MOE launched the particular Journeys of Superiority Package in 2020 with the aim of building up professionalism in SPED, said the Education Ressortchef (umgangssprachlich).
The package furthermore recognises the years of experience and assistance of many SPED educators by “placing them at appropriate competency levels” and raising the job size of senior SPED teachers to “more carefully align” to those of equivalent MOE teachers, he added.
PLANNING AHEAD FOR SPED NEEDS
Together with the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), MOE plans to increase the number of SPED educational institutions, said Mr Chan in response to a supplementary issue from MP Carrie Tan (PAP-Nee Soon).
“In planning for a SPED school, the manpower needs are not as simple as a conventional school, because in a standard school, the needs are usually perhaps more homogenous, ” he additional.
But in a SPED school, different children have different types of needs of differing severities, he or she noted.
“We do have certain planning ratios, yet we certainly will require and would like to recruit more Singaporeans to join the SPED sector. Today, we do rely quite a bit on some foreign manpower, ” said the Education Minister.
Stressing that dealing with children who need SPED support is emotionally demanding, Mr Chan said: “It’s challenging. I have given assistance to my staff that people cannot just intend on the basis of how numerous staff we need meant for how many children. We need to have a bit of a buffer … for us in order to roster our people to go for training and also sometimes for them to take a break. ”
MOE and MSF can also be working closely with “the most difficult challenge”, which is the continuum of care through pre-school, to college to post-school, or care and work arrangements for the SPED community after they turn 18, said Mr Chan.
The Government can make plans based on the data on children who seem to ended SPED because they emerge in pre-school, he added.
This means MOE should be able to plan for the actual may need after they turn 18 and leave the school system, mentioned Mr Chan. “And we really want to do this much better, ” this individual added.
“Our current distance, the biggest gap in my view, is not so much the pre-school as well as the school system, which we have invested plenty of effort over the years, we can still do better, ” said the Education Ressortchef (umgangssprachlich).
“Our next lap, the largest gap will be the way we provide the continuum from the school system towards the post-18-year-old arrangement to ensure that we can better assistance the SPED community, including the caregivers that will always be worried about what will happen to their particular needs children whenever they are no longer around. ”