the peer reviewers namely; Frank Twinamatsiko, Jean Bageya,
Daniel Lukwago and Dr. Edward Bbaale for their comments that greatly enriched this
report. We are particularly appreciative of the team at Development Research and
Training (DRT) for taking lead in this research, this work would not have been completed
without your dedicated efforts.
This report was produced under the supervision of Julius Mukunda whose technical
insight guided the research team at different stages which greatly enriched this report.
Special thanks go to Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) whose financial support
enabled the successful production of this report.

ACRONYMS
BTVET Business, Technical, Vocational Education and Training
CDO Community Development Officer
CFO Chief Finance Officer
CSBAG Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group
DANIDA Danish Agency for Development
DEO District Education Officer
DIS District Inspector of Schools
EARS Education Assessment Resource Services
EFA Education For All
ENT Ear, Nose and Throat
HOD Head of Department
LGMSDP Local Government Management and Service Delivery Programme
MoES Ministry of Education and Sports
NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations
PLE Primary Leaving Examination
PTCs Primary Teacher Colleges
PWD Persons with Disabilities
SFG Schools Facilities Grants
SNE Special Needs Education
SNEO Special Need Education Officer
UPE Universal Primary Education
URDT Uganda Rural Development and Training

FOREWORD
Equitable access to education and social services is the right of every individual. Children
withdisabilitieshavearighttoaccesssocialservicesincludingeducation.TheGovernment
of Uganda designed a number of polices to ensure that children with disabilities can
access education .These polices include: Uganda National Institute of Special Education
Act, 1995 which instituted Special Needs Education (SNE), the Constitution of Uganda
(1995) and the Persons With Disability Act (2006).SNE was designed as an affirmative
action to facilitate educational approaches and programmes specially designed for
persons with special learning needs.
In spite of the existence of an elaborate institutional and legal framework to cater for
the realization of the right to education for children with special needs, implementation
of these policies is still a challenge. Only 0.33% of the education sector budget was
allocated to the financing to the Special Needs Education in Uganda from 2010/11 to
2012/13, and yet the Persons With Disability Act (2006) stipulates that not less than 10%
of all educational expenditure should be allocated to the needs of Persons with Disability
(PWDs).According to the National Development Plan (NDP), 10% of children in school
have special needs and their access to special needs is hampered by limited technical,
human, financial and physical public resources.Lack of adequate funding to SNE deprives
children with special needs of their right to education, and consequently increasing their
susceptibility to poverty.
In an effort to effectively engage the Government of Uganda on the need for increased
financing of SNE in Uganda, CSBAG piloted a study in 3 districts namely: Agago, Abim
and Kibaale; with the purpose of examining the level of financing of SNE ,tracking
the utilization of SNE funds over the last three years and the level of SNE beneficiary
satisfaction .In this report, CSBAGhighlights the challenges faced in the provision of SNE
and makes appropriate recommendations on how to improve SNE in Uganda.Some of
these recommendations include :increasing the resource allocation of Special Needs
Education upto 10% as stipulated in the Persons With Disability Act (2006);recruitment of
2 SNE officers in each district; increased motivation for SNE teachers; increased training
of SNE specialized teachers to ensure effective delivery of SNE;intensified monitoring
and supervision of SNE schools and infrastructure in districts; and sensitization of
stakeholders on their roles regarding promotion of SNE.
CSBAG hopes that the recommendations highlighted in this report will be adopted by
the Government to enable improvement in the financing and performance of Special
Julius Mukunda
CSBAG Coordinator

Its unfair that iam going to
miss exams
because we don’t have
roads and good transport
systems

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
As part of the broader goal of fostering budget transparency, the Civil Society Budget Advocacy
Group1 (CSBAG) commissioned a study to track the flow and utilization of special needs Education
resources in 3 districts of Kibaale, Abim and Agago. The overarching goal of the study was to generate
evidence to inform efforts of enhancing accountability and efficiency of public resource utilization in
Uganda. Thestudyisinresponsetovariouschallengesthatareexperiencedbyspecialneedslearners
in trying to attain education services in the various schools of Uganda. Whilst the international and
national policy and legal frameworks provide enabling environments for these learners to attain
education without being discriminated against, various studies cite implementation gaps.
framework for the delivery of special
needs education and analyses budget
allocations for special needs education
at national and local level with a focus on
3 districts of Abim, Agago and Kibaale. It
also assesses the beneficiary satisfaction
of special needs education.
KEY STUDY FINDINGS:
1. Despite the existence of an extensive
and elaborate policy framework
for the realisation of the right to
education for persons with disabilities
like the Uganda Constitution and the
Disability Act (2006), the existence of
such policies and laws has however,
not guaranteed better access to
quality education for children with
special needs. Implementation of
these policies and laws is not fully
supported by the required technical,
human, financial and physical
resources. Where it happens, it is
done in an adhoc and uncoordinated
manner.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The major objective of the study was
to track the utilization of special needs
educxation funds in the three selected
districts. The study sought to address the
following:
1. The institutional set up and policy
frameworks for special needs
education in Uganda and how this
influences effective service delivery
on special needs education in
Uganda.
2. Special needs education programme
interventions and strategies that
have been implemented over the
last 3 years.
3. Criterion used to determine
allocation of resources for special
needs education at district level.
4. Performance and financing of
special needs education and the
level of beneficiary satisfaction.
The study documents the international
and national legal and institutional
1 Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG) is a coalition formed in 2004 to bring together civil society ac-
tors at national and district Levels to influence Government decisions on resources mobilization and utilization for
equitable, gender responsive and sustainable development

2. Institutional framework – Only
Kibaale among the study districts had
filled the position of Special Needs
Education Officer. In Abim and Agago
districts,thepositionsofSpecialNeeds
Education Officers were still vacant.
Similarly, within the Department of
Special Needs Education at Ministry
Level, two (2) senior positions (for
Inclusive Education and Special
Needs) were vacant. Lack of adequate
staff has constrained effective delivery
of SN&IE as was evident in Abim and
Agago.
3. Financing Special Needs Education;
when compared to the entire
Education sector budget, Special
Needs and Inclusive Education has
from 2010/11 to 2012/13, received
only 0.33 percent. Specifically for FY
2013/14, the Department of Special
Needs, Guidance and Counselling is
set to receive the least budget share
of Ug. Shs 2.1 bn in FY 2013/14.
Out of this, only Ug. shs 1.2 bn is
to set spent on Special Needs and
Inclusive Education. The rest is to be
for guidance and counselling. The
current proportions are far below the
recommended 10% as stipulated in
the Disability Act (2006).
4. Mainstreaming SNE into LG plans;
with the exception of Kibaale, Local
Governments in the study districts
did not have plans that are specific
to special needs education. This was
attributed to the lack of knowledge
about Special Needs and Inclusive
Education and the available policies
and the role of different actors.
5. Lessgirlsthanboyswithspecialneeds
access education- three quarters i.e.
(75%) of the interviewed households
that have children with impairments
send their children to school and
about a quarter (24.6%) are not in
school. Abim district had the least

number totalling to 427 (61.6% male
and 38.4% females) of children with
special needs attending primary
school. It is important however to
note that whereas majority of children
with special needs were reportedly
attending school, the study further
reveals a developing pattern of a
significant reduction in numbers of
pupils with special needs staying and
completing upper primary (P6-P7)
education.
6. Teachers trained but not deployed–
whileanumberofteachersinthethree
study districts received specialized
training in Special Needs and Inclusive
Education, with support from the now
ended DANIDA-EARS project, in Agago
and Abim none of the trained teachers
are involved in the delivery of SN&IE.
In Kibaale, only 10 of the trained 70
teachers are posted within the special
needs schools in the district. This
was attributed to the lack of teaching
materials, low motivation and lack of
follow-up.
7. Inclusive education not inclusive
enough – while the policy emphasizes
inclusive education for learners with
special needs, this is not backed up by
adequatefacilitationandprogramming
to facilitate learning of children with
special needs. No remedial classes
are offered. The inclusive schools
visited, had only one form of support
provided to children with learning
needs and that was making them take
the front seats during class. This was
found wanting in terms of providing
a conducive learning environment for
learners which accounts for the high
drop out among children with special
learning needs.
1. Increase resource allocation for
Special Needs and Inclusive Education
to the required 10% of the Ministry
budget as per the Disability Act (2006)
particularly to be spent on provision
of subvention grants to schools.
2. Government should create a budget
line within the Universal Primary
Education Capitation grant for
purchase of specialized equipment,
facilities and materials for children
with disabilities. In addition, the
School Facilities Grant should be
flexible to include construction of
needed infrastructure for Special
Needs Education in inclusive schools
3. For ease of monitoring and tracking
resources, the ministry should split
the vote functions of (i) special needs
(ii) guidance and counselling.
4. There is need to ensure that all district
local governments recruit Special
Needs and Inclusive Education officers
5. The remuneration of Special Needs
and Inclusive Education teachers
should be improved for motivation
and increased retention.
6. Strengthen the teaching force through
training additional Special Needs and
Inclusive Education teachers.
The study proposes the following recommendations;
ACTIONS FOR POLICY MAKERS

7. Develop a basic sign language chart
and make this a requirement for all
inclusive schools to have. This is aimed
at providing a conducive environment
for inclusion.
8. Revise the curriculum of PTCs to
provide for specialisation as opposed
to the generalised training in Special
Needs and Inclusive Education.
9. There is need for a policy guideline
to provide for a percentage spending
of the local government education
budget on Special Needs and Inclusive
Education.
ACTIONS FOR CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS
1. (Create awareness on Special Needs
and Inclusive Education) – civil society
should support Government to
sensitize communities on the rights to
education for persons with disabilities
and the available services. This will
help to reduce the negative attitudes
towards children with disabilities and
increase the number of children with
leaning needs accessing education.
2. Mobilize citizens to monitor and track
resources allocated to special needs
education.
3. Strengthen advocacy for increased
resource allocation to special needs
education for the benefit of the
children with disability.

