STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES (Programmes to assist)

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STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES:

(Programmes to assist): 14.

Mdm Ho Geok Choo asked the Minister for Education (a) if he will provide an update on how funds are allocated to schools to develop programmes to assist students with learning disabilities, eg, dyslexia; and (b) what kinds of assistance are extended to students with such learning disabilities during examinations since they all sit for common examinations together with normal students.

Mr Hawazi Daipi (for the Minister for Education): Sir, MOE provides block budgets to schools. Schools have the autonomy to use the funds to develop programmes based on the needs of their students.

Schools which have students with learning disabilities, such as dyslexia and

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autism, receive additional support. Their students are able to get specialised assistance at the learning centres that are set up collaboratively between MOE and voluntary organisations, such as the Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS) and the Autism Resource Centre (ARC). MOE provides funding to these organisations to develop programmes to assist such students.

From next year, MOE will provide additional support for students with learning disabilities through the deployment of Special Needs Officers in all primary schools and some secondary schools. More broadly, MOE aims to increase the level of awareness of special learning needs in our schools over the next five years, and to equip more teachers with the basic skills necessary to support students with learning disabilities.

Students with learning disabilities may request for special accommodations in national examinations, such as the PSLE, GCE 'N', 'O' and 'A' levels. The specific accommodation that is provided depends on the disability of the pupil. The range of accommodations includes the provision of extra time for written papers, exemption from oral examinations, modified text-type or enlarged print on examination papers, and separate testing rooms. Applications to the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) can be made through schools. The cases are reviewed by a panel of Educational Psychologists to determine the type of assistance to be given to each student, depending on the nature and severity of the disability.

Mdm Ho Geok Choo: I would like to ask whether, from the MOE's experience, there is a difference in how the funds are allocated to Government schools and independent schools.

Mr Hawazi Daipi: Sir, we leave it to the school to determine the amount of

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fund they want to allocate to students of the different needs.

Mdm Ho Geok Choo: Sir, may I ask, that being the case, how do we ensure that sufficient funds are allocated for such needs in the schools?

Mr Hawazi Daipi: Sir, funds are made available for students with learning disabilities. MOE provides annual grants to the Dyslexia Association of Singapore as well as to the Autism Resource Centre.