Levelling Up Opportunities, Raising the Quality of Education for Children with Special Education Needs

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1. The Ministry of Education (MOE) will provide greater professional support for Special Education (SPED) to better help children with special education needs to maximise their potential. MOE will work with its partners to enhance the quality of SPED and help different groups of children with special education needs.

2. The Task Force on Special Education, chaired by Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister of State for Education and Manpower, was set up in Oct 06 to study how MOE could further improve the quality of education for children with special needs in SPED schools as well as in mainstream schools. It has since completed its review and identified the following focus areas for improvement:

A. Greater involvement in overseeing and supporting the management of SPED schools, especially on educational matters

B. A more diverse range of educational opportunities for children with special education needs in both mainstream schools and SPED schools

C. Greater training and professional support for SPED schools to achieve excellence

3. These areas are in line with the broad direction taken in the education components of the Enabling Masterplan released recently.

4. There is a wide spectrum of special needs that are being catered to through a variety of approaches – via the mainstream schools, SPED schools that offer mainstream curriculum and those that provide specialised curriculum. Currently, about 4,000 children with mild to moderate disabilities are in mainstream schools, while some 4,800 with more severe disabilities are in SPED schools.

5. MOE believes that this differentiated approach is most effective in meeting the differing needs of students with disabilities. MOE’s goals are:

(i) For children whose cognitive abilities and profile of disabilities still allow them to participate in our mainstream schools – we want them to fully benefit from being in the mainstream schools and prepare for post secondary education.

(ii) For children who are higher functioning but have more severe disabilities which require specialised intervention – we want these children to have greater access to either academic programmes or pre-vocational training in good quality SPED schools and to prepare them for employment in the open market eventually.

(iii) Children with severe special needs and who require long-term therapy and rehabilitation support – we want to help them acquire daily living skills and gain some level of independence in their self-care.

6. We will continue to adopt a ‘Many Helping Hands’ approach, which entails a tripartite partnership among the Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWO), National Council for Social Service (NCSS) and MOE. This will promote greater professionalism and strengthen the culture of volunteerism. However, MOE intends to play a more active role within this framework, especially in overseeing the education programmes and in the professional development of teachers in the SPED schools.
A. Greater Involvement in Overseeing and Supporting the Management of Special Education Schools

7. To improve the quality of SPED schools, effective school leadership is necessary. MOE will work closely with the VWOs in charge of the SPED schools in the appointment of SPED school principals and school supervisors. MOE will assess the nominations for these key positions proposed by the VWOs before approving the appointments. MOE may also recommend mainstream education officers for these key posts if necessary.

8. To set the right expectation and to ensure that learning is optimised, MOE will engage the SPED schools to develop targets for the learning outcomes of their students. For example, for students with the ability to access mainstream curriculum, their learning outcomes could be framed in terms of ‘O’/’N’ level passes in some areas. For those who would benefit from pre-vocational training, their learning outcomes could be in the form of pre-vocational certification.

9. MOE will also develop a quality assurance framework jointly with NCSS and carry out management audits of SPED schools periodically to ensure the accountability of the SPED schools in terms of achieving the learning outcomes.

10. MOE recognises that a differentiated set of approaches will better address the wide range of special learning needs.
Mainstream schools

11. Students with mild to moderate dyslexia and autism have already been included in the mainstream schools. Since 2005, MOE has recruited and deployed 81 Special Needs Officers[1] (SNO) to 69 mainstream primary and secondary schools to support these schools. MOE will recruit and train more SNOs to support students with other types of learning disabilities such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

12. MOE is also planning to designate 4 more schools to cater to the hearing-impaired (2 schools) and visually-impaired students (2 schools) at both the primary and secondary levels. Currently there are 6 designated secondary schools[2] for sensory impaired students who need specialised support. This will bring the total number of designated schools for sensory impairment to 10.

13. For children who pursue the mainstream curriculum, we can provide them with greater access to mainstream school experiences through satellite classes. MOE plans to implement more satellite SPED classes in mainstream partner schools[3]. This will also help SPED primary school students transit to a mainstream school eventually.

14. Satellite SPED classes with features of a SPED school (e.g. small class size, SPED teachers, and individualised instruction) may be located within a mainstream school setting. This gives SPED students opportunities to learn and interact with mainstream students during and outside curriculum time, at recess, co-curricular activities or community involvement projects, while having the comfort and benefits of specialised instruction for most subjects.

15. MOE will work more closely with SPED schools offering mainstream curriculum in terms of strengthening and diversifying the schools’ curriculum and education programmes. For example, MOE could look at ways to help the SPED schools build capacity to harness technology [including Info-Communication Technology (ICT) and Assistive Technology Devices] in their pedagogical approaches. MOE could also look at ways to provide students with access to conversational mother tongue language lessons.
SPED schools offering only specialised curriculum

16. For children who are not following the mainstream curriculum, increased opportunities for interaction with the mainstream are being facilitated through the co-location of SPED schools and mainstream schools. Currently, 5 SPED schools are located adjacent to mainstream schools[4] and another 5 SPED schools that are at various stages of planning and redevelopment would also be located adjacent to mainstream primary and secondary schools[5].