1.0 INTRODUCTION
SpecialNeedsEducation(SNE)isanaffirmativeactiondesignedtofacilitateeducationalapproaches
and programmes specially designed to meet the needs of persons having special learning needs
(Uganda National Institute of Special Education Act, 1995). The Uganda’s National Development
Plan (NDP), 2010/11-2014/15notes that 10% of school going age children in Uganda have special
needs thus requiring Special Needs Education. This is further emphasized in the Ministry of
Education and Sports’ (MoES) Education Sector Strategic Plan 2004-20153 (revised 2010-2015)
which recognizes the existence of children throughout the country with special learning needs.
The causes of these needs is twofold: arising out of individual impairments in hearing, vision,
mobility, or other multiple disabilities and due to factors external to the individual related to
teaching methods and or instructional materials.
3 Government of Uganda National Development Plan (2010/11-2014/15): A Transformed Ugandan Society from a
Peasant to a Modern and Prosperous Country within 30 Years.
4 Ministry of Education and Sports, Uganda (2005) Education Sector Strategic Plan 2004-2015 , Kampala, Uganda,
Ministry of Education
Through the NDP, Government is
keen to build a knowledgeable and
skilled population through provision
of relevant information and skills to
improve their quality of life, respond to
development challenges and compete
nationally, regionally, and internationally.
Furthermore, the Education Sector
Strategic Plan commits Government to
conduct regular assessment of services
to children with special needs, implement
a policy of inclusive education as well as
build special schools for children with
severe disabilities.4
Over the last five years, CSOs in Uganda
under the Civil Society Budget Advocacy
Group (CS-BAG) have been engaging in
influencing the budget process and to
ensure that both the local and national
budget incorporates the views of the
poor and marginalized people and that
budgets are pro-poor, gender sensitive
and sustainable. CSBAG commissioned
this study to inform its advocacy work
and ensure that marginalised groups of
people such as persons with disabilities in
Uganda (women and men, boys and girls)
benefit from the Special Needs Education
(SNE) Programme.
THE STUDY HAD THE FOLLOWING
OBJECTIVES;
1. To examine the institutional
and policy frameworks for SNE
programming in Uganda.
2. To examine the financial estimates
and actual flow of SNE resources
and establish the extent to
which they reached the primary
beneficiaries in the 3 districts.

3. To examine the role of duty
bearers and right holders and
the accountability mechanisms
at different levels (national, local
governments and community
levels) in ensuring effective service
delivery.
4. To assess the nature and degree
of beneficiary satisfaction with the
SNE program implementation in
their localities.
SPECIFICALLY, THE TASKS TO BE
UNDERTAKEN INCLUDED THE

In addition to the literature
review, the team conducted
field visits to Abim, Agago
and Kibaale districts and held
discussions with a range of
stakeholders including local
government technical officials
at district and sub-county
level, politicians, teachers
and Head teachers at school
level, officials working for
organizations with disability
related programmes, parents
of children with various
impairments and selected
community members.
As this was a case study
supported by limited financial
andtimeresources,thestudydid
not seek for representativeness
in terms of number of districts
covered but rather focused
on 3 districts for an in-depth
understanding of the subject
matter.
2.0 METHODOLOGY
The study adopted a Q2 methodology involving the use of both qualitative and quantitative tools.
Among the qualitative methods used included an extensive document review of laws, policies and
frameworks for special needs education and the education sector and local government budgets
from 2008/9 to date. These were complemented by key informant interviews, group discussions,
and community meetings. The quantitative tools on the other hand included a household survey to
capture beneficiary views and satisfaction about the implementation of the special needs education.
Document Review:
The study conducted a detailed desk review ofrelevant literature on the international, regionaland national laws, policies and frameworks onSpecial Needs and Inclusive Education. Theseincluded among others; The Persons with DisabilityAct (2006) and Decentralization Act (1997);investment and district development plans such as,the Education Sector Investment Plan (2010-2015),Abim, Agago and Kibaale districts Local GovernmentDevelopment Plans and Budgets (2010-2015); Thepurpose of reviewing these documents was tolocate special needs education in existent policies,laws and frameworks and thus based on this beable to assess the extent to which it has beenmainstreamed within the operational activities,planning, budgeting and actual implementation atnational, district and sub-county levels. The studyalso reviewed previous studies and performancereports on special needs education to establishthe body of knowledge available on special needseducation in Uganda.

2.1.1 National Consultations
Guided by a semi-structured interview
guide, the national level consultations
were held with various key informants
that included; staff in the Ministry of
Education and Sports, outgoing Head
of Department Faculty of Special Needs
and Rehabilitation, Kyambogo University;
working in the area of special needs
education.Thenationallevelconsultations
were complemented with a document
review of relevant policies, Acts, Sector
Policies and Budgets among others.
2.2.2 Selection of Research Sites
The study selected 3 districts of Agago,
Abim and Kibaale District, selection
was purposively conducted to ensure
a sub-regional representation. Agago
was selected to represent the Northern
region, Abim for the Karamoja region
and Kibaale for the Western region. The
study did not cover all the regions of
the country due to logistical limitations.
CSBAG is confident however that the
findings from the 3 regions will inform
discussions on refocusing special needs
education nationally.
In each of the study districts, 2 sub-
counties were randomly selected. In
each sub-county, at least one school
was visited to assess available resources
for special needs education at school,
planning and actual delivery of special
needs education. Selection criteria of
schools varied by district, in Agago, these
were randomly selected. This was done
by the researchers with the help of the
District Education Officer this approach
was favoured because none of the schools
in the district/sub-county had a trained
teacher in special needs education.
In Abim, the schools were purposively
selected because a number of teachers
in Abim had been previously trained
as specialised Special Needs Education
teachers and posted to various schools.
To adequately track benefits of these
trainings and to assess how these
teachers were supporting the delivery of
special needs education, schools selected
were those where the trained teachers
had been posted. In Kibaale the focus
was on the special units for Special Needs
Education. Below is a presentation of the
study sites:
2.1 DETAILED METHODOLOGY

3.0 SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION IN UGANDA: CONTEXT AND
BACKGROUND
The Uganda National Household Survey of 2009/2010 estimates that 16% of the total population
lives with some form of disabilities. Review of literature indicates that children with disabilities
are often excluded from enjoying mainstream services available to all Ugandans. A report by the
Uganda Society for Disabled Children (2011) indicates that 90% of the children with disabilities
do not access and or enjoy their rights to survival, development, protection and participation.
Similarly, UNICEF (2012) Annual Report states that only 5% of the children with disabilities are
able to access education within an inclusive setting of the regular schools whereas 10% access
education through special schools and annexes6.
Table 1: Distribution of population aged 5 years and above by degree of difficulty according
to functional domain (%)
Source UNHS 2009/10
3.1 DISABILITY WITHIN THE STUDY DISTRICTS
6 http://www.unicef.org/uganda/Fast_Facts_Uganda_Day_of_the_African_Child_.pdf accessed on 7th August 2013
Across the study districts, physical
disability was the most commonly
reported form of disability reported at 47
percent,itwascloselyfollowedbyhearing
impairment reported at 32 per cent and
blindness reported at 11 per cent. Figure
1 below details the different forms of
disability within the study districts.

Figure 1: Types of disabilities within study districts
Source: Calculated from household questionnaires administered in the study districts
The study found that 75% of the total number of children having the above impairments,
attend school while 25 per cent do not attend school. (See figure 2 below). The number
of children with learning disabilities that attend school was highest in Kibaale largely
due to the existence of specialized schools and a deliberate community sensitization
campaign.
Figure 2: School attendance by children with disabilities in the study districts
Source: Calculated from the questionnaires administered in the study districts

