Pre-schools Offering Inclusive Education for Special Needs Children

Mr Desmond Choo asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) how many pre-schools currently offer inclusive education for special needs children; (b) whether the current capacity is sufficient to meet demand; and (c) what is the support given to schools to adopt an inclusive model.

Inclusive preschools strive to provide children with developmental needs the opportunity to enrol in pre-schools alongside their typically-developing peers.

Today, many preschools already strive to adopt a more inclusive approach and enrol children with mild to moderate developmental needs. To support this inclusion within pre-schools, the Government funds the provision of the Learning Support (LS), Development Support (DS) and Development Support Plus (DS-Plus) programmes. Under these programmes, professionals, such as Learning Support Educators, Early Intervention teachers, therapists and psychologists, provide intervention for children with developmental needs in their pre-schools once or twice a week. They also guide pre-school teachers in adapting their teaching methods and activities, to better engage and integrate these children in the classroom setting.

The DS and LS programmes are currently offered at about 550 pre-schools. ECDA is working with sector partners to increase the number of pre-schools that offer DS and LS. The DS-Plus programme was launched in July 2019 to offer more intensive support and will be rolled out to more preschools over time. With the extension of DS-LS and DS-Plus programmes to more pre-schools, we would be able to offer families more timely and accessible support.

Currently, the majority of children with moderate to severe developmental needs attend both the Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children (EIPIC) and pre-schools to ensure that their needs are holistically met. A small number of pre-schools, such as Kindle Garden and Canossaville Pre-school, cater to these children in an inclusive setting. MSF has set up an Inclusive Pre-school Workgroup (IPWG) involving people, private and public sector partners, to learn from the experiences of local and international inclusive pre-schools. The IPWG will develop recommendations on how to better support children with moderate to severe developmental needs within pre-schools.

To support pre-school teachers, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) works with the National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC) and other training institutes to equip them with the skills to support children with developmental needs within an inclusive environment. In pre-service training, early childhood teachers are taught the basics of identifying and working with children with developmental needs, including where to get additional support if needed. In-service teachers can also tap on subsidised post-diploma training and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses to deepen their knowledge and skills in this area. NIEC also offers the Specialist Diploma in Early Childhood Learning Support (SDELS) and the Advanced Diploma in Early Childhood Intervention (Special Needs) (ADESN) to equip those who wish to take on specialist roles as Learning Support Educators and Early Intervention teachers respectively to support children with developmental needs.