Children with disabilities are often neglected. And many of the parents just "dump" their children in schools expecting schools to cater for all their needs including feeding and academic. Sadly all the available SEN schools are public schools with very little government support.
For most parents of these affected children, education is not a need. So many of them are denied that opportunity to go to school.
The Programme focuses on:
1). Promotion of inclusive education
2). Ensuring adequate staffing for the SEN department
3). The welfare of children with disabilities in target schools (health, hygiene, social welfare and general protection)
4). Support with assistive devices where possible
5). Support with instructional and scholastic materials e.g. for the blind
This Programme aims at ensuring efficient class-pupil ratios and good classroom structures for an ideal learning environment. So we construct, or upgrade and refurbish existing classrooms
While some development partners have tried to reduce the class-pupils ratios, a number of children study in dilapidated classroom structures in some schools. Some classrooms don't have cemented floors which makes them unfit for the learners especial where some learners sit down on the floor for their lessons.
All schools still use the traditional chalkboards but unfortunately a number of the available chalkboards are in a sorry state, needing a thorough re-do.
The Programme also has a plan for refurbishment and (where possible) construction of staff houses for teachers in partner schools.
These are some of the interventions that the Infrastructural Development Programme seeks to provide.
This is a Programme under the WASH strategy where our mission is to ensure all target schools have decent and efficient toilets/ latrines for both learners and staff, as hygiene and sanitation are a key priority area if School Aid Projet Uganda.
While the standard latrine-pupil ratio is 1:45 , the current situation according to our study reveals that in some schools the ratio stretches even up to 1:100 (1latrine stance being shared by 100 learners).
In some schools, teachers share toilets with learners.
Meanwhile, in some schools, learners keep sneaking into latrines that were condemned, risking being buried in them. These facilities were condemned because of assessed risks of collapsing on the users.
With our central mission of helping to improve learning environments in schools for better learning outcomes, SAP -Uganda has a Programme of furnishing schools with classroom supplies for enhanced learning. Some of these may include desks, instructional materials, and appropriate teaching/learning aids.
While the standard desk-pupil ratio is 1:3, there are cases where we have 1:6 (1desk : 6pupils). This certainly affects learning outcomes.
Currently many schools don't have the right instructional materials (textbooks, chalkboard tools, and the like), and most of them do not have visual tools like the globe, and relevant maps.
At the same time, while their counterparts are using personal laptops and tablets, some do not have even a single desk computer in their schools. So they are always disadvantaged. And it is in this regard that School Aid Project aims to help improve the situation by helping the disadvantaged schools acquire some of these tools. This is one way to fight inequalities in the Ugandan education sector
This is a Programme intended to foster the planting of trees in schools in line with the global need to conserve the environment and also teach learners to appreciate the value of trees. This is the secret behind the Green Revolution Project
SAP -Uganda has a target of planting more than 50,000 trees by 2030 in Jinja schools through the Green Revolution project.
With the revitalization of the industrialization of Jinja, lots of trees have been destroyed to supply wood fuel for factories such as the steel rolling plants which consume much energy. Such factories find wood fuel cheaper than electricity and so they would rather source wood fuel from the neighborhood, at the expense of the environment!
High industrial growth has also created high demand for building poles and timber, also exerting pressure on the available trees. Consequently, the local climate has been compromised with increasing dry spells, and destruction of natural habitats and reserves for a variety of fauna and floral species.