In-house Programmes in MOE Kindergartens for Special Needs Children

12 Ms Yeo Wan Ling asked the Minister for Education (a) whether MOE Kindergartens (MK) have in-house programmes for special needs children; (b) whether these programmes prepare their special needs students for mainstream Primary schools; and (c) how many special needs children are in the MK system currently.

The Minister of State for Education (Ms Gan Siow Huang) (for the Minister for Education): Mr Deputy Speaker, currently, 8% of children enrolled in MOE Kindergartens (MKs), numbering around 600 Kindergarten One and Two children, are reported to have developmental needs that require support. Not all these children have a formal diagnosis. Some were identified by our Kindergarten educators, who are equipped with basic awareness and strategies to support diverse learners in the classroom. The type of support would vary depending on the needs of each child.

MKs tap on sector-wide Early Intervention (EI) provisions, such as the Development Support - Learning Support (DS-LS) and Development Support Plus (DS-Plus) programmes, to support these children. Under these programmes, professionals such as Learning Support Educators and therapists provide intervention for identified children once or twice a week. This includes language and literacy support for children with learning needs and psychological support for children with behavioural needs. MOE also provides Assistive Technology such as Frequency Modulation systems for children with hearing loss.

Some children who require medium to high levels of Early Intervention support also attend the Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children, EIPIC in short, outside of MKs to ensure that their developmental needs are met.

MOE Educational Psychologists work with our MKs to identify the needs of the children and design in-class strategies to support them. While the majority of children with developmental needs will progress to mainstream Primary schools, MOE Educational Psychologists will also make recommendations to Special Education (SPED) for the small proportion of children better supported in a SPED school. MKs also work closely with parents to support their child and prepare them for transition beyond preschool, whether in mainstream or SPED schools.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Ms Yeo Wan Ling.

Ms Yeo Wan Ling (Pasir Ris-Punggol): I thank the Minister of State. I note from appeals from my residents, more families are asking for preschool placements for their special needs children and are being put on a waitlist or a special assessment before the child can be considered for school enrolment. I understand for experts in the field, that is also important for intervention to take place at a young age for certain special needs conditions before former school begins.

Given that the MK system was put in place to prepare preschool children for formal education, would the Minister's assessment, be that the current spaces and in-school resources available for children with special needs, be sufficient for the Special Needs community? Also, are our preschool sufficiently resource, especially with trained teaching staff and in-house therapist to handle such student loads?

Ms Gan Siow Huang: MKs are part of the wider ecosystem of preschools for children, especially those with special needs. And in our MKs, the MK Educators are offered baseline training by MOE Educational Psychologists within the first two years of service to gain awareness of developmental needs and strategies to support these diverse learners in the classroom. They would also have undergone training by the NIEC or the National Institute of Early Childhood Development or other training institutes on the skills required to identify and support children with developmental needs.

Our MK Educators are supported by a Case Management Team set up in each MK to coordinate identification and support for children with developmental needs. The MK Case Management Team includes personnel, who receive more in-depth training including school Special Educational Needs Officers and our MK Special Educational Needs Coordinators.

Our MKs are also supported by MOE Educational Psychologists, who provide consultation on identification, referrals and advice on in-class strategies.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Ms Denise Phua.

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Jalan Besar): I understand that children with special needs sometimes attend, not just their daily kindergartens, whether MOE or the anchor operators – like PCF, My First Skool and others. That is usually daily. But some of them also, because of their need, they attend the EIPIC programme, some specialised classes, and that is like once or twice a week. So, it is a combination of both.

I was recently told by some residents that the policy is such that if they receive EIPIC, which is early intervention support, then if they go to the kindergartens, which are also funded by MOE, then they would not receive support in the preschools.

So, my question to the Minister of State is, is that true? And if that is true, could we consider looking into support for these children, so that they can receive an effective intervention and support on a daily basis?

Ms Gan Siow Huang: I thank the Member for the supplementary question. We want the best support for children with special needs, whether they are in MKs or in the EIPIC centres or the early intervention centres that Member Denise Phua mentioned. And we will work together with the early intervention centres to make sure the programmes and support given to the special needs children will be complementary.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Ms Yeo Wan Ling, keep it to a short supplementary question, please.

Ms Yeo Wan Ling: Would the Ministry also be looking at the number of people on the waitlist? Has it increased for special needs people wanting to enter the MK system over the last five years, for instance? And also, at the same time, would there also be numbers that you monitor in terms of the number of special needs people within the MK system?

Ms Gan Siow Huang: As I have mentioned earlier on, MKs are part of the ecosystem of preschools in Singapore. Besides MKs, there are other preschools managed under MSF that cater to the needs of students, whether they hare normal or special needs. So, I think it is important that we do not just look at the MKs by themselves, but look at how as a system as a whole, we can meet the needs and demands of the students.

Offhand I do not know the waitlist for special needs children who want to go to the MKs. But, as I mentioned earlier on, all MKs have specially trained teachers and are supported by a group of professionals to help students with special needs. And also, we know that among special needs students, there is actually a very wide spectrum. Those that are of very mild conditions; most of them are able to get the support that they need from the MKs. And those who are deemed to have moderate and more severe conditions, their care and support will then be supplemented by the other centres that the students will go to once or twice a week.

So, I think it is important that we look at this issue more holistically and not just look at the MOE system alone.