THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES – FOCUSING ON PRIMARY EDUCATION 30 one of the reasons for the non-execution of IEP. In addition, although the Ministry of Education has published a manual on how to prepare IEP,40 the teachers stated that they would need more guidance on how to develop a good IEP. (c) Assessment and Evaluation 92. Assessment and evaluation systems are often focused on academic performance rather than individual progress and therefore can also be restrictive for children with special education needs. There appears to be some confusion among special education teachers on the mechanism to evaluate the performance of CWLD under the new Penilaian Berasaskan Sekolah(School-based Assessment) system. Some teachers claimed that modification is needed to reflect the real achievements of these students. (d) Interaction with mainstream students 93. Although SEIP is a means to encourage interaction between special need students and mainstream students, some parents claimed that most of the time the special need students were kept in a separate class throughout the day.41 94. The Ministry of Education has introduced a new initiative to encourage better interaction between students. A pilot project ‘the Buddy Club’ was introduced in August 2013 to promote integration of special needs students with others through extra curriculum activities and as a start, the programme would involve fitness and sports activities. This is an initiative that should be welcomed and should be expended to other areas of education. In view of the Government’s ultimate aim of having 75% children with disabilities in inclusive education by 2025, ‘the Buddy Club’ should be seen as creating a path towards full education inclusivity. (e) The Roles of Parents 95. Parental involvement in the education of their special needs children cannot be over-emphasised. Constant communications and active involvement in schools’ activities are essential to ensure continuity of lessons and skills learned in schools at home. Such interactions have proven to be beneficial toward the progress of the children with disabilities, including CWLD. 96. In the United States of America, the law (IDEA) makes it clear that parents Buku Panduan Rancangan Pendidikan Individu (RPI) Murid-murid Berkeperluan Khas, 2000, Special Education Department, Ministry of Education Malaysia. 41 Special needs learners face obstacles, The Star, 24 August 2014. Available at http://www.thestar.com. my/News/Education/2014/08/24/Special-needs-learners-face-obstacles/. 40