17. MOE will explore pre-vocational training and certification with training agencies such as Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) for children with mild intellectual disability in SPED schools who can access pre-vocational training. For example, the pre-vocational courses can be aligned to the Employability Skills System established by the Workforce Development Agency. By doing so, these children can contribute to the economy and be more independent in adulthood.

C. Greater Training and Professional Support for SPED Schools to Achieve Excellence

18. To provide better support to SPED school teachers who are teaching the mainstream curriculum, MOE will provide them with training through the National Institute of Education (NIE). MOE will also look into setting up an MOE-NCSS Award to recognise outstanding SPED teachers.

19. MOE will actively facilitate interaction between mainstream and SPED teachers. Work attachments by mainstream teachers in SPED schools, and vice versa, will be encouraged.

20. MOE will also cross-train more mainstream teachers to operate in the SPED school setting. Currently, there are 9 teachers on secondment to 6 SPED schools. MOE will facilitate the secondment of more mainstream teachers to SPED schools.

21. For a start, MOE will work with 5 selected SPED schools to pilot the initiatives. This will allow MOE and NCSS to identify and resolve operational issues. The experience gained could also be used to further enhance the quality of education in the sector. The 5 schools are:
(i) Canossian School, Pathlight School and Singapore School for the Visually Handicapped, which comprise mostly students taking mainstream curriculum
(ii) Delta Senior School and Metta School, which cater to students with mild intellectual disability and do not offer the mainstream curriculum.

22. To allow SPED schools to ride on the developmental opportunities provided by the school cluster system[6] and to strengthen the network of collaboration, all SPED schools will also be invited to be involved in school cluster activities. These could include areas such as capacity building and professional enhancement, pupil development and support, and community linkages and networking. For example, the SPED schools could participate in the Instructional Programme Support Group meetings and cluster-based training.

23. Currently, students in SPED schools are funded until they reach 18 years old. MOE recognises that some children with special educational needs may learn at a slower pace and thus need more time to achieve their learning outcomes. Hence, for children who can benefit from additional years of education to achieve their learning outcomes such as ‘O’ or ‘N’ levels or pre-vocational certification, their education may be funded up to 21 years of age. This is in line with the Enabling Masterplan’s recommendation to extend SPED school up to the age of 21 for students who can benefit from additional pre-vocational and vocational skills training.

24. The current funding for students in the SPED Schools is up to 4 times the capitation grant for primary education. To provide better support for students in SPED schools preparing for ‘O’ or ‘N’ levels curriculum or pre-vocational certification, the funding formula for these students will instead be pegged to the capitation grant for mainstream secondary education. The new formula will enable these students to receive up to 4 times the capitation grant for a mainstream secondary level student of $6,400 per year. The additional funding support amounts to about $8,000 more per year, an increase of about 43%.

25. MOE and NCSS will retain the existing framework for the additional funding, whereby MOE provides 2.5 times the per capita funding for mainstream education, while NCSS funds the remaining 1.5 times through donations from the public and corporations.

26. A summary of the various recommendations is at Annex A. Implementation of the recommendations will be phased in from April 2007 onwards.

27. In Oct 2006, MOE set up the Task Force on Special Education chaired by Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister of State for Education and Manpower, to study how MOE could further improve the quality of Special Education. The Task Force comprises members from MOE, NCSS and MCYS.

28. The taskforce held dialogue sessions with different stakeholder groups (parents, teachers and School Management Committee members) in the schools studied. These dialogue sessions were held to gather feedback on the current situation and ideas to move the schools forward.

[1] SNOs complement the support that classroom teachers presently provide to students with special needs by providing in-school support for children with mild to moderate dyslexia and autism. They also assist with related administrative duties.
[2] The designated schools have additional support including resource teachers to help the hearing-impaired and visually impaired students to cope with the curriculum. MOE has also been providing assistive devices, e.g. Braille Notebook Computers and talking calculators for these pupils.
[3] The schools with satellite classes currently are Chong Boon Secondary School which hosts classes for students from Pathlight School, Canossa Convent Primary School, and MacPherson Primary School which hosts classes for pupils of Canossa School.
[4] The 5 SPED schools are: Spastic Children’s Association School which is adjacent to Meridien Junior College, Singapore School for the Visually Handicapped which is adjacent to Marymount Convent, Chaoyang School which is adjacent to Presbyterian High School, Katong School which is adjacent to Bedok View Secondary and Canossian School which is adjacent to Canossa Convent Primary within the Canossa Eduplex.
[5] The 5 SPED schools are: Balestier School which will be adjacent to Chung Cheng High (Yishun), Yio Chu Kang School which will be adjacent to Fernvale Primary, Grace Orchard School which will be adjacent to Rulang Primary, Singapore Autism School which will be adjacent to Millenia Institute and Pathlight School which will be adjacent to Townsville Primary.
[6] Under the school cluster system, a group of schools forms a cluster co-ordinated by a Superintendent who, among other responsibilities, facilitates networking and collaboration among the Principals of the schools in the cluster. It is a way to provide schools with the ability to be more innovative and creative in providing education to their students.