PART 1
THE COMMISSION’S REPORT ON THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES
– FOCUSING ON PRIMARY EDUCATION
TABLE 10: PROJECTED ENROLMENT OF SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS IN
INCLUSIVE EDUCATION53
Year
No. of special needs
students
No. of special needs
students in inclusive
education
Percentage
%
2012
53,983
4,048
7.5
2013
56,406
5,640
10
2014
59,406
11,406
20
2015
62,862
18,858
30
117. To achieve this projection, it is important that the Ministry of Education
addresses the claims by many sectors that school administrations are
reluctant to include CWLD in mainstream classes as they fear that the
academic results of these CWLD may have an adverse effect on the overall
performance of the school, which in turn would affect their school ranking.
118. Many parents and professionals see the school ranking system, which
attracts monetary incentives to the school administration, as the obstacle
that may jeopardise the right of CWLD to an inclusive education.
119. What is not widely known is the existence of a circular by the Ministry to allow
schools to separate the results of the academic performance of CWLD from
that of the mainstream students in the assessment of the schools’ overall
performance.54 This circular was issued to encourage schools to include
CWLD into inclusive /mainstream classes while at the same time safeguarding
the school’s ranking.
3.7 COMMUNITY REHABILITATION CENTRES (CBR)55
120. At the beginning of this Report, reference was made to CBR as an alternative
to schools for CWLD. CBR is a platform where the community contributes
towards the development of its members including children with learning
disabilities. CBR provides prevention, rehabilitation and development
programmes such as basic training and rehabilitation activities in movement,
speech, education and daily-living skills. These programmes are aimed
at developing children with learning disabilities to become independent
individuals who are fully integrated into the community.
Source: Report by the Ministry of Education to the National Council for Persons with Disabilities dated
8 May 2014. The projection is for students’ enrolment in primary and secondary schools.
54
Surat Pekeliling Ikhtisas Bil. 23/1998: Kebenaran Bagi Murid-murid Menduduki Peperiksaan Awam.
55
Information obtained from the Department of Social Welfare.
53
39