The Organisation of  Special  Needs  Education  Teachers  (OSNET) is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) established and registered to operate on the Tanzania mainland. OSNET initially started its activities as an alliance of eight  (8) members on 06/09/2013 before its official registration, later in October 2014 when another seven (13) members joined to make the total number of fifteen   (21)   members.   OSNET  principally deals with the fundamental role of improving the academic social-economic welfare of the community of people with disabilities based on the National  Development Vision  2025, which requires the effective participation of civil society groups.   OSNET has organised special needs education clubs for over 400 students from three Primary schools and one secondary school in Musoma. OSNET deals with the capacity strengthening of entrepreneurial training for disabled and nondisabled students from both secondary and Primary schools in Musoma town. Royal  Dutch  Kentalis organisation specialises in diagnostics, education and care for children and youth with hearing and communication challenges. In  Tanzania, Kentalis has been operating since 2012. Together with Archbishop Mihayo University College of Tabora (AMUCTA), they have an innovative bachelor training for  Special Education-Hearing Impaired, with around 60 graduates. The graduates have worked with Tanzanian deaf education experts on an early reading method for deaf children in primary school since 2016. In this project, Kentalis provides experts for coaching on the job of the team of  Special Education (SE), non-SE, management and student interaction in three pilot schools.

Investing in the young generation project invests in coaching and mentoring around 1000 deaf learners in mixed schools (with both hearing and hearing-impaired learners). The project aims to boost confidence and gain respect for each other’s differences, mutual trust, communication skills, confidence in public speaking and disability rights training. The Special  Education(SE) teachers specialised in Hearing  Impairment  (HI) in these boarding schools are key change agents. They are the primary reference persons for the deaf due to their communication skills. In most schools,  SE teachers are either de-motivated by a lack of support from the management, a lack of cooperation from their colleagues or just have not thought about active engagement and mentorship of deaf and hearing students in the context of (future) advocacy for citizen’s rights. Under the Organisation of Special  Needs  Education  Teachers (OSNET) leadership and coaching, the project engages 1800  students  (deaf and hearing) and 300 SE-HI teachers of all 20 schools. Sign language clubs in the schools will act as a medium for skills training, confidence and trust building, positive engagement between deaf and hearing students, mobilisation of teachers, school management, local deaf associations, and state agents. In innovative ways, such as art competitions and public speaking events, secondary school students are prepared for an active citizenship role in the future. The school environment in the  20 locations (all over Tanzania)is energised and stimulated by an encouraging attitude towards deaf learners.