PART 2 REPORT ON THE COMMISSION’S FORUM ON THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION FOR CWLD Government’s Initiatives Relevant information and explanation • • • 2013 Budget • The Government would implement a pre-schools pilot project (TASKA OKU) for six categories of children with disabilities which including Down Syndrome, Autism, Vision Impairment, Mute and Hearing Impairment, Physical Disabilities and Learning Disabilities. These children are not required to pay any fee to attend these pre-schools. A total of RM 1.2 billion is provided for the above purpose and this project is placed under the purview of the Welfare Department, Ministry Of Education, PERMATA and Department of National Unity and Integration. An allocation of RM 380 million is also provided under the Ministry of Education to deploy teachers for this project. In regard to achieve quality services in pre-school, the Government proposed i) to launch a grant of RM 10,000 to the operator of Private Early Childhood Education Center; ii) Income Tax Exemption for 5 years and Industrial Building Allowance at the rate of 10% per annum would be given to the operator of TASKA and Private Child Care Centres; iii) 2 times a tax deduction on allowances or subsidies granted to employees and the expenses for maintenance of TASKA and Child Care Centres would be given to the employer and; iv) Income Tax Exemption for 5 years and Industrial Building Allowance at the rate of 10% per annum would be given to the operator of Private Pre-school The BN 13th General Election Manifesto • A total of RM 100,000 would be given to the school with special education class as a special fund. To date, the award of this fund is pending. Education (Special Education) Regulations 2013 • Revoked the Education (Special Education) Regulations 1997 Gazette on 18 July 2013 Include all relevant circulars • • 36. Furthermore, he further suggested the following to improve the education for children with learning disabilities:a. To recognise the Clinical Psychology Field so that the school Counsellors are entitled to do the assessment and verification on the children who believed to suffer from learning disabilities. In Western countries, Counsellors were also given a licence to diagnose the children. Thus, it is hoped that this field would be introduced in all universities in Malaysia; 69