[Archive] Admission of students with special education needs by mainstream schools

 

Asked by : The Hon LAW Chi-kwong

Replied by : Secretary for Education and Manpower

Question :

Regarding the admission of pupils with special education needs by mainstream primary schools, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the respective numbers of mainstream primary schools which commenced operation in the past and current school years; and among them, the number of schools which have admitted pupils with special education needs, together with a breakdown of the numbers of such pupils admitted to each school by classes and types of special education needs;
2. of the estimated number of such pupils to be admitted to mainstream primary schools in the next school year, together with a breakdown by type of special needs, and whether the Education Department ("ED") plans to increase such school places and the types of special needs;
3. of the additional resources provided to the schools which have admitted such pupils, and whether it knows how the relevant school authorities use the additional resources;
4. whether the ED has created new posts over the past two years for providing relevant support to the primary schools concerned; if it has, of the number, ranks and duties of the posts; and
5. whether it has encouraged mainstream schools and assisted the relevant school principals, teachers and other pupils to accept such pupils; if it has, of the details; if it has not, whether it will consider doing so?

Reply:

Madam President,

The Education Department (ED) has been providing support services to students with special educational needs (e.g. learning difficulties, speech defect, behavioural problems, autism with average intelligence, mild grade mental handicap, hearing impairment, physical handicap and visual impairment) attending mainstream primary schools. These services include remedial teaching, speech therapy, adjustment unit, as well as psychological and peripatetic services. ED also provides the following resources to schools for implementing the whole-school approach to integrated education and the intensive remedial teaching programmes -

1. Whole-school approach to integrated education
   
   
   1. A non-recurrent grant of $50,000 is provided to the schools for purchasing additional equipment for pupils or paying for minor works;
   2. An annual recurrent grant of $1,000 is provided to the schools for each disabled pupil (i.e. physical handicapped, visually impaired, hearing impaired, mildly mentally handicapped or autistic with average intelligence) per year for organizing activities and supportive programmes;
   3. An additional resource teacher at the Certificated Master/Mistress (CM) rank is provided for each school admitting five or more target pupils to support the implementation of integrated education; and
   4. An additional teacher assistant is provided for each school admitting eight or more target pupils to assist the aforesaid resource teacher.
2. Special Educational Needs Incidental Charges Grant
   
   Schools not participating in the programme in (A) above will be granted an incidental charges grant of $700 per year for each disabled pupil (i.e. physical handicapped, visually impaired, hearing impaired, mildly mentally handicapped or autistic with average intelligence) admitted.
3. Intensive Remedial Teaching Programme
   
   Schools may apply for the operation of an intensive remedial teaching programme and the employment of an additional CM teacher for every eight to fifteen pupils with learning difficulties. A set-up fund of $7,200 and a recurrent grant of $6,270 per year will be provided for each programme.

In the next four years, ED will increase the number of primary schools adopting the whole-school approach to integrated education by about 20 each year. ED will also set up some 60 intensive remedial teaching programmes next year to support pupils with learning difficulties.

As regards the questions raised by The Honorable Member,

a.	Among the 15 mainstream primary schools commencing operation in the past school year (1999/2000), 12 have admitted pupils with special educational needs (SEN pupils). As for the 16 mainstream primary schools commencing operation in the current school year, 14 have admitted SEN pupils. Details are set out at the Annex. All these schools are provided with the above necessary support services.
b.	Based on past trends, ED estimates that, in the next school year, there will be about 7 500 SEN pupils admitted to mainstream primary schools or assessed to have special educational needs. Details are as follows:

	Under the existing policy, all the above SEN students can be admitted into mainstream primary schools. There is no need for ED to increase the number of school places or the type of special needs.
c.	The additional resources provided to schools for admitting SEN pupils have been set out above. With the implementation of school-based management, schools will provide information on the use of these additional resources in the school annual plan and annual report. ED staff will also visit the schools concerned to provide professional advice on school development and to closely monitor the use of resources.
d.	With its re-organization in early July this year, ED has set up Regional Education Offices to provide more client-based services to key stakeholders. Over the past two years, ED has also recruited two additional officers to provide relevant support to primary schools adopting the whole-school approach to integrated education. One of them is an Educational Psychologist (at the Specialist rank) whose main duty is to provide support and professional advice to schools concerned. The other is an Integration Officer (at the Inspector (Graduate) rank) whose main duty is to plan and carry out the administrative work on integrated education.
e.	ED has all along been active in encouraging mainstream schools to accept SEN pupils through a whole-school approach. Relevant publicity campaigns, training and support are also provided to school heads and teachers. These include promotion seminars, school-based training workshops, experience-sharing sessions and training courses run by tertiary institutions. Publications such as newsletters, resource packages and teaching kits are also distributed to them. Moreover, ED has met with various sponsoring bodies, school personnel, parent-teacher associations and school management committees to explain how to establish an inclusive learning environment in mainstream schools and to help teachers master effective teaching strategies. A special education resources centre where learning packages and resources on special education are kept for teachers' reference has also been set up.

Annex

1999/2000 School Year

# Schools which operate Intensive Remedial Teaching Programme

2000/01 School Year

** Schools which provide integrated education # Schools which operate Intensive Remedial Teaching Programme