One of the few mainstream primary schools that still welcomes children with special education needs is struggling to keep its doors open due to insufficient government cash.
Despite being a pioneer in the model of integrated education encouraged by the government, San Wui Commercial Society School must raise funds every year to take in children with special needs, even though it is government subsidised.
'We want to continue this work. We believe that having special-needs children educated alongside other children is beneficial for all. But I'm not sure if we can continue if we cannot raise enough funds to support this,' said Lui Kam-leung, who has been headmaster of the Sheung Wan school for five years.
The school has 120 pupils, of whom about 40 have moderate special needs such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Asperger's syndrome and other forms of autism.
For the past 10 years, the school had been running an inclusive teaching model where pupils with special needs share the classroom with other children. Each class has two teachers - the subject teacher and an assistant - to help youngsters struggling with problems such as poor social skills and who have difficulty grasping class material.
'Most of them are weak in social skills and sometimes language,' Lui said. 'The best way is to have them interact with other children.'