Luqada Somaliga

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Address:

SASE
Pepsi Road
Hargeisa
Somaliland

Telephone:

+252 2 525406
+252 2 4418302
+252 2 4411161

E-mail:
contact@sase-sl.org

 HARGEISA SCHOOL FOR SPECIAL NEEDS

Hargeisa School for Special Needs caters an educational programme for over 150 children who have various disabilities mainly intellectual disabilities.

The programme child should have a programme of studies of his own according to his or her individual needs and skills. Each class at this school has a small number of pupils, which enable the teachers to give the children the attention and support that they need.

School buildings 

Services Provided
 We provide a range of services for the children, depending on their level of handicap. These are:
  • Education for 150 children with special needs in order to improve and develop these children physically, socially, mentally and/or intellectually and emotionally

  • Transportation to and from the school

    Assessment of children, after where we can refer them to schools, hospitals and specialists like physiotherapists, speech therapists and others

  • Provision of self help skills to children

  • Training of parents having children with special needs

  • Provision of vocational training to youth developing skills that will enable them to get employment

  • Awareness seminars and training about special needs education for teachers and other stake holders

  • Provision of home-based training program for children with handicaps who can not leave their house

  • Inclusive program for children with special needs aiming to integrate those who qualify into main stream schools

  • Provision of physiotherapy training for physically handicapped children

  • The school teachers and other staff is playing an active role advocating for the children with special needs
School bus

Currently Hargeisa School for Special Needs (HSSN) holds 137 students with special needs. The school is a day school where the students are brought at 8.00 AM in the morning by school busses and are taken back to their homes at 12.30 PM. The school offers training of children with mental disabilities and has 10 specially trained teachers, a school leader, a secretary, a cook, a driver and three watchmen.

Somaliland Association for Special Education is an organization formed and owned by parents of children with special needs and other stakeholders called SASE. The organization has a board and a director. SASE has taken the responsibility of the school after the funding donors of EU has faced out, and is now supported by the Ministry of Education in Somaliland.

During the one year period the school was under SASE the following changes took place (2006-2007):

  • In December 31st 2006 there were 150 children with special needs in the school 20% of them were female

In December 2007 total number of students with special needs was 137. The female population was 29 girls. The decrease of student’s population was mainly due to:

  • The students from HSSN referred to regular schools has increased to 42 students
  • Lack of transportation facilities
  • Poor families were not able to pay school fees even through local companies like DAHABSHIIL donated school fees of 10 students
  • Some families withdrew their children from the school due to lack of awareness or failed to include a care taker for their child while he / she is in the school
  • Some students are mostly moved from their former residence because their families moved to away
  • Sickness like severity of disabilities

The students of the school are all registered whether they are absent or present. They are never expelled from the school and have the right to return back at any time or come for advices and counseling. 18 students did not appear for more than three months and the teachers were not able to trace them. Also 3 students died this year. The new students enrolled in the year 2006-2007 were 50.

 

Hargeisa School for Special Needs had earlier provided home based training to more than 40 students who are severely handicapped and locked in homes of their parents. Unfortunately this project of home visits has currently stopped due to lack of teachers, transport facilities and economy.

HSSN has a vocational center which offers vocational training of young girls and boys. This training helps them to develop skills that enable them get jobs, and home sciences helps the girls in managing home services and cooking.

The vocational center is also income generating. There are trained teachers who provide vocational skills training carpentry, masonry, decorations and arts. This center has now expanded and added show room. It makes furniture and educational aid materials like blackboards that can be used for offices, schools and homes.