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19 June 2006

GREATER SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS IN SELECTED SCHOOLS IN 2007

1.         More schools will be provided with Special Needs Officers (SNOs) in 2007 to help students with mild to moderate Dyslexia and Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) integrate better into their school programmes.  This is in line with the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) efforts to incorporate facilities and resources in our national schools to facilitate the learning of children with mild learning disabilities.

2.         This will bring the total number of schools that will be staffed with SNOs to 57 primary schools and 13 secondary schools. The full list of primary and secondary schools can be found in Annex A.
 
3.         These schools have been selected based on their positive school ethos and strong school philosophy of care and support for the diverse needs of their students. They are also geographically spread out to provide greater choice and convenience to students and their parents.

4.         More SNOs will be provided to more schools over the next few years. By 2010, the expected number of schools with SNOs would be as follows:
 

5.         Over the next few years, names of additional schools to be provided with SNOs will be announced in phases. The information on schools with SNOs will be made available on the MOE Primary 1 Registration website, and the Secondary 1 Information Booklet (“Choosing Your Secondary School”).

6.         MOE also recognises the need to support  students with other special learning difficulties (e.g. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, speech and language difficulties).   A core of teachers, comprising 10% of teaching staff in all schools, will be trained to enable them to better support students with other special needs in their respective schools.  This in-service training commenced in June 2005 and is expected to be completed in 2010.

BACKGROUND

7.         In May 2005, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Education, announced the selection of the pioneer batch of schools that would receive SNO support for students with special needs.

8.         The SNOs provide additional in-class support, small group specialised remedial work and/or skills training, and related administrative duties.

9.         SNOs are required to have a minimum qualification of a diploma or a full GCE ‘A’ level certificate.  Some of the SNOs have relevant experience in working with children with special needs.  Applicants are also required to have good interpersonal skills and the passion to work with children with special needs. SNOs undergo a one year full-time Diploma in Special Education course conducted by the National Institute of Education (NIE).  They will be deployed to resourced schools after their professional training with NIE.