A more detailed aggregate statistics
from the MoES indicates that in the
three study districts, 6,362 children with
special needs are in school. This analysis
proves that indeed a significant number
of children with disabilities are attending
school. In the later sections of this report,
CSBAG discusses the types of schools
these children attend i.e. both inclusive
and special schools, an analysis is done
on whether beyond attending school, the
childrenareprovidedanequalopportunity
to learn like all other children.
3.2 HISTORY OF SNE IN UGANDA
Special Needs Education (SNE) in
Uganda can be traced from the 1950’s
when separate ‘Special Schools’ were
constructed by the Colonial Government
to provide education for children with
visual, hearing, learning and motor
impairments. This was because many
children and youth with disabilities
were not benefiting from the available
educational services at the time and until
the 1990’s SNE was provided only within
these “Special Schools”.
In 1991, an Act of Parliament mandated
the Uganda National Institute of Special
Education, (UNISE) now Faculty of Special
Needs and Rehabilitation, Kyambogo
University to train special needs
education teachers, a move that set the
stage for a wider strategy of responding
to special needs education in Uganda.
This was later followed by the passing of a
policy in 1992 on ‘Education for National
Integration and Development. This policy
provided for inclusive education
that encouraged children with
learning disabilities to be taught
within the same environment
with the “normal” children to
eliminate discrimination and
promote inclusion. To date, this
is the model promoted among all
schools, particularly those under
the Universal Primary Education
(UPE) programme. This however
did not replace the special
schools for persons with learning
difficulties as the two approaches
are being used by government.
Between 1997-1998, DANIDA
implemented a country wide
Education Assessment Resource
Services (EARS) project which
supported training of Special Needs
Some of the special schools constructed within thisperiod include;
a) Ntinda School for the Deaf (Kampala)
b) Kireka School for the Mentally Handicapped(Wakiso)
c) Mulago School for the Deaf (Kampala)
d) Masindi Centre for the Handicapped (Masindi)
e) St. Mark Seventh Day school for the Deaf inBwanda (Masaka)
f) Nancy school for the Deaf (Lira)
g) Ngora school for the Deaf (Ngora)
h) St. Francis school for the Blind (Soroti)
i) Salama school for the Blind (Buikwe)

Education teachers, provided materials
and supported the establishment of
special units within various schools to
coordinate the implementation of Special
Needs Education in Uganda. Kibaale
district was a beneficiary of this program
and three schools i.e. Bishop Rwakaikara
Primary School, St. Theresa Primary
School and St. Kizito Primary school,
Kakumiro, were constructed in Kibaale
District. In Abim a unit for Special Needs
Education was meant to be established at
Abim Primary School but until today this
has never taken off.
The Government of Uganda in 1997
enacted the Decentralization Act and
provision of education services was
assignedtothedistricts.Aspecificposition
for Education Officer-Special Needs
was created within the various district
structures whose responsibility was to
coordinate assessment, provision and
monitoring of Special Needs Education at
local government level (including districts
and sub-countries).
Again in 1999, DANIDA spearheaded
the creation of the Special Needs
Education Department within the
Ministry of Education and Sports. By
2005, a component of Special Needs had
been integrated as part of the training
curriculum for Primary Teacher Colleges
(PTCs). All teachers trained at PTCs from
then until today are required to receive
training on special needs education.
Likewise, instructional materials for
visual, hearing, sight, physical, and other
impairments were procured and supplied
to various schools in the then 45 districts
of Uganda. All the districts had a motor
vehicle to coordinate Special Needs
Education activities although very few if
any remain functional.
The Ministry of Education and Sports
carried out several reforms in the period
2006-2012 and these included:
• The formulation and approval of
the Special Needs and Inclusive
Education Policy by the Ministry’s
top management in 2011,
this Policy is yet to be tabled
before Parliament and Cabinet
for approval before it can be
implemented.
• Creation of the Special Needs
Education Department headed by
a Commissioner for Special Needs
Educationwasanotherreform.The
SNE department was created with
two sub divisions of Inclusive and
Non-Formal Education and Special
Needs Education. Each is headed
by an Assistant Commissioner.
In addition two (2) positions
of Principal Education Officers
with one in charge of Inclusive
Education and another for Special
Education were established and
an additional three (3) Senior
Education Officers in charge of
Non-Formal Education, Inclusive
Education and Special Education
were established respectively.
• In addition, two (2) other positions
of Education Officers for inclusive
education and special education
were also created. At the time of
the study, the department had two
(2) vacant Senior Education Officer
Positions for Inclusive Education
and Special Education.
• Other statutory bodies such as
the Uganda National Examinations

Board (UNEB) also embraced the
need for an inclusive environment
and created 2 positions to cater
for special needs services. There
are 2 officers in UNEB who are
directly responsible for special
needs in Primary and Secondary
Schools respectively to ensure that
examinations for children with
special needs are provided in the
mostappropriatemeansinrelation
to their needs. Similarly, the
National Curriculum Development
Centre also appointed 2 officers
for special needs education.
3.3 MODELS OF DELIVERING SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION
The Special Needs and Inclusive Education
Policy (2011) provides for a number of
approaches for delivering SNE namely;
Home based care programs, special
schools where children with particularly
severe and multiple impairments receive
specialized support in methodology,
instructional materials and assistive
devices; Units/Annexes where children
are integrated within regular schools
but targeting learners with particular
disabilities and inclusive schools where
children with special needs (not
necessarily having specific disabilities)
study with other children.
It is important to note that among these,
emphasis has been placed on promoting
inclusive education and to realise this,
the ministry pledges to ensure that all
initiatives and provisions for affirmative
action for children with learning needs
shall be put in place. Among the study
districts, only Kibaale and Abim have
inclusive schools. There are neither home
based care programs nor units/annexes
for children with Learning Needs. In
Kibaale, there are both inclusive schools
and special units/annexes that cater for
special learning needs of children with
disabilities.
Kibaale district has three SNE centres i.e.
Theresa Bujuni Primary school, Bishop
Rwakaikara Primary School and St. Kizito
Primary School and because of this, the
district has the highest number of SNE
primary pupils among the three districts
coveredunderthisstudy.The2011Uganda
Education Statistical abstract indicated
that in 2011, the district had over 1000
children in primary one. Of all the special
needs children in primary one, 55.6%
of these were male while the rest were
female. Overall, the district was found
to have 4,219 special needs children, of
which 51.5% were male and 49.5% were
female. Agago district had 1,716 special
pupils of which 48.4% were male and
51.6% were female. Abim district had the
least number of special needs children
with only 427 pupils of which about 61.6%
were male and the rest were female. As
already stated before, with the exception
of Kibaale that has special units for
children with special needs, in Abim and
Agago districts, all children with special
needs indicated as attending school do so
in inclusive school arrangement.

Table 3: Number of special needs children
District Total number of special children Male (%) Female (%)
Agago 1,716 48.4% 51.6%
Kibaale 4,219 51.5% 49.5%
Abim 427 61.6%
Figure 3 below shows that while many children enrol in primary one, there is a clear
pattern that the number enrolled per class reduces significantly from class to class.
There were many children in lower classes (P1-P5) while the number in upper primary
(Primary six and seven) was significantly low. A number of factors accounted for the drop
out including the lack of trained teachers in SNE, lack of facilities, negative attitudes by
parents, teachers and society towards children requiring special needs education. With
the exception of Kibaale which has special units, the districts of Abim and Agago, had no
additional support provided to children with learning disabilities, the expectation from
the teachers is that children with learning difficulties would easily fit within the existent
environment and facilities and when this does not happen, the children consequently
drop out of school.
Figure 3: Class distribution of Children with special Learning needs in the study districts
Source: Authors’ extraction from the Education statistics abstract 2011

4.0 THE LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR SPECIAL NEEDS
EDUCATION
This section contains the existent international, regional and national legal and policy frameworks
and the extent to which these have been implemented.
4.1 INTERNATIONAL LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORKS
Special Needs Education is drawn from the fundamental right of every child to
education that is proclaimed in a number of international instruments to which Uganda
is a signatory. These instruments include; the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(1948), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), the Salamanca Statement and
Framework for Action on Special Needs Education (1994); United Nations Convention on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) and the African (Banjul) Charter on Human
Rights and People’ Rights (1986).
Table 3: International instruments guaranteeing the right to SNE
Convention Commitment in relation to SNE
Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (1948),
Provides for the right of every child to education
The Convention on the Rights of
the Child (1989)
Article 2 of the CRC provides an explicit obligation on governments to
ensuretherealizationofallrightstoeverychildwithoutdiscrimination,
including on grounds of disability. In addition, Article 23 specifically
addresses the right of children with disabilities to assistance to ensure
that they are able to access education in a manner that promotes
their social inclusion.
The World Declaration on
Education for All and Framework
for Action to Meet Basic Learning
Needs (1990)
Provides that every person, child, youth and adult shall be able to
benefit from Educational opportunities designed to meet their basic
learning needs.
The Salamanca Statement and
Framework for Action on Special
Needs Education (1994)
Ratifying countries agree to provide inclusive education for all
children with particular focus on children with special educational
needs. Specifically provides for the right of all children, including those
with temporary and permanent needs for educational adjustments to
attend school, the right of all children to attend school in their home
communities in inclusive classes, the right of all children to participate
in a child-centered education meeting individual needs and the right
of all children to participate in quality education that is meaningful for
each individual.

United Nations Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(2006)
Re-affirms the right of people with disabilities to inclusive education,
at all levels, without discrimination and on the basis of equality of
opportunity. It specifically calls on states to ensure that children with
disabilities are not excluded from the general education system and
can access inclusive, quality and free primary and secondary education
on an equal basis with others in the communities in which they live;
are provided with reasonable accommodation of their needs; receive
the support they need within the general education system and are
provided with individualized support measures, consistent with full
inclusion.
African Charter on the Rights &
Welfare of the Children (1990)
Provides in Article 11 that Every child shall have the right to an
education.
Uganda is a signatory to all these
conventions and is thus bound to ensure
that it protects and guarantees the rights
of persons with disabilities. A number
of actions have been undertaken to
implement these commitments and these
include;
a) The Special Needs and Inclusive
Education Department within the
Ministry of Education and Sports
mandated to deliver Special Needs
& Inclusive Education services
in a coordinated and adequately
resourced manner.
b) The Persons with Disabilities
Act (2006) which integrated a
number of the commitments
and also provided a framework
for increasing access, equity and
quality of education for children
with disabilities. This and other
national policies are discussed
below.
4.2 NATIONAL LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORKS
At the national level, the special Needs
Education (SNE) program is anchored in
the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda
(1995), the Education White Paper (1992),
Disability Act (2006), Children’s’ Act
(2006), the National Development Plan
(2010/11-2014/15), the Special Needs
and Inclusive Education policy (2011)
among others.

