Children with special needs: Mukono appeals for improved school facilities

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Upon entering one of the classroom blocks at Mukono Municipal Special Needs Education Primary School, you are immediately struck by children packed on the few benches in the room.

The school's management reports indicate a growing population of children with special needs, resulting in up to six pupils sharing a single bench in a small, cramped room.

According to school administrators, this overcrowding is negatively impacting learners’ performance, as many struggle to concentrate and grasp the teacher’s instructions while sitting uncomfortably.

Loyce Taaka Odwori, Mukono Municipal special needs education primary school team lead during an interview about the procured desks for special needs children. (Photo by Juliet Kasirye)

Special needs children siting on some of the desks donated by Rotary Club of Mukono during the handover at Mukono Municipal Special Needs Education Primary School on 17th October 2025. (Photo by Juliet Kasirye)

The team leader of Mukono Municipal Special Needs Education Primary School, Loyce Taaka Odwori, disclosed that with shared facilities, the learners' attention is divided and also affects the children's ability to express themselves using sign language.

“Some of the children need enough space for easy mobility, but this is not possible as they begin writing their assignment, since they have to compete with a small space on a crowded desk”, explained Odwori.

Odwori stated that out of 105 children, close to 80% use sign language because they are deaf. Some of the children with manageable cases the school admits include autistic, epileptic, and some children have multiple disabilities, intellectual impairments, and cerebral palsy.

She appealed while the Rotary Club of Mukono was handing over classroom desks at Mukono Municipal Special Needs Education Primary School on Friday.

Given that most children with special needs use sign language and body expression, Odwori said, the movement of hands needs space while someone is sitting.

“We are grateful that today we have received the desks. The classroom experience is going to be lively, and the interaction and communication are going to be boosted. We are hoping that by the end of this term, as children sit their examinations for promotional exams, their grades are going to be better.” Odwori commended Rotary.

Besides classroom desks, Odwori also decried the speech therapist shortage, saying that though the majority of the learners use sign language, some learners who can hear need support in speech therapy.

“If we can get some support to bring on board a speech therapist, it can help some of the learners to develop their speaking. We request the Ministry of Education to enrol qualified special needs teachers into government payroll, such that the money that the parents contribute is used to support the administration and the development of the school, other than paying the teachers' salaries,” requested Odwori.

The President Rotary Club of Mukono 2025-2026, Albert Sibuta Mooli, recalled that during their initial visit to the school to donate books, the head teacher, Sarah Nabaggala, expressed a pressing need: "You have given us books, but the children have nowhere to sit and read them.”

This plea, according to Mooli, resonated deeply with club members, prompting them to seek a solution.

“We realised we had to provide desks to create a conducive learning environment, similar to what children in private schools enjoy. Though the school requested 100 desks, as an initiating venture, we have donated 20 desks worth sh4.3m. Ten of them are two-seaters, and then the other 10 are single-seaters.” Mooli stated.

This project, according to Mooli, is going to run for about three years and aims to ensure that all children have a comfortable learning environment, equivalent to that of their peers in private schools.

While using sign language, the special needs children commended Rotarians for their noble hearts and for lending a hand to those in need.