This post came out from The Straits Times (5 November 2016)
In a move that fully includes special needs children in the
education system, those with moderate to severe conditions will need to attend
publicly-funded schools from 2019, just like all other children in Singapore. The
move to extend the Compulsory Education (CE) Act will take effect from the
Primary 1 cohort just over two years from now - affecting those who turn seven
then.
With the change, they will have to attend one of the
20 government-funded special education (Sped) schools, unless they obtain
approval to be exempted. Primary 1 registration will begin in 2018. Minister
for Education (Schools) Ng Chee Meng, in announcing the new policy yesterday,
called it "an important milestone in Singapore's continuing drive towards
national inclusiveness". "This is a reaffirmation that every child
matters, regardless of his or her learning challenges."
The policy change comes nearly five years after it
was recommended by a government-appointed panel, and the wait was to ensure
Sped schools here had enough resources to support every special needs child. Every
cohort sees about 1,770 such children. Around 75 per cent have mild conditions
such as dyslexia, which means they already come under the CE Act, and have to
attend mainstream schools. There are currently 18,000 students with mild
special educational needs in mainstream schools.
The other quarter with more serious conditions such
as autism, which number around 440 every year, do not have to go to school. But
nearly all do so. Currently, 5,500 children with moderate and severe needs are
in Sped schools. Every year sees about 40 children who do not enrol, likely
because of severe medical conditions, or whose parents prefer to homeschool
them or send them to private schools. From 2019, this group will have to go
through the public system, unless they can explain why they should not.
The CE Act, passed in 2000, requires all Singaporean
children to complete six years of primary education in national schools before
they turn 15. Parents can be fined up to $5,000 and/or jailed up to a year
otherwise. But Minister of State for Education Janil Puthucheary said: "CE
doesn't mean we're going to force everybody to do one thing. We're just going
to do more in terms of including as many kids as possible into the education
space." He will chair a panel appointed by the Education Ministry to look
into how best to put the policy into practice.
Asked why the policy is being changed only now, he
said the Government had to be "confident" of being able to cater to
every special needs child. And this has become possible "because of the
good work... that has happened in the Sped sector". From 2002 to 2012, 13
Sped schools were constructed and five others refurbished. There are now 1,000
Sped teachers, up by about 6 per cent since 2012.
Every one of the 20 Sped schools is run by a voluntary welfare
organisation (VWO), and the VWOs have long been pushing for CE to be extended
to special needs children. MP Denise Phua, who is on the boards of the
Pathlight School and Eden School for autistic children, said: "It ensures
that every child has access to education opportunities, education being an
important passport to a better life."
In a Facebook post yesterday, Minister for Social
and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin called the change a huge step in making
Singapore more inclusive and said it would "open up opportunities for
continual learning, and employment" for special needs children.
Thoughts anyone?
Yours,
Something Small Thinking Big
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