By Kabuye Ronald
Uganda’s cabinet has been urged to expedite the review and approval of the inclusive education policy which will make it mandatory for every school to have inclusive education for both children with and without disabilities.
Ruth Nalugya, the Executive Director for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Uganda (SHAU) says Inclusive Education should transform from lip service into a policy or law for all schools to not only admit children with disabilities but also ensure that they participant and benefit from the academics and other happenings at the school as is the case with those without disabilities.
Ruth Nalugya made the remarks at the dissemination of the Obuntu bulamu, Peer to Peer Support Inclusive Education Intervention report at Buloba C/U primary school.
She said that the Obuntu Bulamu intervention has also birthed much of the content in the Inclusive Education Policy and the Continuous Professional Program which aims at giving on job training for teachers on how to handle and help children with disabilities attain quality education but also enjoy several of their constitutional rights and thus become responsible people in the society. The two proposals are before cabinet which has been urged to expedite them.
According to the research result, which ran from 2020 to 2024 conducted in 18 government primary schools in Masaka and Wakiso districts it assessed 124 children with disabilities at endline, Peers a endline: 123, Number of parents of children with disabilities: 165, Number of peer parents: 123 and number of teachers 85.
However, the same program has been rolled out in several other government primary schools in Mbale, Mbarara, Gulu and Kampala districts.
The Obuntu bulamu program aims at Promoting inclusion through peer-to-peer support at child, parent and teacher level. It consists of a peer to peer training and support packages for parents, teachers and children over 1 year
The program has Peer led interventions by trained children, parents, and teachers.
The research found that the Obuntu bulamu peer-to-peer support intervention significantly increased the educational inclusion score of children with disabilities overtime by an average of 4.4 points. It also brought about increase enrolment, fostered attitude change towards the children with disability by teachers, parents and fellow pupils thus reducing the discrimination.
“Peers now help children with disabilities in accessing the toilet, they help them go upstairs to access the classroom if a child with a disability is using a stick to walk and it falls, they pick it up for them. They do not treat them like a taboo” highlighted the report.
It also highlighted improved Parents’ involvement in the school.
“When we call for a meeting, we sensitize other parents about inclusive education. Parents enjoy these meetings a lot when they hear from a fellow parent about not discriminating learners with disabilities or special learning needs, you realize that the parents are involved in that. For example, there is girl who had dropped out of school due to discrimination, her parents had these [Obuntu bulamu] trainings. Now she is back in school” the report attribute this to the head teachers’ intervention.
The program has also brought about Environmental modifications to improve accessibility.
“At least we have tried to construct a ramp on either side of the building so that children who use wheelchairs can use it in the meantime and now they can easily access the building. We also put a ramp at the toilets, so they can easily access them.
They have also tried to make the compound accessible. One of the schools that a compound full of stones and broken bricks have been removed”
Other findings include: increased positive change in social and academic performance of children with disabilities in schools where the intervention is. The Ministry of Education and Sports including Obuntu Bulamu training materials in national CPD on inclusive education for primary school teachers.
In the same way, some of the challenges encountered include: Relocation of study participants, Staff transfers at the study sites (schools), High expectations from the participants and Reduction in funding / priority changes from donors.
Dr. Pamela Nzeyimana, a consultant and researcher at the National Curriculum Development Centre NCDC applauded the trainers, parents, teachers, pupils and partners for the great work done which has yielded great results before urging them not to relent.
In the same meeting Parents, pupils, teachers and trainers gave their own experience on how the Obuntu bulamu intervention has positively transformed them.
According to one of the Principal investigators: Associate Prof. Femke Bannink Mbazzi, since the program has come to an end in primary schools now they want to advance the Obuntu Bulamu peer to peer support inclusive education intervention to secondary schools and to the early childhood education development.
She reasons that children with disabilities find challenges in transforming from primary to secondary and thus a need to bridge the gap so that they easily transform from primary to secondary using the new curriculum of competence based not knowledge based.
She also said that they are to introduce the same to the early childhood development since they had neglected that field to the extent that some of the children with disabilities start their education at the age of 10 and above thus a need to bridge the gap in the nursery section by training Teachers, Parents and pupils on how to help those with disabilities attain quality education and other constitutional rights.
The intervention was supported by the Medical Research Council, Uganda Virus Research Institute, London School of Hygiene Tropical Medicine, Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Uganda SHAU among others.
