By Leonard Kamugisha Akida,
KAMPALA
The Deputy Speaker of parliament Rt. Hon. Thomas Tayebwa has called upon government to establish a deaf school in each of the four regions of Uganda to cater for deaf learners as a way of creating and increasing safe environment for deaf education.
“We really need at least one school per region to bring service closer to our people with disabilities because the cost of coming to Mbale or Wakiso is very difficult for people with disabilities from distant areas,” he said.
He made the remarks on Saturday while officiating at the 50yrs celebration and fundraising gala of the Uganda National Association of the Deaf (UNAD) at Mestil Hotel in Kampala.
According to the deputy speaker, persons with special needs especially the deaf find difficulties with accessing better education because of inadequate and long distance schools for disabilities.
He tasked the government to provide social protection, economic empowerment and education programmes that directly support persons with disabilities and pledged to become “a full-time partner of the deaf community and an advocate of the persons with disabilities”
“How come we build for others and when it comes to the deaf and other PWDs, we sit privately and fundraise? Aren’t they not taxpayers? Are they not Ugandans? The Deputy Speaker wondered. “As a government, we must put money in the budget to support the deaf community and other people with special needs.”
The Deputy Speaker promised to arrange a special meeting with the Education Minister, Janet Kataha Museveni, the Uganda National Association of the Deaf and all the MPs representing PWDs among others to discuss special needs education challenges and the skilling center for the deaf.
According to statistics from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Uganda deaf community has a total population of about 1.2 million persons, representing about 3 per cent of the country’s total population with more than 90 per cent of adults suspected not to have been to school at all, highlighting a crisis that needs urgent attention.
In last year’s released Primary Leaving Examination results, a total of 2,257 pupils with disabilities sat exams and those with hearing impairments performed poorly. Out of 263 pupils who sat PLE, none passed in Division One. Only 50 pupils managed Division Two, 41 in Division Three, 56 in Division Four and 116 pupils were ungraded. UNAD blames poor funding and lack of access to sign language teachers as the main cause of the poor performance.
The Deputy Speaker promised to follow up on all the issues raised.
“We need to put in place all the necessary measures and regulations that cater for the needs of the deaf and other people with disabilities… I pledge to work with the relevant ministries to ensure effective implementation of the disability act.” Tayebwa said. as he thanked Hon Alex Ndeezi for the invitation and the MPs for people with disabilities for doing “a great job in Parliament.”
Speaking at the Golden Jubilee celebration and fundraising, the Minister of State for Gender, Labour and Social Development (Disability Affairs), Hon. Hellen Asamo, urged Parliament to support the Ministry of Public Service to have all public institutions staffed with sign language interpreters, for meaningful inclusion of the deaf community at work.
“The recognition of sign language as an official language in the Constitution of Uganda is important for the inclusion of the deaf people in Uganda’s Vision 2014 and achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals agenda of leaving no one behind,” Minister Asamo appealed.
The UNAD 50 years celebration and fundraising was organized under the theme: “Building inclusive Communities for all: Uganda sign language unites us”
