Plans for Allied Educators in Schools for Learning and Classroom Support

1 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Education whether changes are being planned with respect to the current numbers of allied educators in schools for both learning support and classroom support.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education (Ms Low Yen Ling) (for the Minister for Education): Mr Speaker, Sir, MOE currently employs around 2,000 Allied Educators (AEDs) in our mainstream schools. They comprise School Counsellors, Student Welfare Officers, AEDs in Learning and Behavioural Support (AEDs(LBS)), and AEDs in Teaching and Learning (AEDs(T&L)).

Each school is typically resourced with one to two School Counsellors to support the social-emotional and mental health needs of our students, and one to two AEDs(LBS) to provide structured intervention support to students with Special Educational Needs. Some schools also have a Student Welfare Officer to support our students who struggle with attendance issues.

Over the last five years, we have grown the number of School Counsellors, Student Welfare Officers and AEDs(LBS) by over 30%, and we intend to expand this further to meet the growing needs of our students. For the existing AEDs(T&L), we are encouraging and also facilitating them to still remain as allied educators, but in the other specialised roles. For example, over the last two years, we have sponsored around 100 AEDs(T&L) to a 10-month full-time Diploma in Special Education (DISE) at the National Institute of Education (NIE) and plan to train another 100 this year.

MOE will continue to review our AED numbers and workforce profile to ensure that we respond effectively to students’ needs.

Mr Speaker: Mr Leon Perera.

Mr Leon Perera (Non-Constituency Member): Thank you, Sir. I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the answer. Just one supplementary question. There is some anecdotal feedback – it may or may not be the correct perception – that AEDs for classroom support are being reduced in number. Is that actually taking place or are there any plans to do that or is that just an incorrect perception?

Ms Low Yen Ling: Mr Speaker, Sir, I want to thank the Member for his supplementary question and I also want to assure him that the AEDs form an integral part of our teaching force, to guide the growth and development of our students, especially students with special educational needs. MOE remains committed to deepen and also to expand our mainstream schools' capacity to support our students with special educational needs.

On the Member's specific supplementary question on AED(T&L), earlier on, I cited the four types of AEDs. Let me briefly explain the differing job roles and responsibilities. There are four types of AEDs in our schools. First, the School Counsellor provides counselling services to meet the social-emotional and also the mental health needs of our students. The second type is the Student Welfare Officer, who supports students with long-term absenteeism issues and sometimes, is involved in managing their family-related issues as well. The third is the AED(LBS) who provides learning and behavioural support for students with special educational needs, mainly students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), mild ASD, ADHD and dyslexia. The fourth type – the one that the Member specifically highlighted – is the AED(T&L) who provides teaching and learning support for our students in and outside of the classroom.

Within the AED pool, we are committed to grow the number of School Counsellors, Student Welfare Officers and also AED(LBS) because we see that they are well-positioned to support the changing profile and the new and growing needs of our students, especially students with special educational needs. The number has grown for these three types of AEDs – it has grown by more than 30% and we are still recruiting. From time to time, MOE will review the profile of our teaching force, including the AEDs. We do need to re-shape the profile of our teaching force, including the AEDs, to be able to better support the changing needs of our students.

For example, with smaller student enrolment and with a healthy teaching force, in general, our teacher-to-student ratio has come down, has improved, which also means that now, the teachers rely slightly less on the AEDs(T&L) to provide generic classroom support, than many, many years ago. In order to future-proof our AED(T&L), to better support them in terms of career development, career advancement, we also are facilitating them in terms of taking up the training or even sponsoring them in relevant diplomas, so that they can also take on specialised roles.

We are happy to see that in the past few years, AEDs(T&L) have successfully transited to AEDs(LBS). They have done well, also because of their previous experience supporting the teachers in the classrooms.

I want to give the assurance that we remain committed to the professional development of our AEDs, including the AEDs(T&L).

Mr Speaker: Mr Perera.

Mr Leon Perera: I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the answer. Sir, just one last supplementary question, really just to confirm if I understood the Senior Parliamentary Secretary correctly, the thinking of the Government is that AEDs(T&L) are less necessary now and therefore, the numbers are going to be reduced and then, those AEDs(T&L) are going to be transited to other roles and so on. I just want to confirm that understanding.

Ms Low Yen Ling: Earlier on, I did mention that from time to time, we will look at re-shaping our teaching workforce, including the AEDs. And moving forward, we are looking at ramping up the recruitment of School Counsellors, Student Welfare Officers and AEDs(LBS). For existing AEDs(T&L) who are keen to make the transition or career switch to any of these three roles or even other roles in the teaching force, we will support the AEDs(T&L) in doing so with the necessary sponsorship or diploma courses in NIE or even very specialised courses to support them, so that they can continue to support students – whether it is students with special educational needs or students who need counselling and so on.

In the next few days, during the MOE Committee of Supply (COS), we will share more details about how we are boosting the professional development of our teaching workforce, including supporting teachers to better support students with special educational needs.