The National Assembly Committee on National Cohesion and Equal Opportunity now wants the Ministry of Education (MoE) to double capitation for schools with special needs in order to address a myriad of challenges faced by teachers in those institutions.
Speaking at St Jude Malaba Special School for the Mentally Challenged after listening to views from stakeholders, the committee chaired by Mandera East MP Yusuf Adan Haji noted that special needs schools should be given special attention by the government.
Teso North MP Oku Kaunya and his Kamukunji and Shinyalu counterparts Yussuf Hassan and Fred Ikana said stakeholders in the schools they visited expressed the need to develop a curriculum for schools with special needs and provide free health care for the learners.
“We shall make sure no student with special needs is left behind,” he said, revealing that a report would be tabled in Parliament to address the welfare of minorities, including the disabled, women and caregivers.
KNUT’s Executive Secretary for Teso Branch Geoffrey Ekasiba, also the Board of Management (BoM) Chair of Malaba Special School for Mentally Challenged, appealed to the committee to recommend for risk allowances for teachers in special schools, saying they are vulnerable to assault by the pupils they teach.
The committee collected views from stakeholders of three schools in Western region and three others in Nyanza. They will later compile a report before tabling it in the National Assembly for debate.
Malaba Special School Headteacher Praxidies Ekisa said there are three schools with special needs in Teso North, two in Teso South and a similar number in Teso Central.
Ekisa said the institution, which opened doors to the public in 2021, started with 5 children and now the population stands at 70.
Ekisa cited challenges facing the institution, including lack of classrooms, dining hall, permanent source of water, land for expansion, proper fencing, lack of workshop, tools, and equipment for vocational training, lack of enough teachers, lack of school nurse and therapist, and little and delayed funding from the ministry.
“The school has 7 classrooms hosting both classes and staffroom, 2 latrines and an adapted toilet, 1 makeshift kitchen made of old iron sheets , 2 water tanks and dormitory cum classrooms; one for girls and one for boys,” he said.
To chart the way forward for the school, Ekisa urged the MoE to make the special school TVET-compliant to handle vocational courses.
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