Expansion and Redevelopment of Two Special Education Schools to Better Support Students' Educational Needs

1. The Ministry of Education (MOE) will further enhance the accessibility of two Special Education (SPED) schools serving students with mild intellectual disability (MID). This was announced by Minister of State for Education Ms Sun Xueling during her visit to Chaoyang School today. This is part of MOE's continuing efforts to support students with Special Educational Needs (SEN).

EXPANSION AND REDEVELOPMENT OF TWO SPECIAL EDUCATION SCHOOLS

2. Chaoyang School (CYS) and Tanglin School (TS), which serve primary students aged 7-12 years old and secondary students aged 13-16 years old respectively, will be redeveloped and co-located at a new site in 2025. Both SPED schools are government-funded and run by the Association for Persons with Special Needs (APSN) to serve students with MID.

3. The new site will be at the former Da Qiao Primary School in Ang Mo Kio to help meet the demand for places in the North-East / Central region. The co-location of CYS and TS will allow students from CYS to continue their education in TS within the same area, providing seamless transition from primary to secondary education. The co-location will also promote greater student interaction and learning opportunities between students of both schools through CCAs and student leadership programmes. In addition, there will be more efficient use of resources through the sharing of facilities such as the multi-purpose hall and school field.

4. The redeveloped CYS and TS will have expanded capacities, providing 400 primary-level school places and 350 secondary-level school places respectively. In the meantime, students in CYS and TS will continue to have their lessons at their current campuses at Ang Mo Kio and Bukit Merah respectively.

5. The new CYS and TS campus will be purpose-built with enhanced building specifications, which include larger classrooms and modulation spaces to cater to students with MID, including those who are also diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. There will also be more aesthetics rooms and facilities for Physical Education (PE), Sports and Games such as a health and fitness room, as well as sheltered and outdoor play courts, to better support Aesthetics and PE programmes.

6. In particular, TS will have dedicated space set aside for vocational training facilities, to provide students more opportunities to hone their vocational skills. MOE will work with TS to set up these facilities. This provision will further facilitate the training and preparation of TS' secondary students to progress to Vocational Certification programmes at APSN Delta Senior School and eventually enter the workforce.

7. MOE will continue to monitor the demand for SPED school places, and work with the various Social Service Agencies to provide sufficient capacity to cater to specific student profiles. MOE will also continue to review the facilities in SPED schools, to support and enhance the educational experience of SPED students.

8. Please refer to Annex A for more information on MOE's ongoing efforts to meet the demand for places in SPED schools.