2008 Parliamentary Questions by Mr Chiam See Tong, MP for Potong Pasir& Replies from MOE

15 February 08-Special Needs Education

To ask the Minister for Education 7. whether there are sufficient teachers and therapists for special needs schools; 8. whether his Ministry will improve the benefits of teachers in special needs schools to the equivalent of teachers in mainstream schools in order to attract more people into special needs education; 9. what are the career advancement opportunities for Special Needs Officers employed under his Ministry; and 10. what is the rationale for not having degree level courses for special needs education despite its importance.

Response

1. MOE and NCSS are committed to funding and supporting the Special Education (SPED) schools in delivering the full suite of education and other services to meet the needs of children with special needs. The 21 SPED schools recruit teachers, therapists and other staff according to their need. As at 8 Jan 08, there were some 700 Teachers in the 21 SPED schools and 18 vacant teaching positions temporarily filled by relief teachers. The SPED schools are currently recruiting candidates to fill the vacancies. With regard to therapists, there were a total of 45 therapists which comprised 21 occupational therapists, 11 physiotherapists and 13 speech therapists. For SPED schools which need additional support services for their students, they could purchase therapy services from the Therapy Hubs set up by the National Council of Social Service (NCSS). Currently 4 SPED schools, which are unable to fill their vacant positions for therapists, are buying such services from the Therapy Hubs. .

2. The Ministry of Education (MOE) and the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) help uplift the quality and image of the sector through the provision of additional funding and greater professional development opportunities as well as recognition for outstanding SPED teachers. These include a training vote for customised training to meet the teacher’s individual professional needs. In addition, teachers can also apply for work attachment opportunities to broaden their exposure beyond their school experience. Other professional development opportunities include leadership training programmes for principals and middle management staff and specialised training for teachers teaching children with autism. To boost the professionalism of SPED educators and provide recognition for outstanding SPED teachers, the MOE-NCSS SPED Teacher Award has been implemented and the inaugural award presentation was held in Nov 07. With all these provisions in place, the recurrent cost of the SPED schools had increased by some $31.5m over the last 4 years, from $46.8m in FY04 to $78.3 in FY08. NCSS reviews the pay packages of SPED teachers regularly to ensure they are equitably compensated. SPED teachers’ salaries were revised as recently as April 2007. NCSS will continue to explore ways to make teaching in SPED schools, a rewarding and fulfilling career.

3. Special Needs Officers (SNOs) are deployed to mainstream schools to assist teachers in providing support to students with mild to moderate special education needs. The SNOs provide different forms of support which include in-class support, support outside the classroom, specialised remediation, specialised training in lifeskills and the implementation of Individual Education Plans for the students. They may progress to be a Senior SNO as they gain more experience and skills to provide increasing levels of support needed for pupils with more complex learning disabilities. The Senior SNOs will provide guidance and professional supervision for junior SNOs and assist school personnel in developing resources and systems to better support pupils with special needs. Some SNOs may choose to advance their careers in the SPED school sector.

4. Candidates applying to be teachers in the SPED schools must meet the minimum requirement of ‘A’ Levels, which is the criteria for entry to the NIE pre-service teacher training course, the Diploma in Special Education. Whilst ‘A’ levels is the minimum academic qualification to be a SPED teacher, SPED schools have been able to attract candidates with higher academic qualifications. Of the 700 SPED teachers currently in the SPED schools, 325 have degrees, ranging from Bachelor to Masters degrees. Thus, graduate teachers form 47% of the total number of teachers in the SPED schools.

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2008 Parliamentary Questions by Mr Chiam See Tong, MP for Potong Pasir& Replies from MOE