Minister of Education Yang Berhormat Datin Seri Setia Dr Hajah Romaizah binti Haji Mohd Salleh said the Ministry of Education (MoE) has taken several steps to provide education for all students including children with special needs.
The minister was responding to a query by Legislative Council (LegCo) member Yang Berhormat Dr Haji Mahali bin Haji Momin pertaining to the education of students with special needs at the 20th session of the LegCo meeting yesterday.
The minister said one step is increasing the number of special needs education teachers, including some 19 recruited through apprentice programmes, while 55 Special Education Needs Support Educators (SENSE) have also been hired.
Yang Berhormat Datin Seri Setia Dr Hajah Romaizah said that SENSE teachers have been provided basic training on special needs education and will teach students with special needs part-time.
Additionally, 30 religious teachers are undergoing basic courses to meet the needs of special education for religious education for the integrated system.
The minister added that the MoE was also planning and reviewing the recruitment of contract teachers among retirees with experience to teach special needs children.
“Many of these children need one-to-one intervention when attending school. Some could not be placed in regular classes due to their specific needs, and were placed in a special room,” the minister said.
“Some students only attend school a few days a week, and this is to make way for other students, and also due to insufficient teaching staff.”
“The MoE will continue to strive to increase the number of teachers who can teach or address the issue of students with special needs,” she said. – Rokiah Mahmud
