How we spend most of our time at Masaka SNE

Masaka School for Children with Special Needs Education (Masaka SNE) is an educational establishment devoted to the education of profoundly deaf and hearing-impaired children. It offers Pre-Primary and Primary education. The school’s curriculum emphasizes vocational training skills aimed at giving the children the skills they need for independent living and employment.

The School was set up in 2005, and currently has 83 pupils enrolled, all of whom are boarders. Most of the pupils come from very poor and severely disadvantaged backgrounds, with families often afflicted by the effects of AIDS and unable to afford part, or in some cases any, of the tuition and boarding fees charged.

As well as providing education to these children. Masaka SNE also runs an active program of educating and supporting the families of these children in order to help them cope better and provide the necessary care, love and welfare to the children. Through activities such as drama, sports, agriculture the school encourages the involvement of the students in order to help them be able to support themselves for life after they leave School.

The ongoing programs and activities include the following:

• Providing educational programs in line with the Uganda National Curriculum requirements tailored to meet the children’s needs;
• Developing long-life skills for independent living;
• Provision of sports and other recreational activities e.g music, dance and drama;
• Providing necessary support to parents and children to bridge the existing gaps in all areas of life by teaching parents sign language and how to provide appropriate support for their children;
• Raising awareness among the local communities to understand issues concerning deaf people to accept them as equal in the wider society;
• Promoting health education, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS issues, Covid-19 SOPs, sexual and general health issues using sign language;
• Training the pupils and assisting them to gain confidence and self-esteem to prepare them for the outside world and assist them fit in the wider society;
• Encourage interaction between the deaf children and other hearing children in school activities, e.g. Music, dance and drama, debates with the help of sign language interpreters;
• Promoting child rights;
• Promoting teacher development programs by sponsoring our teachers to attend seminars, workshops and conferences;
• Promote vocational skills and lifelong skills training programs
• Sensitizing the community about the needs as well as abilities of the deaf children
• Carrying out home visits for child and parental support as when necessary