Enabling or not...

Participated in a focus group organized by one of the sub-committees loToking into special-needs population in Singapore. The question posed was, what to we need to achieve "excellence" in special-ed?

A loaded question if there ever was one.

A fair number of professionals was there from various sped schools and we were the second run; parents with special needs children has already given their views earlier this month. At first, i would say people were cautious, careful to say what would not be misconstructed. But it was quite clear even from the beginning where this will eventually head... the lack of unity, standards in the field of special-ed and a strong need for a direct involvement from the government beyond their role as a funding body and financial regulator.

So many voices has been clamouring for this for ages but has always been shut out and i think the main reason is that there is this 'fear' that once the govt takes over special-ed (no longer running ad hor under VWOs), all the responsibilities would be put solely on the ministry (like.. MOE for instance). That's one hot potato.

Hence it would make more sense if amongst us VWOs, we could come up with some agreement and clarify the diverse roles of the stakeholders involve (clients, schools, govt) so as to tackle the whole problem as a group than expecting a miracle to happen from above. Asking for more money individually would not stop the vicious cycle of inefficient resource allocation, murky criteria of delivery standards, poor future planning, lack of clarity and direction, and ultimately help for the special-needs population is hardly translated directly or effectively by all the efforts put in.

Coming under the umbrella of the ministry (MOE is quite a logical choice given the infrastructure it already has in education) can shape the whole special-ed scene dramatically. We need for special ed to be view under a realm of EDUCATION than CHARITY. There is so much more that can be done and it is still a sizable portion of Singapore's population, worthy for more to be done for it.

Well, the focus group is the first step and there has been many 'first steps' before... let's hope this will get us all somewhere.