Increasing Intake for Educational Psychology Master's Programmes to Support Needs and Development of Neurodiverse Children

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Christopher de Souza, Holland-Bukit Timah GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) whether the Ministry will consider expanding the number of places in educational and developmental psychology master's programmes at Singapore's universities to support the needs of neurodiverse children; and (b) what additional measures are being taken to address the shortage, if any, of educational psychologists needed to support inclusive education and neurodiverse students in Singapore.

Response

1. The Master of Arts (Applied Psychology) by the National Institute of Education (NIE) is presently the only programme in our Autonomous Universities (AUs) that trains Educational Psychologists (EPs). NIE can increase intake numbers if there is additional demand.

2. MOE regularly reviews the deployment and training needs of EPs to provide sufficient support for our schools. EPs work with Special Educational Needs Officers and teachers, as well as Case Management Teams in schools to help students with special educational needs develop and learn. MOE continually monitors system capacity to support evolving student and school needs.