Professional Development for Special Education Teachers

Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng asked the Minister for Education whether the Ministry can facilitate special education educators in special schools funded by the Ministry and NCSS joining as members and participating in courses and programmes organised by agencies promoting professional development of educators such as the Academy of Singapore Teachers and Academy of Principals (Singapore).

As part of overall efforts to uplift the quality of Special Education (SPED), MOE is committed to enhancing professional development opportunities for teachers in SPED schools.

SPED educators have access to and have been participating in courses organised by the Academy of Singapore Teachers (AST). The full listing of

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AST's courses is made available to all SPED schools. An application process has been put in place to facilitate course registration.

Since 2012, AST has made available Teacher Work Attachment opportunities for SPED teachers to broaden their perspectives and to enable them to learn good practices from other organisations, which they can apply in the SPED context. Moving ahead, SPED teachers will be invited to attend professional learning programmes led by teachers. These include workshops and subject teachers' professional meetings. This will strengthen the development of professional learning teams in SPED schools and help build a culture of professional learning and sharing in the SPED community.

The Academy of Principals, Singapore (APS) will also make course information available to SPED schools.