Disabled People

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Disabled Peoples Association (DPA)
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Evaluation and Report of Disability
Discrimination Case Studies in the Asia Pacific
Region Implementation Gap

• The Exemption of Children with Disabilities from
  the Compulsory Education Act of Singapore

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Compulsory Education Act 2003

• Compulsory Education (CE) was implemented in
  Singapore in 2003.
• The two key objectives of CE are to give children
  in Singapore
• A common core of knowledge which will provide a
  strong foundation for further education and
  training to prepare them for a knowledge-based
  economy and
• A common educational experience which will help
  to build national identity and cohesion.

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• Reasoning behind CE
• By 1999, Singapore had achieved almost universal
  education at the primary and the secondary levels
  
• Yet, about 3 (1677) of children who eligible to
  start schooling who were not enrolled (national
  or special education schools). The Government
  became concerned that this group of children were
  are not being equipped with the necessary skills
  and knowledge to be productive citizens in a
  knowledge-based economy.
• Thus, the Committee on Compulsory Education in
  Singapore was formed in December 1999 and
  recommended CE except for 3 types of exemptions.

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Compulsory Education Exemptions

• Designated Schools Schools currently offering
  full-time religious education including 6
  madrasahs and an Adventist School.
• Home-schooling Children granted exemption
  from CE to be home-schooled provided the parents
  are able to satisfy MOE that the two key
  objectives of CE can be achieved for their
  children.

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Compulsory Education Exemptions

• Special Needs Children who are not able to go to
  national schools because of physical/intellectual
  disabilities are exempted from CE in national
  schools. Parents of children with special needs
  do not have to obtain certificates confirming
  exemption from CE.

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Difference Between Mainstream and Special
Education Schools

• There are 20 Special Education (SPED) schools run
  by Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs)
  receiving funding from the Ministry of Education
  (MOE) and the National Council of Social
  Service (NCSS). The SPED schools run different
  programmes catering to distinct disability groups
  of children who are unable to benefit from
  mainstream schooling. SPED schools do not follow
  the national curriculum, although some schools
  such as Pathlight for children with
  high-functioning autism and other SPED schools
  for children with hearing impairments do take the
  Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) and if
  they pass they can go into mainstream secondary
  schooling.
• SPED schools provide customised educational
  programmes aimed at developing the potential of
  pupils and helping them to be independent,
  self-supporting and contributing members of
  society. Besides receiving classroom instructions
  conducted by their teachers, pupils also receive
  support from paramedical professionals such as
  psychologists, speech therapists, occupational
  therapists, physiotherapists and social workers.
• This is not the same as the 2 aims of CE as it
  misses out second aim of CE (common educational
  experience which will help to build national
  identity and cohesion)

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Exemption or Exclusion?

• Although Children with special needs are
  exempted from CE there is no legislation
  pertaining to the process or need for such a
  process.
• In practice, the centres that run the Early
  Intervention Programme for Infants Children
  (EIPIC), which provides educational and therapy
  services for children aged 0 to 6 who are
  diagnosed to be at risk of having special needs
  that will affect their development, assess the
  children when they reach the age of 5, or
  recommend him/her for an assessment at the
  hospital, to determine if he/she is ready for
  mainstream education.
• If the child is found unsuitable for mainstream
  education, the centre or doctor will recommend
  the child attend a special education school.
• Yet, not all children with disabilities attend
  EIPIC centres for a multitude of reasons and thus
  may miss out on this assessment. About 10
  children with special needs do not attend
  national or SPED schools each year.

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Exemption or Exclusion?

• Unlike with the 2 other exemptions, there is no
  educational standards that the children with
  special needs need to meet in order to continue
  to be exempted from CE.
• Thus, once a child is in a SPED school it is not
  that easy for them to be mainstreamed into
  national schools. Yet, there are programmes being
  set up to identify children who are able to cope
  with the national curriculum and be integrated
  into mainstream schools.
• Yet, this does not deal with the issue of
  ensuring that the educational standards and aims
  of the SPED schools are commensurate with the
  national curriculum

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Political/Social Implications of Exempting
Children with Special Needs from CE

• Children attending SPED schools do not
  necessarily benefit from the 2 aims of CE
• Fosters a culture of difference, rather than
  mainstreaming disability. This is detrimental not
  only to children with disabilities, but does not
  encourage children without disabilities to be
  inclusive
• Yet, there are some attempts to get children with
  and without disabilities to mix. E.G. The
  Townsville-Pathlight partnership that was started
  in September 2009, in which 40 pupils from the
  primary 3-5 level of Townsville go over to have
  their recess at Pathlight. Similarly, about 25
  pupils from Pathlight would have their recess at
  Townsville. Currently, there are eight SPED
  schools in satellite partnerships with 11 nearby
  mainstream schools.
• The problem is that these are school-led
  initiatives and only occur when a SPED school is
  geographically close to a mainstream school.
  Thus, only a small number of mainstream schools
  will benefit from these kinds of partnerships.

