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The Government of Uganda aims to provide good quality education for all learners in inclusive schools. However, some learners who have severe disabilities, including those who are deaf, will, for some time, continue to receive their education in special schools. In this article, Kirsten Kristensen, consultant in inclusive and special needs education for many countries in East Africa, Martin Omagor-Loican, Commissioner for Special Needs Education, Negris Onen, Principal Education Officer for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, both at the Ministry of Education in Sports in Uganda, and Daniel Okot, co-ordinator for the Diploma in Special Needs Education at Kyambogo University, provide an account of their study of 15 such schools. The findings from the study indicate a striking need for reform and transformation. While Uganda has an advanced structure for training teachers in special needs education, quality of education and educational materials in special schools, is poor. Often children are admitted to special schools without proper assessment of their educational needs and the resources are not available to provide them with an appropriate range of experiences. The authors of this article call for a thorough going review of provision and make a series of coherent and persuasive recommendations for developments in policy and practice focused on enabling special schools in Uganda to play an essential role in future as resource centres supporting an inclusive education system.

Presents a historical perspective of educational and environmental curricula orientation in Africa. Examines environmentally-related problem areas (such as deforestation, pesticides, and endangered species) and lists the benefits and advantages of environmental education. A restructuring of Africa's formal education curriculum is recommended. (ML)

Summary: Background: Hospital-acquired infections (HAI) are an important public health problem worldwide. Little information is available from African countries, but published data show that the burden of HAI is greater in Africa than in developed countries. In 2002, the World Health Organization (WHO) published guidelines for preventing HAI. Aim: To evaluate the impact of a hospital infection control programme on the prevalence of HAI among patients in a large Ugandan hospital. Methods: A one-day cross-sectional prevalence survey and a ward procedure survey were performed in Lacor Hospital in March 2010 using standardized questionnaires. All patients admitted to hospital not less than two days before the survey were eligible to participate in the prevalence survey. Modified WHO criteria for HAI were used. The ward procedure survey examined the procedures to prevent HAI. Several hospital infection control measures were subsequently implemented, in accordance with WHO infection control guidelines, starting in October 2010. The prevalence survey and ward procedure survey were repeated in October 2011. Findings: The prevalence of HAI was 34% in 2010 and 17% in 2011. The prevalence of infected patients reduced from 28% to 14%. The prevalence of HAI was lower in all age groups and for all types of HAI except urinary tract infections following the implementation of infection control activities. Conclusion: This study showed that HAI is an important problem in this large African hospital, and that the prevalence of HAI can be reduced effectively following the adoption of basic infection control procedures. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]