Table 4: National laws and policies
Law/policy framework Description of commitments
The Constitution of the
Republic of Uganda, 1995
• Article 30 provides for the right to education for all persons.
• Similarly, the Principals and Objectives of State Directive XVIII states
that (i) The State shall promote free and compulsory basic education,
(ii) The State shall take appropriate measures to afford every citizen
equal opportunity to attain the highest educational standard possible.
• Objective (xxiv) provides for the provision for sign language for the
deaf.
• Article21 (2) provides that a person shall not be discriminated against
on the ground of disability and Article 32(10) empowers the state to
take affirmative action in favour of groups marginalized on the basis of
disability.
The White Paper on
Education (1992)
The White Paper was an outcome of the Education Review Commission,
chaired by Prof. Senteza William Kajubi which sought to provide solutions
to the education sector. The White Paper recommended for the adoption of
education as a human right and recommended for free universal education
in Uganda. It is from this White Paper that UPE, USE and other education
policy reforms were shaped.
The Disability Act (2006)
• Section 5, states that government shall promote the educational
development of persons with disabilities.
• Article iv section 21 (1) stipulates that the government shall hold
duty and responsibility to promote the rights of people with special
needs to access information through; the development and use of sign
language; tactile, sign language interpreters in all public institutions
and at public functions, brailing of public documents information
such as government documents, government newspapers and other
publications should be availed.
• Similarly, it provides that 10%of the education budget shall be allocated
to support Special Needs Education.

The Children Statute 2006
• This Act operationalizes the Constitution regarding the protection of
children. It provides that all children must have access to education
and places responsibility on the state to ensure that all children attend
school.
• Section 10 focuses on children with disabilities and states that parents
of children with disabilities and the state shall provide facilities for
rehabilitation and equal opportunities to education;
• Section 11 (5) provides that Local Government Councils shall keep a
register of the disabled within its area of jurisdiction.
Education (pre-primary,
primary and post-primary)
Act, 2008
This Act states that “basic education shall be provided and enjoyed as a
right by all persons”.
The Business, Technical,
Vocational Education and
Training (BTVET) Act, No. 12,
2008
This Act seeks to promote equitable access to education and training for
all disadvantaged groups, including disabled people. Under the BTVET Act,
Government put in place a rehabilitation and resettlement scheme that
includes vocational rehabilitation services, sheltered workshops that focus
on employable skills training and orthopaedic workshops for provision of
assistive devices to PWDs.
The National Development
Plan (NDP) 2010/11-2014/15
The NDP commits to increasing access and equity of primary education for
girls and boys at all levels of education. To do so, Government proposes a
range of interventions, including;
a) Development of a policy framework and other related policies, plans
and guidelines;
b) Advocating and creating awareness through development of an
advocacy strategy for SNE, sensitization of stakeholders and enhancing
their participation;
c) Building capacity for SNE through reviewing of various curricular
to integrate SNE issues; enhancing training of SNE teachers, head
teachers and the community and improving community interest and
participation.

The Special Needs and
Inclusive Education Policy
(2011)
The specific objectives of the policy include; increase enrolment,
participation and completion of schooling by persons with special learning
needs;strengthenandsystematizeinitiatives/programsonSNEandenhance
participation of stakeholders in the management and implementation
of SNE programs in Uganda. To achieve this, the policy provides for the
following;
• Provision of specialised instructional materials equipment and
services; specifically, the state commits to provide tax exemptions for
all specialised materials/equipment procured for SN&IE
• Provision of equitable access to SN&IE services; the policy shall require
and provide for user-friendly facilities and infrastructures in all schools.
• Strengthen establishments, structures and systems for providing SN&IE
• Provision of specialised support services
• Uphold and develop affirmative provisions for persons with special
learning needs/disabilities
Similarly, the focus of delivering special
needs education has been towards
encouraging inclusive education through
integration with learners in normal
schools. This notwithstanding, only five
per cent of children with disabilities are
able to access education within inclusive
setting in the regular schools while 10 per
cent access education through special
schools and annexes’ (UNICEF 2012:
1). As government promotes inclusive
schools over special schools, enforcement
of standards as spelt out in the laws to
provide an enabling environment to
integrate children with special needs
has been weak. For example, physical
structures including the walkways, toilets,
corridors are not accessible, and special
educational equipment such as Braille
machines, sign language facilities and
hearing aids are not available in most
schools.
Despite the proclamation of the right to
access special needs education and for
specific attention to children with learning
Policy Review:
The review of the Policy and LegalFramework indicates that Uganda hasa very good legal framework protectingthe right to education for all andparticularly children with special needs.This is guaranteed in the 1995 UgandaConstitution, and national policies andspecific Acts of Parliament. Existence ofthese laws however has not translatedinto increased opportunities forchildren with special learning needs.For example, sign language for thedeaf is not in all public places includingschools as provided by the Constitution,special needs department is amongthe least funded within the Ministry ofEducation and Sports, as later discussedin this report, allocations for specialneeds have never exceeded 0.5% of theMinistry of Education budget contraryto the required 10% according to theDisability Act (2006).

needs, state investment in meeting
the educational and learning needs of
persons with disabilities has been low,
and substituted by Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs). DANIDA has
been the largest funder of special needs
education under the EARS project but
since it phased out, the infrastructure and
facilities have never been replaced.
SNE remains at an embryonic stage
because rights as stipulated in the policies
and legislation have not been translated
into practical entitlements.

5.0 THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR SPECIAL NEEDS
EDUCATION IN UGANDA
5.1 INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK AT NATIONAL LEVEL
Ministry of Education & Sports has a Department responsible for Special Needs and Inclusive
Education. The department is mandated to deliver Special Needs and Inclusive Education services in
a coordinated and adequately resourced manner. The specific objectives of the department include;
a) To increased enrolment, participation and completion of schooling by persons with special
learning needs.
b) To strengthen and systematize existing initiatives/programs on SN&IE.
c) To enhance participation of stakeholders in the management and implementation of SN&IE
programs in Uganda.
d) To promote sporting programs for learners with special learning needs.
Furthermore, the department provides
policy and program oversight, support
monitoring and supervision of
implementation at local government level
as well ensure adequate budgeting for
special needs education.
In addition to the Department of Special
Needs and Inclusive Education, special
needs education has been integrated into
other structures in semi-autonomous
units to support delivery of special needs
education. For example, the Uganda
National Examinations Board has 2 officers
for special needs education. Their role is to
ensure that examinations for learners with
special needs are provided in a suitable
and convenient manner. Similarly, the
National Curriculum Development Centre
has recruited 2 officers for special needs
education to provide space for integration
of special needs into the curriculum
development process. In inspection, the
EducationStandardsAgencyhas2regional
officers to monitor standards in relation to
delivery of special needs education. These
structures and the department within the
Ministry of Education are complemented
by structures at local government level as
discussed below.
5.2 INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK AT LOCAL GOVERNMENT LEVEL
The Local Government Act (LGA) 1997
and the structures provided by the Public
Service Commission provides for 2 Special
Needs Education Officers in charge of the
special needs in the Local Government’s
Education Department. These officers
collaborate with the Community
Development office and Councillors to
ensure that children with special needs
access education.

Whereas the Special Needs and Inclusive
Education Department at the Ministry
level are fairly well resourced, at Local
Government level, staffing is one of the
biggest challenges for special needs
education. Only Kibaale has a Special
NeedsEducationOfficer.Theotherdistricts
of Agago and Abim, have never recruited
persons to fill these positions since the
creation of the 2 districts. As noted
above, in these 2 districts, responsibility
for implementation of Special Needs and
Inclusive Education has been delegated to
the District Education Officers and District
Inspector of Schools. The study noted
that a number of structures at district
level do play a part in supporting delivery
of special needs education. Among these
include the following;
Table 5: Stakeholders involved in delivery of SN&IE at local level
Stakeholder Roles
DEO/DIS
• Contact points between schools and MOEs
• Advises teachers to encourage children with special needs to participate
in sports
• Advocates for increased budget allocations to SNE department
• Sensitizes community and encourages parents to send children with special
needs to schools
SNE officer
• Provide supervision, technical guidance and coordination between school
and the District Education Officer
• Responsible for planning in consultation with teachers and other officers
• Monitors service delivery in the district
• Supervises SNE units
• Identifies persons with special needs in the district and places them in a
SNE unit
• Follow up on wages for support staff at the district
PTC
• Tutors (CCT) coordinate schools in a district. They are zoned and report to
the PTC and DIS
CDOs
• Mobilize and identify children with disabilities at lower Local Government
level.
• Plan, implement and monitor Government Programs at sub county level.
Disability desk • Mobilizes parents to send children with special learning needs to schools.
Sub County Councillors • Responsible for children welfare

