The group, which includes leaders and healthcare professionals, will be led by Minister of State for Education Janil Puthucheary

 A 17-member advisory panel comprising experts from a range of fields, including experienced leaders and educators in special education (Sped), as well as medical practitioners, will spend the next year studying how to implement compulsory education for children with moderate to severe special needs.

As part of its work, the panel, which will be helmed by Minister of State for Education Janil Puthucheary, will consult various groups, including Sped schools, educators, parents and voluntary welfare organisations.

The panel members include Nominated Member of Parliament and president of the Society for the Physically Disabled Chia Yong Yong; Dr Chong Shang Chee, senior consultant and head at the National University Hospital Child Development Unit; and Ms Suzana Soo, Principal at Minds Lee Kong Chian Gardens School.

The appointment of the panel comes after the Government announced last month that the Compulsory Education Act would be extended to this group of children from 2019. Currently, children with moderate to severe special needs are exempted from compulsory education.

There are now about 1,770 children with special educational needs in each cohort, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has said.

Seventy-five per cent of them, who have mild special needs such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia, already attend mainstream schools.

The remaining 25 per cent have moderate to severe special needs such as visual impairment, autism or multiple disabilities, and most of them attend one of the 20 government-funded Sped schools.

But 10 per cent of this group, or about 40 children per cohort, do not go to such schools for various reasons, said the MOE. They could be home-schooled, enrolled in private schools, or impeded by physical or intellectual disabilities.

As part of the move to extend compulsory education to those with moderate to severe special needs, the MOE has said it would ramp up capacity in Sped schools in the coming years to ensure there are enough places, although it “does not expect a significant increase” in the number of students enrolling in these schools. The changes start from the Primary 1 registration exercise in 2018.

The panel will make recommendations on when there can be exemptions from compulsory education, and the placement of children with special educational needs in appropriate educational settings.

The panel is expected to complete its work by the end of next year.

Dr Puthucheary said: “The work ahead of the panel will not be easy. We need to look at the finer details of implementing compulsory education so that we can appreciate concerns and operational difficulties, and think through what are the best solutions for our children.”

Member of Parliament Denise Phua (Moulmein-Kallang GRC), who chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee for Education and is the president of Autism Resource Centre, will be vice-chair of the panel.

She added: “Education is an important stepping stone to a better life for every child. I look forward to a robust discussion with fellow panel members on how compulsory education can be implemented to best serve our children.”

Source:
courtesy of TODAY

by TODAY ONLINE

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