Fort Portal special needs schools are out of money

School officials who run special needs units in Fort Portal City express concerns about inadequate teaching staff, dwindling funding and delayed financial support, all of which they say have severely hindered their operations.

Since the launch of Universal Primary Education (UPE) in 1997, Canon Apollo Demonstration School and St Peter and Paul Primary School have been designated as special needs education centers in Fort Portal City, Kabarole District.

Mr George Kituku, head teacher of Canon Apollo Demonstration School, said the school had 73 students with special needs, including deaf and mentally challenged children from Kabarole and neighboring areas in Tooro and Rwenzori sub-counties.

He said the school currently has only two teachers for students with special needs, but the required ratio is one teacher for every three students. He added that three former special needs teachers were transferred without replacement, leaving the school overwhelmed.

“We are seriously understaffed as we only have two teachers for all these students. Due to the inclusion policy, students with special needs are often mixed with others in certain subjects, and mainstream teachers are not trained to meet their needs; some students even need sign language interpreters to understand what they are being taught,” Mr Kituku explained.

He added: “If you transfer a teacher with special needs from a school that has students with special needs, it’s very important to replace them.”

On funding, Mr Kituku said although the third cycle UPE capitation grant of Shs2,037,633 was received on September 23, the city authorities were yet to disburse the special needs grant.

“I wrote to the municipality’s education officer, but I did not receive any response. The special needs fund is crucial for basic needs such as food, porridge and learning aids for these students. “Without funds, it becomes difficult to operate, we have already reached half of the period and we are having difficulty meeting these needs,” he said.

Of the 73 students with special needs, 25 eat at school with their parents’ contributions, while the rest commute to work. This year, three students have registered to take the Primary Education Leaving Examinations (PLE).

Mr Godfrey Tideybwa, a special needs teacher at Canon Apollo Demonstration School since 1999, expressed the difficulties of teaching with only two staff members.

“With only two teachers, it’s quite difficult to give these students the attention they need. In a typical week, we can only meet with them three times; on other days, they are placed in regular classrooms, and each teacher can accommodate what these students need at all times,” he explained.

Mr Tideybwa noted that some teachers were reluctant to transfer to the school because special needs education was seen as additional work that did not require extra pay.

He emphasized the need for pay increases to attract and retain teachers with special needs, saying that currently the government’s pay rates do not reflect the unique demands of special needs education, making it difficult to recruit qualified staff.

Regarding capitation grants, the school received Shs1,977,574 in Term One and Shs2,017,327 in Term Two for special needs, but no funding has yet been provided for Term Three.

At St Peter and Paul Primary School, despite different grade levels, two teachers teach 35 students with special needs in the same classroom.

Ms. Juliet Tibasanga, a special needs teacher at the school, explained that in 1997, classes were held in separate rooms but now, due to funding constraints, all students are kept in one classroom.

Ms. Tibasanga informed that a deaf student has registered for the PLE, which ends today, and will sit alone with an invigilator.

The management said the school receives about Shs1.8 million per term for the needs of these students, but is seeking an increase of up to Shs3 million per term for smooth operations.

Fort Portal City education officer, Mr. Richard Alituha, said they received funds for special needs schools but were instructed to distribute the funds for UPE schools first. ”We received money, but we could not get permission to send money to schools, we primarily focused on the UPE per capita grant we sent. ‘Now we need to find out why we are not allowed to send this money.’