Sub county CDOs
• Supports 12 vulnerable children (orphans, HIV infected, Hopelessness)
with school fees
• Mobilizes parents to send the children with special needs to UPE school
and SNE units in districts
• Advises head teachers to identify SNE children and refer them to Bishop
Rwakaikara primary school.
• Sensitizes community about existing SNE programs although not facilitated
• Participates in monitoring schools but is un aware of SNE indicators to
monitor or inspect
• Advises head teachers to identify children with special needs and refer
them to schools
Duetolackofpriortraining,thestudynotedthatinpracticalterms,theDistrictEducationOfficersand
District Inspector of Schools are only involved in attaining the number of children with impairments
in the various schools and liaising with UNEB to ensure that their examinations are set. This partly
explains the ‘absence’ of a clear focus for special needs education in Agago and Abim compared to
Kibaale.
Unlike in Abim and Agago, Kibaale receives significant support from a number of NGOs who are
supporting various initiatives to promote special needs education. These are profiled in Box 1. None
of the NGOs operating in Abim and Agago implements programs on special needs education. Part of
the reason cited was that NGOs in Abim and Agago mainly focus on relief, rehabilitation programs
given that both districts are just recovering from a 20 year civil conflict.
Box 1: NGOS supporting Special Needs Education in Kibaale District
Sight Savers International (SSI); Operated in Kibaale district in 2004-2011. It focused on children
with visual impairment. SSI specifically provided bicycles to teachers, provided Braille machines,
walking sticks/white canes, supportive learning materials, talking computers, Braille papers and
Braille text books. They also built capacity of teachers to handle visually impaired and blind
learners. On a quarterly basis, SSI provided support to St. Theresa Bujuni Primary Boy’s School
basing on SNE needs identified. SSI also constructed a resource room at Bujuni primary school
and stocked it with desks and lockers and sign language dictionary, selected 2 teachers from
each school and equipped them with skills to be able to identify and place children with visual
impairments in schools and provided bicycles to teachers that mobilized children that had visual
impairment. The Church through the Bible Society donated 3 brailed bibles for blind children in St
Thereza Bujuni primary school. The Catholic church owns a health centre at grade 3 and provides
treatment to children with special needs at Bujuni Primary School, provided financial assistance
to SNE unit in 2009, provided wooden beds for dormitory for children with special learning needs
that was contracted by the government although before construction of the same dormitory, the
church provided accommodation to children with special learning needs at its premises.

Kagadi hospital; this treats children with special needs at Bishop Rwakaikara primary school and
also has an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist who conducts routine screening for children with
special needs. Bunyoro Kitara Diocese created awareness about SNE unit, initiated vocational
training, constructed 2 class rooms for Bishop Rwakaikara primary school and a barbed wire fence.
EMESSO Development Foundation donated a water tank in 2011, and a hand washing facility in
2013. Bishop Rwakaikara primary school supplied wheel chairs to physically impaired children in
2011. Uganda Rural Development and Training Centre donated a water tank in 2011, provided
beans and maize in 2008/09, provided airtime and worked closely with Kagadi- Kibale community
radio to create awareness on disability (every Wednesday) and do mobilization and sensitization
for development programmes targeting people with disabilities. World Vision International
currently works with hired SNE instructors to train teachers responsible for SNE in 8 sub counties
of Kibaale district.
Source: From the field study interviews conducted in Kibaale District
By and large, the institutional framework
for delivery of special needs education
looks impressive on paper but is non-
functional at district level. The actual
impact on the ground is limited due to a
number of factors including the following;
a) Two out of the three study districts
have not recruited SNE officers,
b) Position for Senior Education Officer
for Inclusive Education and Special
Education atMinistrylevelarevacant
c) The available institutions lack
facilitation to plan, deliver and
monitor SNE. The district and sub
county technical staff reported
that they have limited support
from the sector ministry in terms
of sensitization on SNE, and limited
funding to enable the districts recruit
the required staff.
d) With the exception of Kibaale district
which has a functional system the
other districts are not aware of their
roles regarding SNE. In Agago and
Abim districts, apart from the DEO
and DIS, all the other stakeholders
were unaware of their roles in
relation to the delivery of special
needs education.
e) Presence of NGOs supporting special
needs education is only limited to
Kibaale.

Figure 6: National Stakeholders involved in the delivery of Special Needs Education
Ministry of and Sports
Department of Special Needs
Asst. Commissioner, Inclusive and Non-
Formal
Asst. Commissioner, Special
CAO
DIS DEO
Disability Desk
Community /Parents
Head Teachers
SNE
Teachers
DCDO
Sub County CDOs
UNEB
District
councilors
S/C Councillors
department
Health Assistants,
and (LC 1-
LC3)
PTC/CCT

6.0 PLANNING AND BUDGETING FOR SPECIAL NEEDS
EDUCATION
This section of the report presents an analysis of the education sector budget and its expenditures
on SNE over the last 3 years, including a discussion on allocation criteria of resources for SNE at
district level and a presentation of beneficiary satisfaction with implementation of SNE.
6.1 PLANNING
The study sought to assess the extent to
which planning for SNE is integrated into
the local government planning processes.
Findings in this regard varied across the
study districts. In Abim and Agago, it was
noted that SNE did not feature at all in all
the local governments and sub-county
developmentplans.Astheplanningprocess
is bottom-up with priorities emanating
from the communities, the study findings

revealed that the communities during
their planning processes were not aware
about the right to SNE and therefore did
not think it was prudent to demand for
it from local and central government.
Similarly, it was noted that because there
are no SNE officers recruited yet, Abim
and Agago had no one to push for SNE
within the planning process. Specifically
in Kibaale, unlike Abim and Agago, the
review of the local government and
sub-county plans revealed the inclusion
of SNE during the planning process
and resources are allocated from the
local revenue of the district to support
implementation of SNE. For example,
the Sub-County Development Plans
for Kagadi Town Council, Muhoro and
Ruteete sub-counties, explicitly mention
special needs education among the
priority areas of the education sector and
defines specific objectives, strategies and
expected results. SNE is planned for under
the Education Department and particular
interventions have been identified to
support its implementation.
Table 7: Special needs education in the Kibaale DDP (Sector 06: Education and Sports,
Subsector 64: Special Needs Education)
INTERVENTIONS
LG ANNUAL PERFORMANCE Remarks
2007/08 2008/09 2009/10
Target Achievement Target Achievement Target Achievement
Feeding of learners
with SN
85 78 110 95 110 95
Identification and
placement of learners
of SN in units
100 80 110 95 110 95
Construction of SNE
dormitory
3 Nil 1 1 1 1
One unit not
yet constructed
Purchase of beds for
children with SN
Nil Nil Nil Nil 100 Nil
Funds were not
received
Inspection of SNE
units
3 Units
3 Units twice
a term
3 Units
3 Units twice
a term
3 Units
3 Units twice
a term
Training of Braille
teachers
20
teachers
20
teachers
20
teachers
20
teachers
20
teachers
20
teachers
Source; extract from Kibaale DDP 2010/11-2014/14, pg 73
The Special Needs Education officer is
part of the District Technical Planning
Committee and is consulted during
the overall planning for the Education
Department. The SNE officer, the District
Education Officer, District Inspector of
Schools and Community Development
Officers in Kibaale identify special needs
and inclusive education issues during their
field visits and these are further discussed
at the department level.

Budget statistics indicate the actual
allocations to the sector increased by
82.9 per cent , from UGX 889.3 billion
in 2008/09 to UGX1645.1 billion in
2013/14 though proportion of the budget
reduced from 14.8 per cent to 12.7 per
cent respectively. In these three years,
resources expended at the Ministry of
Education at national level increased by
61.4 per cent but reduced in proportion
from 27.1 per cent to 23.9 per cent. It is
important to put into perspective that
some functions of the sector – such as
primary and secondary education, are
decentralisedtodistrictswhileuniversities
operate as semi-autonomous entities that
control their own budgets.
Locating special needs and inclusive
education in the sector budget
Unlike UPE and USE, Special Needs
Education component is not decentralised
to districts and only operates under
the Department of Special Needs and
Inclusive Education which is located
within the Ministry of Education. As a
result, budgeting and resource allocation
for all activities related to special needs
is done and implementation managed by
the department and at the ministry level7.
Because SN&IE is not decentralised, no
budgetary allocations are made to local
government for SN&IE even when some
of them host schools and or other SN&IE
facilities. At local government level, SNE
schools receive a subvention grant that
is directly sent to the school accounts
from the department of SN&IE and the
accountability procedure is such that
Head Teachers send their accountabilities
to the department and do not require
approval or involvement of the DEO or
local government.
At the ministry level, special needs
education is budgeted for under Vote
Function 0703 – Special Needs Education,
Guidance and Counselling. To understand
expenditures on special needs education,
the study made a distinction between
expenditures on special needs education
and those of guidance and counselling.
Table 6 below shows how special needs
education fares with other departments
within this sector in terms of budgetary
allocations.
6.2 BUDGETING AND RESOURCE ALLOCATION FOR SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION
7 Central ministerial operations refer to operations that are not decentralised to districts. These are operations that
are completed from the ministry without making any disbursement or budget function delegated to a district/ local
government budget office.

