All 26 children from the first cohort of One Stop Early Intervention Centre (OSEIC) Sarawak 2022 have successfully entered mainstream formal education, education integration programmes and special education classes under the Ministry of Education, said Minister of Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.

“With this success and high demand from parents, the ministry will expand the existing services at OSEIC. The ministry will also provide similar services in rural areas, starting with the Dalat Community Wellbeing Complex,” she said in her ministerial winding-up speech at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) yesterday.

Fatimah explained that OSEIC, which began operations on October 30, 2020, provides diagnosis, early intervention and rehabilitation services for children aged seven and below who have autism, Down’s Syndrome and learning disabilities.

“We are pleased to inform that the first OSEIC had gotten encouraging response and had received a total of 257 registrations, exceeding the estimated capacity of 100 people,” she added.

Fatimah also said that following the establishment of OSEIC, the ministry had obtained approval from the state government to build a Special Needs Community Centre (SNCC).

“The centre will provide integrated and holistic services to the disabled,” she said.

On another note, Fatimah said that 17 out of 98 SeDidik Early Childhood Education institutions have a total of 27 children with special needs, as of April 30 this year.

She said this is possible with the Open Policy for Children with Special Needs that stipulates all SeDidik institutions are to accept the admission of children with special needs.

“Previously, SeDidik did not take in children with special needs due to lack of trained educators and suitable infrastructure.

“In line with the new policy, the ministry and SeDidik have identified strategic partners, namely Pusat Genius Kurnia, OSEIC Sarawak and the Malaysian Association of the Deaf, to formulate a training curriculum for educators and caregivers so that they have the appropriate knowledge and skills to help children with special needs,” she said.

She said the training is targeted at all 143 SeDidik educators and caregivers, and will be implemented in stages.

According to Fatimah further, one of the main focuses in Early Childhood Development is the quality of educators and caregivers especially for SeDidik.

“The ministry is targeting 100 per cent of SeDidik teachers to have at least a Diploma in Early Childhood Education by 2025 through collaboration with local public and private higher education institutions.

“As of April 30, 2022, 58.75 per cent (84 out of 143) of educators have at least a Diploma in Early Childhood Education, 34 per cent (48 persons) will graduate in 2022, while 1.7 per cent (three persons) are currently taking the course,” she said.

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by THE BORNEO POST

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