Parliamentary Replies
Special Needs Provisions in IHLs
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng, Member of Parliament for Jalan Besar GRC
Question
To ask the Minister for Education whether he has plans to develop a more structured and consistent support plan for special-needs students in tertiary institutions such as the ITEs, polytechnics and universities.
Response
MOE has in recent years strengthened the support for special-needs students at the primary and secondary levels. Those who are admitted into the post-secondary education institutes (PSEIs) are provided with support services which are customized to their needs at each of the institutions.
This is generally done through a three-step process. The first involves the identification of students and their special needs. Students who declare their disabilities are put in touch with counsellors who would find out more about their needs and customise arrangements for them. For example, wheelchair-bound students are allocated classrooms that are wheelchair accessible.
Second, as far as possible, students are given extra curricular and pedagogical support to better enable the learning process. Academic staff members are notified of the students’ needs so that they may modify their teaching methods appropriately, for instance, through providing extra notes, or by speaking while facing a student who needs to lip-read. In addition, the PSEIs pay close attention to the needs of these students during examinations, e.g. by providing scripts with larger fonts for the visually-impaired, and for cases where specific physical disabilities affect writing, students are allowed to use computers to type out answers in exams. Students can also be granted extra time to complete their examinations.
Lastly, steps have also been taken to equip faculty and academic staff with the necessary skills to handle special needs students. For instance, ITE has been working with NIE to conduct training on “Teaching Adolescents and Adult Learners with Special Needs.”