Table 8: Comparison of Special needs with other ministry departments
Department 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14
0701 Pre-Primary and Primary Education 26,225.4 36,454.3 41,009.6 51,353.4 46,956.6 46,088.0
0702 Secondary Education 138,622.7 225,965.9 240,464.4 190,921.1 178,694.5 149,949.7
0703 Special Needs Education, Guidance
and Counselling
716.8 1,270.5 2,302.0 2,113.4 2,114.0 2,161.7
Special Needs Education 716.8 480.4 1,301.2 1,209.7 1,209.6 1,209.7
0704 Higher Education 3,703.0 14,609.3 10,883.5 12,106.1 73,956.1 57,035.2
0705 Skills Development 41,991.1 42,022.9 57,994.0 86,810.0 106,314.5 70,312.8
0706 Quality and Standards 18,164.2 19,163.6 24,458.8 25,840.0 29,905.0 43,516.7
0707 Physical Education and Sports 1,790.3 3,443.6 4,030.9 4,260.1 7,756.7 5,275.3
0749 Policy, Planning and Support Services 12,507.9 11,132.3 9,887.8 9,354.0 9,935.3 19,065.0
Ministry of Education and Sports 243,721.4 354,062.6 391,031.1 382,758.0 455,632.7 393,404.5
% of Special Needs 0.29% 0.14% 0.33% 0.32% 0.27% 0.31%
Source: Authors’ calculations from Annual Approved Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure 2008/09-
2012/13
As indicated in Table 8, when compared to the other 8 departments in this Ministry, the
Special Needs Education, Guidance and Counselling Department was the least funded
between FY 2008/9 and FY 2013/14. In FY 2013/14 for example, the department which
has 2 distinct expenditures i.e. special needs and guidance and counselling as presented
in the table below received a total allocation of Ug. Shs 1.2 bn.
Table 9: Disaggregated expenditures between special needs and guidance and counseling
2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13
Special needs education 716,780,000 470,440,000 1,301,243,000 1,209,657,000 1,209,647,000
Guidance and counseling 0 790,106,000 1,000,803,000 903,760,000 903,760,000
Department total 716,780,000 1,260,546,000 2,302,046,000 2,113,417,000 2,113,407,000
2012/13
Table 9 indicates that in FY 2008/9 Ug. Shs 716 million was allocated to SNE, this amount
reduced to Ug. Shs 480 million in FY 2009/10 (representing a 34.4%). The reduction was
due to a decrease in transfers to SNE schools and lack of budget lines for some items such
as educational materials (books and periodicals). However, with the reinstatement of
these items in the budget and increase of transfers to schools, allocations in FY 2010/11

increased to Ug. Shs 1.3billion an increase
of over 176% from the previous year’s
budget. However, in FY 2010/11, there
was a 7% reduction (UGX 91.6 million) of
total allocation to 1.2 billion. This then
stagnated over the years to FY 2013/14
This analysis is for only funds allocated
to special needs and not guidance and
counselling.
Special needs as percentage of ministry
budget
The figure below shows a comparison of
Programme 068 with the general ministry
level budget.
8 Here,it is assumed that this budget programme is specifically for special needs and further assume that programme
Figure 5: Special Needs Education Budgets - 2008/09 - 2013/14
2012/13
As presented above, in relation to the
ministry’s budget, SNE has, from 2010/11
to 2012/13, received only 0.33% of the
total ministry budget. These proportions
are not anywhere close to a minimum
of 10% of the entire sector budget as
stipulated in the Disability Act (2006).
Where is money allocated for special
needs spent?
Our analysis indicates that from FY
2010/11, only 53% of the total budget
had been allocated to activities that
directly benefit children in need of special
needs education through scholarships

Table 10: Detailed breakdown of Special Needs Education Budget for FY2009/10 - 2012/13
Votes 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13
Advocacy, Sensitization and
Information Dissemination
35,000,000 358,500,000 344,500,000 344,490,000
Advertising and Public relations 1,500,000 1,500,000 1,500,000
Books, Periodicals and
Newspapers
322,000,000 322,000,000 321,990,000
Staff training 35,000,000 35,000,000 21,000,000 21,000,000
Monitoring and Supervision of
Special Needs Facilities
189,767,000 149,296,000 89,578,000 89,578,000
Allowances 40,471,000 -
Fuel, lubricants and oils 8,000,000 8,000,000 4,800,000 4,800,000
Maintenance of vehicles 3,000,000 3,000,000 1,800,000 1,800,000
Travel Abroad 15,000,000 15,000,000 9,000,000 9,000,000
Travel Inland 123,296,000 123,296,000 73,978,000 73,978,000
Policies, laws, guidelines and
strategies
101,700,000 149,474,000 131,607,000 131,606,000
Advertising and Public relations 1,500,000 - -
Allowances 40,471,000 24,283,000 24,283,000
Computer supplies and IT services 11,000,000 11,000,000 11,000,000 11,000,000
General Staff salaries 85,000,000 93,803,000 93,804,000 93,803,000
welfare and entertainment 4,200,000 4,200,000 2,520,000 2,520,000
Special Needs Education Services 143,973,000 643,973,000 643,973,000 643,973,000
Scholarships and related costs 10,000,000 10,000,000 10,000,000 10,000,000
Transfer to Schools 133,973,000 633,973,000 633,973,000 633,973,000
Grand Total 470,440,000 1,301,243,000 1,209,658,000 1,209,647,000
and transfers to schools, captured under
special needs education services. The
rest of the budget is retained at the head
quarters to cater for activities such as
advocacy and sensitisation, monitoring
and development of policies. Also to note
is that there is a bigger proportion of the
budget that is allocated to special needs
education schools and procurement of
books periodicals and other teaching
materials. Visits however made by the
team to schools indicated a shortage of
learning materials. See table below for
detailed breakdown of the SNE budget in
the last three years.

Wage versus non-wage expenditure
The review of budgets indicates that all special needs resources are recurrent
expenditures. Figure 6 below shows the distribution of special needs resources to wage
and non-wage budget allocations.
Figure 6: Wage and Non-wage allocation for Special Needs Education
2012/13
Figure 6 shows that Non-wage allocations
accounted for a large proportion of the
budget, rising from 87.2% in 2008/09
to 92.2% in 2012/13. The two highest
non-wage allocations were transfers
made to special needs facilities for their
maintenance, and resources allocated to
the procuring of materials such as books.
Allocation to wages was maintained
below UgShs 100 million in all the three
years. To put this in context, salaries
for teachers in all the 113 special needs
education centres are paid under the
district mainstream civil service teachers
payroll. This therefore means that the
wage allocation covers a small team in
charge of special needs education based
at the Ministry of Education.
Analysis of special needs education
services and Transfers to schools
Special Needs Education services budget
line is the core of special needs education
because it is from this that transfers to
schools also known as subvention grants
are made. Despite its importance, this
vote function is only allocated 53% of the

special needs budget. Within this budget,
there are 2 expenditure lines-transfers to
schools and scholarships as indicated in
Table 10.
Transfers to schools in the last three years
have received the highest percentage
compared to scholarships, Like capitation
grant, the subvention grant/transfers to
schools are based on enrolment at a fee
of Ug. shs 15,000 per child per term. But
given that there are 113 special needs
schools in the country, each school
would receive an annual grant of just
Ug. Shs 4.7 million per year. Inclusive
schools do not receive any additional
resources other than the capitation grant
notwithstanding that policy instructs the
integration of learners with special needs
in inclusive schools. For all the schools
visited in Kibaale, subvention grant is sent
once a year. In 2012 for example, Bishop
Rwakaikara Primary School received 2
million shillings. St Thereza Bujuni primary
school on the other hand received only
1.3 million shillings
According to the Assistant Commissioner-
Special Needs Education Department, the
subvention grant is not regular and is only
provided when the Ministry of Finance,
Planning and Economic Development
releases the funds to the Ministry of
Education and Sports and later to the
different special needs education units
in different districts of Uganda. In some
instances, schools take 2-3 terms without
receiving the subvention grant.
Donor funding for Special needs
education
For all the three years analysed, there is
no donor funding for special needs shown
on the budget. In order to ascertain any
donor funding for special needs, the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development’s Creditor Reporting
System database9 was reviewed and
this revealed only one donor project for
special needs education implemented
between 2008 and 201110. The project,
funded by the Norwegian government
through the Norwegian Agency for
Development Cooperation (NORAD),
was titled “Capacity building in teacher
education for children with disabilities
and special needs”. The figure below
shows aid disbursed on this project for
the four years – 2008 to 2011.
9 The OECD’s CRS record all international aid from the Development Assistance Committee countries that flows to
developing countries in all form such as grants, loans, equity or mixed project aid. This database is the single most
comprehensive aid database but it does not include aid from new donors such as the BRICS countries.

