“6 Spheres of Development” in East Africa

Project overview

In 2025, UNOWA (Poland) and SPED Nation Initiative Uganda signed a Memorandum of Understanding to launch a pilot study introducing the MIKKO “6 Spheres of Development” diagnostic and support model in Uganda. The project aims to adapt evidence-based European tools for the African educational context, strengthening early assessment, teacher training, and inclusive classroom practices nationwide. The cooperation focuses on integrating child development diagnostics into Uganda’s inclusive education framework. Through this partnership, UNOWA provides methodological, analytical, and digital support for the pilot phase of the MIKKO “6 Spheres of Development” system — a holistic tool covering cognitive, speech, social, sensory, daily-living, and physical domains. SPED Nation coordinates local implementation in selected schools and early childhood centers, ensuring data collection, training of specialists, and scientific evaluation in collaboration with educational authorities. The study follows ethical standards and aims to create an evidence base for scalable national adoption.

Project details

Pilot Study of the MIKKO “6 Spheres of Development” System in Uganda

This project introduces and tests a holistic inclusive-education model in selected schools and early childhood centres across Uganda. The aim is to adapt and apply UNOWA’s MIKKO methodology — combining developmental diagnostics, teacher training, and inclusive support — within the Ugandan cultural and educational context, to lay the groundwork for scalable national adoption.

Partner Organisations

UNOWA — project design, methodology, digital tools, methodological support & quality assurance

SPED Nation Initiative Uganda — local implementation partner: school/centre selection, coordination, logistics, stakeholder engagement, data collection and local adaptation

Focus Areas

- Early childhood and school-age inclusive education;

- Psycho-pedagogical diagnostics and child development screening;

- Capacity building and professional development of teachers and specialists;

- Localization and adaptation of inclusive-education materials and tools;

- Research, evaluation and data-driven recommendations for policy and system-wide scaling.

Objectives

- Adapt the MIKKO “6 Spheres of Development” diagnostic and support model to Ugandan educational and cultural context;

- Train a first cohort of Ugandan educators and inclusion specialists in inclusive practices, diagnostics and individualized support planning;

- Launch a pilot implementation in selected schools/centres to test the model in practice;

- Collect data and feedback to assess effectiveness and feasibility for scaling;

- Produce recommendations and a scaling roadmap for national roll-out.

Expected Deliverables

- Localized MIKKO diagnostic and support materials, guides and methodological documentation;

- A cohort of trained educators/specialists (trainers + practitioners) competent in inclusive education and diagnostics;

- Pilot-phase inclusive support implemented in partner schools/centres;

- Monitoring and evaluation framework, pilot results report, context-specific recommendations for scaling;

- Foundation of a national inclusive-education network linking schools, specialists and supporting institutions.

“6 Spheres of Development” in East Africa

Project overview

Key results

months pilot phase

Spheres of Development - diagnostic and support

Project details

Project partners

Resources