Extending Subsidies to Families of Children with Dyslexia

Dr Chia Shi-Lu asked the Minister for Education whether the Ministry will consider extending subsidies under the MOE-Aided Dyslexia Association of Singapore Literacy Programme (MAP) to Singaporean children with dyslexia who are attending special education schools so as to ease the financial burden on their families.

Over the years, a range of provisions targeted at language and literacy support, including dyslexia remediation, have been made available to students in mainstream and Government-funded Special Education (SPED) schools.

The MOE-Aided Dyslexia Association of Singapore Literacy Programme is one example and this Programme is specifically designed to meet the needs of mainstream school students with no other special educational needs. The financial assistance scheme for this Programme is thus provided only to eligible mainstream school students.

SPED schools have various programmes in place to provide customised literacy support for their students. For example, since 2011, MOE has worked closely with all SPED schools to implement the Direct Instruction (DI) Reading and Oral Language Programme to help students gain a stronger foundation in literacy. Another example is Pathlight School's Literacy Remediation Programme (LRP) for their students with Autism Spectrum Disorder who are diagnosed with dyslexia or who are observed by their teachers to have reading challenges. Such customised literacy support programmes are offered at no additional cost to parents and are supported by the Government's per capita funding for SPED schools, which is substantially higher than that for mainstream schools as it takes into account the higher resourcing needs of SPED schools.

Moving forward, MOE will continue to work closely with SPED schools to support students who require customised literacy support.

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