Figure 7: Aid funding for Special Needs education
10 The OECD CRS database is updated every two years. This means that in 2013, the earliest data available is for
2011.
Source: Authors Calculations based on OECD CRS database
Figure 7 shows that, the project disbursed US$558,000 over a four year period oscillating
US$112,000 and US$117,000. An analysis of the total donor funding to the education
sector further reveals that special needs education is not highly prioritised, even from
the donor support as Table 12 elaborates.
Table 12: Aid funding for special needs in comparison to education sector
Special Needs Education Total aid to Education sector % of special needs education
2008 131,542.06 126,451,803 0.1040%
2009 112,464.96 108,632,243 0.1035%
2010 177,386.22 171,281,506 0.1036%
2011 136,904.33 70,825,409 0.1933%
Total 558,297.57 477,190,961
Source: Authors Calculations based on OECD CRS database

Table 12 shows that the total donor funds
to the Education Sector between 2008
and 2011 was US$477 million, of this less
than US$0.6 million (0.2) was earmarked
for special needs education in the three
years analysed.
Budget actualization– 2010/11 financial
year
To capture whether and to what extent
the government was meeting its planned
budget, this study utilized data presented
in the annual budget performance reports
of FY 2008/9-FY 2012/13.
Table 13: Budget performance for special needs
SNE Budget SNE Actual release % of release
2008/09** 717,000,000 700,000,000 97.6%
2009/10 470,000,000 340,000,000 72.3%
2010/11 1,301,000,000 910,000,000 69.9%
2011/12* 1,210,000,000 650,000,000 53.7%
2012/13* 1,210,000,000 620,000,000 51.2%
Source: Authors’ calculations from Annual and Semi-annual budget performance report 2008/09-2012/13
***As earlier stated, budgets for SNE
are under the same budgeting vote with
guidance and counselling. Because of data
presentation challenges, both budget and
actual release data for 2008/09 could not
be disaggregated to separate SNE and
guidance and counselling allocations as
required. In addition, data for financial
years 2011/12 and 2012/13 was for half
year/ semi-annual results making it hard
to get conclusive analysis.
In FY 2009/10, only 72.3 percent of
the budget was realized and this figure
further dropped to 69.9 percent in FY
2010/11 when only Ugshs 0.91 billion was
spent of the total Ugshs1.3 billion. This
therefore indicates that the government
is a distance away in terms of delivering
on its planned output for SNE. The table
below gives a snapshot into some of the
activities and their progress as reported in
the Annual Performance Reports. What is
outstanding in almost all the three years
was that allocations were often below
targets and there are many instances
where nothing was reported on the status
of a planned action for a given financial
year. For instance, in FY 2009/10, the
ministry planned to construct two SNE
schools at a cost of Ugshs 898 million and
whilealargesumofthismoneyisreported
to have been released, the report does
not indicate progress on the construction
of the planned schools. Likewise, in
FY 2011/12, construction of three SNE
schools is mentioned in the budget and
the Semi-Annual Budget Performance
Report indicates that construction had not
started as resources had not accumulated
enough to start the construction. Table 14
details progress on some of the planned
SNE activities over the three financial
years.

Table14: ProgressonsomeplannedSNEactivities
YearPlan
Budget
(millionUGX)
Outturn
(millionUGX)
Budget
Performance(%)
Output
2008/09
• SpecialNeedsEducationServices
• Conductsupervisionand
monitoringtoschools;
71770097.6%
• Procuredanddistributedassortedequipment
(braille’s,braillebooks)tolearnersinspecial
schools.
• Paidcapitationgrantsfor3000children.
• Carriedoutsupportsupervisionand
monitoringinallthe5CorePTCsandthe
districtsthatareaffectedbythewarand1324
NFEteachers.
2009/10
• DeveloppolicyonSNE,print
anddistributetoschools
andstakeholders;Develop
Department’sStrategyand5yr.
Planofactivities
• Trainteachersonspecificareas
ofSNE(autism)
47034072.70%
• Noreportonspecialneedspolicydeveloped
anddisseminatedtostakeholders
• Noreportofteacherstrained
2010/11
• Support100SNEinstitutions1498154.50%
• 40SNEschoolsvisitedin55districtsunder
monitoringandsupportsupervision.
• 2specialschoolsfortheblindto
beconstructed
89872680.30%• Noreportonschoolsconstructed

2011/12
• Constructionof3schoolsto
increaseaccessforlearnerswith
SNEespeciallyseverelearning
disabilitiesrequiringshs.3
billion,buttostartwithshs.1
billion.
89812914.4%
• Procurementprocessunderway;Fundsbeing
accumulatedtocommenceconstructionin
subsequentquarters
• Increaseaccesstoeducationby
learnerswithdisabilities.
• Equip8secondaryschools
regionallyforvariousdisabilities
toincreaselearningspacesfor
learnerswithSNE.
• Rehabilitationof2secondary
schools.
• Trainanddeployteachersof
specialneeds;
• Retrainexistingteachersin
primaryschoolstohandlespecial
needs;
• Finalizebasiceducationpolicy
oneducationallydisadvantaged
children;
• CreatePostofSNEOfficerat
districtlevel
Noreportontheseactions
2012/13
• Recruitanddeploy10sign
languageteachersto2SNE
schools
1216251.3%
• Therecruitmentprocessforthesignlanguage
teachersisongoing
Source:AnnualandSemi-annualbudgetperformancereports2008/09-2012/1

Figure8: Quarterlyreleaseprocess
Cashlimits
prepared
by
MOFPED
budget
directorate
Submittedto
MDAs
Lettertothe
Accountant
General
MOFPED
Stage1Stage2Stage3Stage4
MDAs
adjust
workplans
internally
MOFPED
Accountant
General
reviewscash
limitsfor
eachMDA
andsends
fundstoBOU
Issue
warrant
forBOUto
release
funds
Bankof
Uganda
releases
fundsto
commercial
banksand
MDAs
Funds
received
at
commerci
al
banks
where
accounts
areheldforthosethat
havemet
requirement

7.1 INCREASING ACCES TO EDUCATION BY CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS-
HOW INCLUSIVE IS INCLUSIVE EDUCATION?
county education departments literally
understood the inclusive approach to
imply that schools should enrol such
children, never minding whether the
schools have the requirements to provide
adequate special needs education.
Many schools that adopted the inclusive
approach have failed to offer remedial
classes as recommended by the SNE Policy
and the Disability Act (2005) and children
with varied impairments are taught using
the same instruction materials as the
children without disabilities.
7.0 PROGRESS AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF SPECIAL NEEDS
AND INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN UGANDA
This section documents the progress made in rolling out special needs and inclusive education in
Uganda and also presents people’s experiences and their assessment of program implementation
of special needs education.
Among the three study districts of Abim,
Agago and Kibaale, it was only Kibaale that
has specialized units namely, St. Thereza
Bujuni primary school, Bishop Rwakaikara
Primary School and St. Kizito primary
school. These are mainstream schools
with specialized units, enabling children
with and without learning needs to study
in the same physical environment. Agago
and Abim districtsimplementtheinclusive
education model.
Field visits to schools within the study
districts indicated that regular schools
where children with disabilities were
integrated didn’t have the required
materials for learners with special needs.
Similarly, there were no ‘Special Needs
Teachers’ in all the schools visited in Abim
and Agago and only a few in Kibaale.
There was an assumption that schools
would be able to draw from the capitation
grant to finance extra needs of meeting
special needs education, this has however
not happened as capitation grants come
with strict conditions with expenditures
on SNE not being among the conditions.
In many instances, the study teams found
out that officials in the district and sub-
“The children with special learningneeds are expected to adjust or learnthe difficult way”, said one of the district
leaders in Agago district,
“……despite these efforts these childrenstill lack the special attention that shouldbe given to them during activities suchas remedial classes”, said the CAO ofAbim district.

The establishment of a Special Needs
Department in Kyambogo University
has been instrumental in training SNE
Teachers. Similarly, at Primary Teachers’
Colleges, it is compulsory that all students
training to be teachers must study and
be examined on special needs education.
The study established that indeed a
number of teachers have undergone
training. In Kibaale, 70 teachers had been
trained in SNE skills, 2 of these being
graduate teachers in SNE from Kyambogo
University.Ofthetotalnumberofteachers
trained in Kibaale, 6 teach at Bishop
Rwakaikara primary school while 1(one)
helps with repairing Braille machines at St
TherezaBujuni Primary Sschool. In Abim,
twenty (20) teachers had undergone
specialized training in SNE while in Agago
district, less than 10 teachers had received
specialized SNE training.
7.2 ENHANCING AND EQUIPPING TEACHERS WITH SKILLS TO DELIVER
SPECIAL NEEDS AND INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
Table 15: Number of teachers trained in SNE Vs teachers engaged in SNE
District Teachers trained in SNE No. of teacher teaching in SNE
Kibaale 70 20
Abim 20 0
Agago 10 0
While this indicates a large number of
trainedteachersforSNE,lackofteachersto
the contrary emerged as the major barrier
to provision of SNE during discussions at
community, school and district level. The
study noted that contrary to the records of
availability of trained teachers, only 20 of
the trained 70 teachers in SNE in Kibaale
for example are actively engaged on SNE
matters. This translates into a deployment
rate of only 28%. In Abim and Agago
districts none of the trained teachers had
ever practiced SNE since completing their
trainings. Discussions with the District
Inspector of Schools in Abim indicated
that the general shortage of teachers as
a whole means that SNE teachers are
instead drawn to teach the mainstream
classes thus leaving the teachers with no
time to pursue training of pupils in SNE.
Similarly, a number of them are given
administrative functions like being head
teachers. For instance, the Head Teacher
of Abim Primary School is a trained SNE
teacher but is now involved in school
administration work. She attributed her
none participation in SNE to lack of time as
she has to juggle between administrative
work and teaching the mainstream
classes.
For many teachers, not teaching SNE
Schools has led to many lose their
practical skills in SNE as remarked by the
head teacher Rutete primary school.
“IamtrainedinBraillebutbeingaHead
Teacher I am involved in management
and not teaching and due to lack of
practice I have lost the skill. I only have
basic skills”