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Accessibility and Exempting Children with Special
Needs from CE

• Takes the pressure of Ministry of Education (MOE)
  to make schools more accessible. Currently only 1
  school per cluster is accessible (28 clusters in
  total).
• Even then these schools are not fully accessible
  or remain accessible.
• The Governments code on Barrier-free
  accessibility is a mandates that all public
  buildings (post-1999) are accessible, yet it does
  not apply to schools
• Thus, schools are becoming more accessible due to
  aging staff members and not students with
  disabilities

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Transport Implications of Exempting Children with
Special Needs from CE

• Due to the fact that SPED schools are run by VWOs
  there is no government subsidies for transport to
  and from school, which is costly
• There Government run charity fund called LTA
  Cares Fund to cater to the transport needs of
  working adults and students in mainstream schools
  who are financially and physically disadvantaged.
  Yet, it does not apply to children attending SPED
  schools

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School Fees for Children with Special Needs

• In mainstream primary schools, there is no school
  fee but there is a S5.50 miscellaneous fee
  regardless of the parents' income.
• In SPED schools, the school fee is dependent on
  the family's income. Fees could range from S14
  to S500 a month depending on the school.
• For low-income families there is a Government
  Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS)
• Parents of children with special needs who earn
  more than S2500 a month will still have to pay
  more school fees than those whose children go to
  national schools

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Reasons for Excluding Children with Special Needs
in CE

• The Ministry of Community Development, Culture
  and Youth (MCCY) says that practically all
  children, including those with disabilities
  attend school, so there is no need to change the
  legislation.
• Yet, the reason given for CE was to ensure the
  small number of those who did not attend school
  were found and brought into mainstream education.
  The same principle should apply to children with
  special needs
• In addition, when child with special needs has
  access to SPED schools, there are more issues to
  contend with that might be resolved by inclusion
  in CE
• For example, given the small number of SPED
  schools there are waiting lists to enrol and
  children sometimes have to travel a long way to
  go to school that caters for their disability. If
  these schools were under MOEs purview it will be
  held accountable for these waiting lists and
  transportation issues, rather than VWOs

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Parents of Children with Disabilities and CE

• When MOE is asked why Children with disabilities
  are not included in CE the standard response is
  that it places an undue burden on parents of
  severely disable children to compel them to
  attend school
• Yet, a 2003 survey by a researcher at National
  Technological University involving 2489 parents,
  guardians and care-givers of children with
  special needs showed that their attitudes towards
  compulsory education for children with special
  needs were very positive.
• 98.2 agreed to strongly agreed that all children
  should attend school, and 95.9 believed that
  education should be made compulsory as every
  child has the right to be educated.
• Most of them agreed that compulsory education
  will make their children more confident (97.5),
  independent (97.1), and happier (97.7). Their
  children would also make more friends with other
  children (96.0). They also agreed that the
  schools could provide more meaningful
  opportunities to learn (96.6) because they have
  better educational programmes (98.6), which will
  be beneficial to their children (98.3). These
  experiences will make it much easier for their
  children to integrate within the community
  (95.2).

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Singapore and the CRPD

• Singapore has announced its intention to sign the
  United Nations Convention on the Rights of
  Persons with Disabilities by December 2012
• Yet, the current CE act is at odds with Article
  24.2 (a) The government is to ensure that
  persons with disabilities are not excluded from
  the general education system on the basis of
  disability, and that children with disabilities
  are not excluded from free and compulsory primary
  education, or from secondary education, on the
  basis of disability
• In order to remain true to this article of this
  article of the convention SPED schools must come
  under MOE governance and thus the Government (and
  not just the VWOs) must be held accountable for
  the level, quality of and access to education of
  children with special needs.

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Singapore and the CRPD

• Article 24.2 (c) The government is to ensure that
  persons with disabilities receive the support
  required, within the general education system, to
  facilitate their effective education.
• Accommodation within the education system for
  students with disabilities appears to be ad hoc
  and decided by individual institutions. For
  example, enrolment of children with special needs
  in mainstream schools appears based on the
  individual discretion of the schools principal.
• Another example is that Students with profound
  hearing loss who use of sign language to
  communicate can only attend school in four
  secondary schools, where sign language
  interpreters are employed. There are no
  provisions for interpreters at post-secondary
  schools or at the universities or tertiary
  institutions. Hearing impaired students have to
  pay the standard school fees as well as for sign
  language interpreters
• Yet, the Government announced in March 2012 that
  they will set up an advisory council to
  streamline and standardise the application process

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CE for Children with Special Needs in the Future?

• The Enabling Masterplan 2012-16 recommended a
  study be done on the implications of including
  children with special needs in CE, with the aim
  of including them by 2016. At this time there is
  no date available for when this will take place
• The same plan recommended accountability and
  guidance in the SPED school system, modelled on
  the national school system and led by MOE
• There is also a plan for a study to see how many
  SPED school graduates are able to get open
  employment, since there have been many complaints
  that upon leaving SPED schools many graduates are
  not ready for open employment

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Conclusion

• Although the policies and practices that ensure
  that children with special needs have access to
  quality education are improving, these children
  must be included in CE
• It will legally mandate access to education for
  all children with disabilities, whether it be
  within mainstream schools or SPED schools
• It will mean more if not all schools are truly
  accessible
• By including these children in CE, it signifies
  that the education of children with special needs
  is as important as that of children without
  special needs