The Education of Special Needs Children in Uganda: Lessons from the American Legal Environment

Abstract

The American approach to special education is unique. It is grounded in an extensive statutory and regulatory framework. Its robust dispute resolution framework provides opportunities for collaboration and reconciliation while also pitting parents versus school districts in legal proceedings. The American special education experience is rich in ideas, models, good intentions and hard-earned experience. Thus it is an ideal subject for comparative analysis. In the case of Uganda, the American legal environment is particularly instructive. The legal framework regarding the provision of special education in Uganda is skeletal and largely undefined. The domestic law places emphasis of establishing structures and capacity building. While certain organizations look to the provision of education to persons with disabilities as a human rights issue, human rights instruments are short on practical approaches for implementing meaningful special education reform. This paper is not an attempt to promote and import American ideas and methodologies. Instead the intent is to inspire informed assessment of the legal and regulatory framework that guides, enables and accompanies the provision of special education services in Uganda. By comparing the status of rights of special needs students in Uganda with those in the United States we get a sense of what the future might hold. In addition, the paper provides strategic perspective for those seeking to promote and champion the rights of special needs students in Uganda.