The challenge of finding teachers for SNE
is further compounded by a number of
factors including the following;
• Quality of teachers; it was noted
the current curriculum abolished
specialization in training of
SNE. Teachers while undergoing
training thus do not specialize but
are introduced to all forms of SNE.
This according to the respondents’
analysis on disability and SNE
has led to graduation of half-
baked teachers who are unable to
effectively support children with
SNE. In Kibaale for instance, the
DEO and the SNE officer noted
that the available teachers are
not very skilled in Braille and sign
language. It was also observed in
Abim primary school that teachers
were not aware about the
school owned special instruction
materials (Braille books) and did
not have the knowledge and skills
to identify that they were braille
materials and how to use them.
• Motivation; as noted in the budget
analysis section, while other
activities of SNE are budgeted for
at the ministry level, salaries of
SNE teachers is drawn from the
UPE pay roll. Teachers interviewed
notedthatspecialneedseducation
requires patience, interest and
extra time, and because teachers
don’t receive top-up for SNE
in addition to teaching other
mainstream classes, many had
lost interest and abandoned SNE
to concentrate on mainstream
classes.ItwasnotedthatinKibaale
and Abim, some of the previously
trained SNE teachers had migrated
to other countries and professions
for better payment. A teacher with
an additional SNE qualification is
paid a gross salary of 310,000/=
like other teachers and even when
they upgrade to diploma level,
their salary remains at the same
scale. According to the outgoing
Head of Department, Special
needs at Kyambogo University,
over the years, few teachers are
seeking to train in specialised
SNE training because there is no
motivation for them during and
after the training.
• “Out-dated” Training Curriculum;
despite the attempts made by
the Central Government to train
teachers in SNE, it was noted
that the SNE training curriculum
has never been reviewed since
2000 even when the context and
provision of SNE has evolved since
then.
7.3 RECRUITMENT OF PERSONNEL
Only Kibaale district had recruited an
Officer for SNE. In Agago and Abim,
this remains a vacant position. This was
attributed to a Ministry of Public Service
ban on recruitment of staff. Similarly,
at Primary Teacher College(PTC) level,
it was noted that despite the fact that
the training is compulsory, only 4 PTCs
countrywide have recruited tutors for
SNE. These include Iganga PTC, Loro PTC,
Soroti PTC and Bishop Stuart PTC.

Staff shortage is a key challenge in the
districts visited. The District
The Education Department in Agago for
example is required to have a minimum
“when ever we request for additionalstaff, we are advised not to raise
the district wage bill by recruiting
new staff. The district has to seekpermission from the Ministry of PublicService to allow us recruit personnelto fill the three vacant positions of theeducation department, said the DistrictEducation Officer, Agago District.
of five (5) people with the responsibility
of overseeing 112 schools in the districts.
Due to a ban on recruitment, the District
Education Department is serviced by only
two officers i.e the District Education
Officer (DEO) and District Inspector of
Schools (DIS).
Refusal to recruit personnel had affected
effective implementation of the inclusive
approach in terms of assessment of
children’s needs, monitoring teachers’
management of children with special
needs education, advising on referrals
and integrating special needs education
in the planning process. Furthermore, this
had created a weak linkage between the
District Education Department and the
corresponding office at sub-county level.
7.4 INCREASING AWARENESS AND ATTITUDINAL CHANGE ON SPECIAL
NEEDS EDUCATION
The study observed that in the last three
years, whereas a significant amount of
resources had been allocated to advocacy
and sensitisation, information about
special needs education is scanty among
the communities the study
team interacted with. While
parents of children with
special needs expected
to receive care and
support from government,
schools, community
and other stakeholders
like non-governmental
organizations, many were
not aware of existence of
such support. We asked
parents about services
offered within the various
schools for children with
special learning needs
Figure 9: Knowledge on availability of special needs
education in the three districts
and 75% of the respondents indicated
they were not aware while only 21% had
knowledge of how the schools supported
children with special needs. 4% of the
respondents were not sure.

children is often negative, which affects
the learning ability of these children and
because of this many parents resort to
keeping the children at home rather than
send to school to be subjected to abuse.
In the various community meetings held,
several parents narrated their ordeals;
The study also observed that majority
of children with special education needs
expressed deep concern about the lack
of care and support given to them,
more especially those with severe and
sometimes multiple impairments. It was
noted that teachers, local authorities
and community members were not very
supportive to households with such
children. Parents complained about
absence of trained teachers to handle
their epileptic children, lack of community
sensitization/awareness campaigns by
local government and the loss of hitherto
traditional community support systems.
This has reportedly led to stigmatization
and isolation of such children by peers
and the adults in the communities.
In other instances, parents of children
with special needs were dissatisfied with
the school support system. Many noted
that the teachers’ attitude towards their
“I have a child of 10years who no longer goesto school because teachers used to harasshim”, said a parent in Paimol sub-county.
“My 15 year old child is epileptic, and gets 4attacks a week and that’s why I stopped himfrom schooling”, said a parent in Lokole sub-
county
“My child needs special shoes so that sheis able to continue attending school whileanother child hindered by lack of shoesmisses school when their feet are injured,said a parent in Lokole sub-county.
7.5 THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION PROVIDED TO LEARNERS WITH
SPECIAL NEEDS
Although the Special Needs and Inclusive
Education Policy (2011), states that the
teacher: student ratio for blind is 1:3 and
that of the physically impaired is 1:20,
none of the schools studied observe this
policy requirement. At Bujuni Primary
School for example, SN&IE teachers
reported that the current ratio stands at
3:17 pupils and this is attributed to lack
of financial resources to recruit more
teachers at the SNE unit.
Children with special learning
requirements in Abim and Agago schools
study with other non-impaired learners
in an inclusive model. However, in all
these schools, there was no infrastructure
and learning equipment to suit learner’s
needs. Unlike in Kibaale where specialised
attention is provided, in Abim and Agago
districts, the only support provided
to children with learning difficulties is
occupying front-row seats during class,
getting an extra 30 minutes during
Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE)and
also printing the PLE examinations in big
font letters.
The special consideration provided
at Primary Leaving Examination(PLE)
though welcome, was found to be a late
intervention, since there is reportedly

minimal attention provided at the lower
level of the learner’s education career
in the school where majority drop out
from and only encounter the special
examinations when doing PLE exams.
The study team noted that while
children with special needs are enrolled
in schools, a significant number of them
attend school just to pass time and are
not involved in learning. Several cases
of such children staying in the same
class for several years were reported..
A case in point is at Paimol sub-countyof Agago district, a boy with multiple
disabilities has attended PrimaryFour for the last seven years, whileanother child instead of staying in oneclass during the school calendar, hemeanders in different classes and hasbeen allowed to do this for 7 years. InAbim Primary School, one Akwenyo,aged 17 years has been in Primary Fourfor the past 10 years and continues to
come to school every day.

Financing; resource allocation to Special
NeedsEducationremainslowatanaverage
of 0.35% of the entire Ministry budget,
below the recommended 10%. In addition
to this, the huge variance between funds
approved and funds released reduces
further the resource envelope to support
effective implementation of Special Needs
Education. In FY 2009/10, only 72.3% of
the budget was realized. This later fell to
69.9% in FY 2010/11 when only UGX 0.91
billion of the UGX1.3 billion budgeted
was released and spent. Evidence from
Kibaale indicates that subvention grant
is irregular and falls below the budgeted
amounts.
Inadequate facilities and limited capacity
to use the available equipment- the
schools are faced with shortage of
equipment due to irregular supply of
equipment and the lack of capacity of
the special needs teachers to operate
this equipment which affects the quality
of special needs education provided. The
Headmistress at Abim Primary School
noted the school had no special needs
education equipment besides the Braille
books. Furthermore, the training provided
at the PTCs does not furnish teachers with
specialised skill to use the equipment. As
a result, while some schools had special
needs education equipment such as
Braille books, the teachers responsible
had limited knowledge on how to use
them. In other instances, schools in
Kibaale district do not receive regular
supplies of equipment for the blind
from Government; instead they rely on
donations from agencies such as Sight
Savers.
Meanwhile at Kyambogo University
Special Needs Education Department,
the study team was informed that SNE
equipment is expensive and currently
there is no provision of equipment from
government since the end of DANIDA-
funded EARS project.
Limited availability of special schools–
Uganda has only 113 special schools and
thesearenotevenlydistributedamongthe
112 districts of Uganda. Some districts like
Abim and Agago do not have such schools
in their districts and Kibaale district has
only 2. Although there were attempts to
establish a unit in Abim, this was never
successful. While the government policy
is to promote inclusive schools, the reality
is that not all pupils can attend inclusive
schools due to their vulnerability. Every
region of this country could therefore be
supported to establish a specialised unit
where students from that region who are
unable to attend inclusive schools can
access quality special needs education.
Lack of adequate infrastructure–
in Kibaale, despite the presence of
specialised units, schools like Bishop
8.0 CHALLENGES FACED IN THE PROVISION OF SNE
A number of challenges were identified at household, school, community, local government and
national levels that make it difficult for the realisation of the right to education for persons with
disabilities. These include the following;

Financing Special Needs Education in Uganda.

Financing Special Needs Education in Uganda.

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