Job coaching for ITE students with special needs, more CCA options among updates

A range of measures spanning special education, skills upgrading and co-curricular activities in schools were announced in Parliament on March 6. These updates were unveiled during the debate on the Ministry of Education's budget.

- Elisha Tushara

Support for students with special needs

EXPANDED INTERNSHIP AND EMPLOYMENT SUPPORT

Students with special needs at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) will get more support to prepare them for work with a new programme that will place them in internships, announced Second Minister for Education Maliki Osman, along with other updates for special education (Sped) schools.

Under the ITE-SG Enable Internship and Employment Support programme piloted in mid-2024, students receive training in areas such as workplace communication and resume and interview preparation, to prepare them to join the workforce.

They are placed in internship or job roles, and supported by a job coach thereafter.

About 100 students have gone through the programme so far. The aim is to expand the intake to about 250 students each year.

"An increasing number of students with special educational needs progress from our mainstream and Sped schools to our post-secondary education institutions, including the ITE," said Dr Maliki.

In the past three years, over 1,000 students with such needs have enrolled at ITE yearly.

A Ministry of Education (MOE) spokeswoman said these students, who have progressed to ITE from a range of schools, including Pathlight School and mainstream ones, have varying needs.

They face difficulties including physical and sensory ones, social and behavioural ones like autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, as well as learning and language ones like intellectual disabilities and dyslexia.

IMPROVING SPECIAL EDUCATION SCHOOLS

Operations at special education schools are set to be more efficient with the use of technology and digital tools.