Speech by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Education, at the official opening of the Lee Foundation Dyslexia Centre and the Roshen Daruwalla Dyslexia Resource Centre at SPRING Singapore on Saturday, 28 August 2004, 3pm.

Mrs Goh Chok Tong,

Dr Jimmy Daruwalla, President of the Dyslexia Association of Singapore

Dr Della Lee of the Lee Foundation 

Good afternoon

It is my pleasure to be here this afternoon at the launch of the Lee Foundation Dyslexia Centre and the Roshen Daruwalla Dyslexia Resource Centre.

Background of Dyslexia in Singapore
2. A key tenet of education in Singapore is our belief that every child matters. No matter what aptitudes, talents or learning styles the child has, or what his social background, we want to help him become the best that he can be. Our system strives to cater to all  -  not only those who do well on the established ladder of learning, but those  who learn differently. Step by step, we have moved away from one-size approaches to education. And we will continue to customize learning to the talents and needs of the individual, wherever we can. It is work in progress, and we are pushing on.

3. We are seeing greater awareness among both parents and teachers of  learning disabilities among our children. More parents are willing to send their children to receive the support they need, to ensure that they are not disadvantaged in the learning process. That's why the number of pupils enrolled for mediation are going up, year by year, at the three Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS) Learning Centres run in Anderson Primary, Feng Shan Primary and Queenstown Primary Schools today.

4. Since its inception in 1991, the DAS has established itself as a leading centre for the management of dyslexia in the region. Today's launch of the Lee Foundation Dyslexia Centre and the Roshen Daruwalla Dyslexia Resource Centre marks the start of a new phase. It will create a deeper public awareness and strengthen the partnerships among all the key stakeholders. It will provide the training to help professionals, especially teachers, acquire the skills and instincts requiured to teach and collaborate with dyslexic students.

Providing Financial Support 
5. We are putting significant resources into special education and will do more. For every Singaporean student receiving remediation at the DAS, the Ministry of Education provides a grant to subsidise their cost of remediation. While remediation is expensive, it is a cost the Government has pledged to bear because every child is important.
 
Early Identification and Intervention
6. Early identification of dyslexia in our schools matters. Schools are encouraged to refer students who are suspected of having dyslexia for an assessment by the Ministry. Our educational psychologists, together with the Learning Support Coordinators in schools (who are specially trained in supporting students with learning difficulties), will help teachers implement appropriate learning strategies to support these students. These strategies may include for example the use of more multi-sensory teaching strategies, reducing tasks that require the student to copy from the board, or providing more time for completion of assignments. Some students may even be encouraged to complete their work with the aid of a word processor. 

7. There is a great reward in spotting a child with a learning disability, tailoring teaching to meet his needs, turning him around and recharging his confidence. Examples abound. In Greenwood Primary, Mrs Thanam Raj, a Learning Support Coordinator with specialized training in dyslexia remediation, identified a group of six Primary Two pupils as having dyslexia. They had been failing miserably in school, were passive in class, lacked the confidence to speak up and gave up easily.  After working with them three times a week, and developing both their oral and reading skills, the pupils started to blossom. By the end of the year, they passed their English examination, both oral and written, for the first time.  (One of the pupils came running excitedly to his teacher when he received his examination results and exclaimed "I passed my English!")

8. Another example concerns a boy who had difficulties in reading, spelling, comprehension, handwriting and was also poor in organizing him self and in time management when he was in primary school.  Over the years, his academic performance deteriorated. He was disengaged from learning.  He was recognized by his Primary 4 teacher, Ms Ng Ai Lee, and MOE's educational psychologists diagnosed him to be dyslexic and advised the teacher on the strategies that could help him learn more effectively. He was referred to the DAS and started specialised remediation. The boy is now in Secondary school. His primary school teacher met him recently and was delighted to face a well-adjusted and confident young man (he proudly wrote his contact details on a piece of paper for the teacher). He had 'improved beyond recognition', in the teacher's own words.
 
Awareness Courses and Training for Teachers
9. More is being done to train teachers to identify dyslexia like Ms Ng and Mrs Raj. Between 2004 and 2005, we aim to provide school-based dyslexia awareness talks to all our primary school teachers.  In addition, courses are run annually to equip selected primary and secondary school teachers with a deeper understanding of dyslexia and relevant teaching strategies to support pupils in their schools.  Dyslexia Association personnel are invited to speak to these teachers  on the services that DAS renders. 

Recognising Talents, Not Just Difficulties

10. It is important for schools, parents and the public to recognise that dyslexic children are not just children with weaknesses or difficulties. Dyslexic individuals are often highly intelligent. It is not that they cannot learn, but they learn differently. They also have talents, and indeed tend to have talents that are thought to be more pronounced than in a normal population. Many dyslexic people have special abilities in the creative arts, music and mathematics. We know the famous names -  Einstein, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford who revolutionized manufacturing, Richard Branson and Tommy Hilfiger, the fashion designer. There are many others, not always as famous but with outstanding talents. Many of them report that they did not do well academically while at school, but they directed their frustrations and energies towards other avenues, sometimes discovering talents they did not know of.

11. Because of their inherent difficulties, dyslexic children often  develop strong compensatory and creative learning strategies. Neurological studies suggest that they have a right hemispheric (right brain) preference for learning, and consequently tend to make less effective use of their left brain processes. Thus, dyslexia, while placing them at a disadvantage for tasks that mainly involve the left brain such as literacy and accuracy for details, places them at a distinct advantage for tasks that rely on right brain tasks, such as tasks that require creativity and novel problem solving. Thus, while they show marked difficulties in acquiring reading, writing and spelling, many show talents which are actively sought by employers, such as originality, and 'global' problem solving skills.

12. We should therefore keep a keen eye out for the strengths in all our children, not just focus on their deficits.

A Significant Milestone

13. MOE will continue to work closely with our community partners like DAS to better support our students, in mainstream schools, who have learning disabilities. I'm glad that we have a strong and well-functioning partnership with DAS, and will remain open to considering its ideas on future improvements.

14. The commissioning of the Lee Foundation Dyslexia Centre and the Roshen Daruwalla Dyslexia Resource Centre represents a significant milestone in our efforts to unlock the potential of dyslexic children. The Roshen Daruwalla Dyslexia Resource Centre, which will be fully-funded by the Roshen Daruwalla Trust Fund, houses up-to-date resources on dyslexia and other learning difficulties. It is well-positioned to be a focal point for research on dyslexia locally as well as for the region.

15. I am also heartened to see that the long-standing support of the Lee Foundation has now led to the opening of a new remediation centre,  named fittingly after its benefactor.  The Lee Foundation, in setting up the centre, has signaled strongly the commitment of the wider community, besides the government, to help our young discover their potential and realize their aspirations. These initiatives will put Singapore at the forefront of dyslexia management in the Asia-Pacific region.

16. Let me once again congratulate the Dyslexia Association of Singapore on today's opening of the Lee Foundation Dyslexia Centre, and the Roshen Daruwalla Resource Centre.