SINGAPORE — Three new special education (Sped) schools will be set up for students with moderate to severe special needs, to cater to the growing demand for places at these schools, Second Minister for Education Indranee Rajah announced on Friday (Nov 8).

One of the three new Sped schools will be run by Metta Welfare Association from 2021, while the other two will be opened by the Ministry of Education (MOE). More details will be announced at a later date.

The move to set up these schools is among a list of new measures aimed at improving inclusion in mainstream schools and to make special education more affordable. 

The ministry will also extend two peer-support intervention programmes to allow students with special needs in all mainstream primary schools to get more chances to mingle with their peers.

From January next year, fees at six Sped schools which now charge higher-end fees will be reduced by at least 25 per cent for Singaporeans. 

The six schools are Eden School, Grace Orchard School, Pathlight School, St Andrew’s Autism School, Rainbow Centre — Margaret Drive School and Rainbow Centre — Yishun Park School.

Speaking on Friday at a concert organised by charity group ExtraOrdinary People, Ms Indranee said that this is a “significant move” in making special education more affordable for those who have children with special educational needs. 

“Special education can be costly due to the higher needs and resources… while financial assistance is available to lower-income (households), we recognise that for families of children with special educational needs, Sped fees add to the other costs they already have to bear,” she said. 

MORE ROOM FOR INTAKE

One of the three new Sped schools to be run by Metta Welfare Association will provide about 25 places for each cohort of students with moderate to severe special needs. The association now runs Metta School in Simei, which serves about 410 special needs students with mild intellectual disability.

MOE said that this new school will open up 300 more school places for students with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability aged seven to 18 years old.

The new campus will be located in the eastern part of Singapore and will be ready in 2024. In the interim, from 2021, students will have their lessons at Metta School in Simei. MOE said that there is enough space to accommodate the increase in student numbers. 

The other two new Sped schools to be opened under MOE which cater to students with moderate special needs will offer the national primary and secondary curriculum, and there will be a “suitable post-primary programme” for students who are unable to access the national secondary curriculum.

To set up one of these two schools, the ministry will be working with the Autism Resource Centre (Singapore), which runs Pathlight School in Ang Mo Kio. This will be in addition to the centre's upcoming second campus in Tampines that was previously announced in July.

For the third school, MOE will send out a call for proposal to eligible agencies to partner and set up the school.  

Ms Indranee said: “In addition to meeting our children’s educational needs, it is also crucial to create an inclusive system, where all are seen as integral members of our society.”  

She added that Sped schools and mainstream schools, through MOE’s Satellite Partnership Programme, have been working together to conduct shared activities such as learning journeys and camps to promote inclusion among students with and without special needs. 

Over the next few years, two peer-support intervention programmes — Circle of Friends and Facing Your Fears — will also be extended to all mainstream schools. 

Under the Circle of Friends programme — which is a school-based, structured peer-support intervention for students with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties — students with special needs will meet weekly with their form teachers and allied educators who specialise in learning and behavioural support, in order to identify and tackle specific learning difficulties.

These sessions will be conducted over five to eight sessions with the support of six to eight friends.

The programme has been offered to primary and secondary schools over the past few years on a request-basis, the ministry said, with an MOE psychologist providing on-the-job coaching for the allied educators or the form teacher facilitating the group.

The Facing Your Fears programme, introduced in 2016 to help students with special education needs who struggle with emerging anxiety, is already conducted in selected secondary schools. 

Students with special needs get to meet with a facilitator in a group of two to four, giving them opportunities to support and encourage each other as they learn self-management strategies to tackle their fears.

The sessions are conducted by allied educators specialising in learning and behavioural support, who are trained by MOE psychologists and specialists. To date, personnel from about 50 secondary schools have been trained for this programme.