Debated in Parliament on 10 May 2021.
Mr Sitoh Yih Pin asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what is the current number of pre-schoolers in mainstream pre-schools who have been diagnosed or identified with special needs or learning disabilities; and (b) whether our early childhood educators are equipped with the necessary skills to support these pre-schoolers.
The Development Support (DS) and Learning Support (LS) Programme is one of a suite of programmes which provides additional developmental support for pre-school children. The DS-LS Progamme is currently designed to support pre-school children aged five and six identified with mild developmental delays or learning needs. The DS-LS programme is currently offered at about 550 pre-schools. Children on the DS-LS programme are given the necessary support such as pull-out sessions with Learning Support Educators or therapists to address their developmental and learning needs.
For the younger nursery children, there are issues of whether identifying children with mild developmental delays or learning needs at these earlier ages is appropriate and if intervention via the existing DS-LS programme is suitable. ECDA is studying these issues with agencies.
For nursery children with clearer moderate to severe developmental delays, pre-schools can already identify and refer these children to KKH and National University Hospital as well as the Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children (EIPIC) where more intensive support can be provided.
At the same time, ECDA is scaling up KidSTART to support more low-income families with the development of their children from birth. This will support the development of these children from these families, regardless of whether there are development delays.
Taking ECDA’s KidSTART programme, DS-LS programme and the EIPIC programme together, these form the range of assistance available to provide additional developmental support for children of pre-school-age and their families.
PAPERCUTS