60 THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES – FOCUSING ON PRIMARY EDUCATION d. e. Access to special education programmes in primary education • The Forum noted that special education programmes are not available in all primary schools. It is further noted that the majority of the special education programmes are being offered in urban schools, while in rural schools such programmes are limited. This has created accessibility issues for children with learning disabilities. • The Forum agreed that the special education programme in Malaysia should move to all inclusive programme where children with disabilities are included in mainstream classes with their ‘normal’ peers with appropriate support from teachers and teachers’ aides. Conducive learning environment • f. Vocational skills for children with disabilities • g. The participants also urged the Government to create better environment for children with learning disabilities in school. To start with, the Forum called on the authorities to ensure that the classrooms for these students are spacious comfortable and conducive for their learning process. The Forum noted that there are several vocational schools that offer place of special need students. It was informed that not all vocational school can afford to offer places for special need students as they lack trained and qualified teachers to supervise the students. Noting this constraint, the Ministry of Education was said to be in discussions with several colleges in order to facilitate students from special schools to further their study in colleges. The participants also highlighted that some parents refused to recognize the special need of their children to avoid public stigma. Such denial would have a negative impact on the future of the children. The participants agreed that public should be sensitized on the need to respect children with disabilities. In addition, appropriate support and assistance should be made available and known to the public, in particular the parents.