SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION

SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION

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(Update and safeguards): **

8.

Miss Penny Low asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) if he will give an update on, and the reasons for, means testing for special needs education; and (b) whether there are sufficient safeguards to ensure that parents of children with special needs will send them to schools.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: The Government has and will continue to do more to support the disability sector. However, resources will always be limited while the wish list is infinite. We need to allocate more funds to those who need them more. Those who can afford to pay should contribute their share. This way, we make sure that more money is channelled to families who are less well-off. This is the basis for means testing. It will ensure that lower income families which require more assistance than higher income families get the assistance they need.

Means testing was not introduced to save the Government money. Rather, the government is committed to spending more on programmes for the disabled. As an example, the Government’s contribution to Early Intervention Programmes for Infants and Children (EIPIC) and Community Integration Support (CIS) Programme, two programmes for children with disabilities, is expected to increase from $4.5 million in 2006 to $6.7 million in 2010. The National Council of Social Service (NCSS) through the Community Chest has also committed $4.8 million this year and will continue to generously support these services in the coming years.

As a result, EIPIC fees continue to be affordable even after means testing. They range from as low as $10 per month for the lowest income group to about $200-$400 plus per month for those with family income exceeding $3,500. In fact, two centres have reduced fees for the lowest income parents by some $40-$70*.

• Asian Women’s Welfare Association and Autism Resource Centre.

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We would like to reiterate that families who still face financial difficulties despite the subsidy from MCYS and ComChest can approach their Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs) for help. The social workers from the VWOs will make an assessment and see how they can further help the family on a case-by-case basis. For example, if a family has more than one child with disability, they would enjoy a higher level of subsidy.

The Many Helping Hands approach in ensuring a social safety net is in place has worked for us. Together, if each of us does our part - Government, Community and the Family - we can maximise the use of our limited resources and help more needy children with disabilities.

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