By Elijah Khisa
The deputy headteacher of St Francis De Sales Mulago School for the Deaf, Wanyana Prossy, has appealed to the government, development partners and well-wishers to support the construction of a multipurpose hall that will accommodate a modern, fully equipped vocational skills training centre.
Wanyana said the facility would provide learners with practical skills and technical knowledge to prepare them for future employment challenges and enable them to become self-reliant.
She made the appeal on October 30, 2026, during the official briefing of Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) candidates at the school, where 37 candidates received an assortment of success cards and personal gifts.
The ceremony was held at the school located at Mulago Catholic Parish headquarters.
Wanyana said the school had received various vocational training equipment from friends of children with disabilities but lacked adequate space to assemble and utilise the equipment.
“We have all the necessary technical equipment for vocational skills training, which were donated to us by friends of the disability children fraternity, including sewing machines and cookery equipment, among others. However, we lack the space to assemble them for use,” she lamented.
She said the school, which has a population of 150 pupils, had learners who were bright, hardworking and determined to become self-sustainable but were being held back by inadequate infrastructure.
“Our pupils are capable of acquiring practical skills that can empower them to start their own hands-on businesses. However, the lack of sufficient space to assemble the equipment is a major challenge,” Wanyana said.
She appealed to well-wishers to support the school during its annual school ball scheduled for December, where pupils will showcase their talents through music, dance and drama.
The event will feature cultural dances, mime performances, poetry, indoor games and exhibitions of practical skills, including cookery and tailoring.
Wanyana commended Rotarians for providing the PLE candidates with success cards and other essential personal gifts, saying the support was timely and would boost the morale of the 37 candidates, comprising 23 girls and 14 boys.
She encouraged the candidates to remain faithful to God and dedicate themselves to revising their books ahead of their final examinations.
“Despite being deaf, you are equal to and even better equipped than other human beings. Do not undermine your God-given potential,” she told the candidates.
The president of Rotary Club of Centenary Bank Mapeera House, Maria Ochaloi, urged the candidates to remain spiritually confident and believe in themselves as they prepare to sit their final examinations next week.
She encouraged them to remain strong, focused and determined to succeed, with Almighty God as their guide.
Ochaloi, who works in the credit department at Centenary Bank headquarters, said the Rotary Club was committed to supporting the school’s infrastructure development agenda.
She said the club was mobilising resources to support the construction of a perimeter fence to improve the security of the school’s property and children, as well as the provision of water and sanitation facilities to enhance the pupils’ health and living environment.
Meanwhile, the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has registered 4,655 candidates with special needs for the 2026 PLE examinations.
The board’s principal public relations officer, Jennifer Kalule, revealed this on October 30, 2026, during a news conference at the Government Media Centre, where the official PLE examination timetable was released.
Kalule said the registered candidates comprise 2,352 boys and 2,303 girls.
She added that UNEB had dispatched 1,544 special-needs education specialists to support the candidates during the examinations.
The specialists include personnel for blind and deaf candidates, transcribers, sign language interpreters and other technical teams trained to handle the diverse needs of special-needs candidates.
