By Ritah Akello
Every child deserves the chance to learn, regardless of disability. Yet for many children with visual impairment in Northern Uganda, access to quality secondary education remains a distant dream. Hidden within Gulu High School, however, is a remarkable story that challenges this reality: a story of resilience, innovation and the transformative power of inclusive education.
For nearly four decades, Gulu High School’s Visually Impaired Unit, popularly known as the Blind Annex, has quietly transformed hundreds of lives.
Established in 1986, the unit admits an average of 35 learners each academic year and remains the only specialised secondary education facility for learners with visual impairment across much of Northern Uganda. It serves students from the Acholi sub-region and neighboring districts, providing opportunities that would otherwise remain out of reach.
Its contribution extends far beyond examination results. The unit has become living proof that disability should never determine a child’s educational destiny.
Inclusive education is not merely about placing children with disabilities in mainstream schools. It is about ensuring they participate meaningfully in learning, access the same curriculum as their peers, receive appropriate support and graduate with equal opportunities. By that measure, Gulu High School has emerged as one of Uganda’s quiet success stories.
Uganda’s Ministry of Education and Sports recognises inclusive education as the national approach to ensuring every learner, regardless of disability or background, receives quality education. Through its Department of Special Needs and Inclusive Education, the ministry advocates adapting teaching methods, infrastructure, curriculum and learning resources to remove barriers instead of expecting learners to fit inaccessible systems.
Gulu High School’s philosophy
The school administration has deliberately invested in creating an environment where learners with visual impairment can thrive academically and socially. Beyond classroom instruction, partnerships with development organisations have exposed learners to digital skills and emerging technologies that are increasingly essential in today’s economy.
One such partnership with Oysters and Pearls Uganda has significantly expanded opportunities for learners through holiday technology boot camps.
In January 2018, Sharon Akuja, then an 18-year-old student from Apac District, discovered her passion for website design during a two-week intensive digital skills programme. Using Text-to-Speech software, she learnt web design and left the training determined to establish her own web-design consultancy, an ambition that demonstrates how accessible technology can unlock careers previously considered impossible for learners with visual impairment.
In April 2024, the MTN Foundation Uganda, together with development partners, donated computers and assistive devices worth approximately Shs150 million to the Blind Annex. The donation included ten computers, a projector, a high-definition scanner, a printer and internet connectivity, all installed in partnership with Sense International Uganda.
The computers were equipped with Duxbury Braille Translator software, enabling teachers to convert ordinary text into Braille for learners.
To aid learning, additional assistive technologies include Job Access With Speech (JAWS), which enables learners to navigate computers independently using speech output, and Victor Reader software that allows students to record classroom lessons for later revision. These innovations have dramatically improved learners’ independence, classroom participation and access to information.
Such investments demonstrate what Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) which seeks to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” looks like in practice. They show that inclusive education is not simply about access to school but about investing in the teachers, technologies, infrastructure and learning materials that enable every learner to succeed.
Yet despite these successes, sustaining inclusive education remains an expensive undertaking.
The Blind Annex has benefited from support from UNICEF, UNESCO and the United Nations Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Nevertheless, the cost of maintaining specialised equipment and replacing ageing assistive technologies continues to outpace available resources.
The financial burden is compounded by widespread poverty across the Acholi sub-region. According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics’ Multidimensional Poverty Index based on the 2024 National Population and Housing Census, 33.2 percent of the population in the sub-region experiences multidimensional poverty. Many families therefore struggle to purchase even the most basic assistive devices for their children.
According to the Perkins School for the blind, a single JAWS screen-reader licence costs between US$1,000 and US$1,500 (approximately UGX3.5-5.5 million), while a Perkins Brailler costs between US$800 and US$1,000 (about UGX3-3.7 million). For many households, these are unaffordable expenses.
Uganda’s commitment to inclusive education is firmly grounded in both national and international law. The country subscribes to the Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education (1994), which affirms every child’s right to attend school within their community and receive appropriate educational support.
Domestically, the 1995 Constitution, the Persons with Disabilities Act (2006), and Uganda’s ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2008 collectively guarantee equitable access to quality education for learners with disabilities. These commitments informed the establishment of the Ministry of Education and Sports’ Department of Special Needs and Inclusive Education.
Implementation lagging behind policy
Across Uganda, schools face severe shortages of specialised teachers and learning resources. In Bushenyi District, for example, more than 420 learners with disabilities are served by only 12 secondary school special-needs teachers. In April 2026, District Education Officer Nicholas Natuha acknowledged that the shortage remains overwhelming. Similar challenges continue to affect schools across the Acholi sub-region.
“When you subtract two head teachers and me, you are left with only nine teachers. This is not enough for learners with physical, visual and hearing impairments,” New Vision reported.
The success of Gulu High School’s Blind Annex therefore should not be viewed as an exception but as a model worthy of replication.
Its experience demonstrates that when governments, development partners, civil society and communities invest in inclusive education, learners with disabilities excel academically, acquire digital skills, pursue higher education and contribute meaningfully to national development.
As Uganda works towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 by 2030, greater investment in specialised teachers, assistive technologies, accessible learning materials and disability-friendly infrastructure is no longer optional, it is essential.
The author of this article is a student of Victoria University, Kampala, Uganda pursuing Masters of Education Administration and Management.
