Extra funds help Hong Kong schools cater to pupils with special needs
Initiative sees schools able to hire full-time special education needs coordinators
It sounds like a luxury that a teacher can spend 70 per cent of her working time taking care of her pupils’ special needs, but this is precisely what is happening to Chan Hiu Ngai this school term.
Chan, teaching at G.C.C.I.T.K.D. Cheong Wong Wai Primary School in Sha Tin, said she was now spending less time on teaching compared with previous years. Since last month, she devotes at least 70 per cent of her time to arranging speech therapy, counselling, and psychiatrist meetings for pupils with special education needs (SEN).
She has put on a new hat as a special education needs coordinator, or SENCO. In the newly established positions, coordinators provide support for pupils with SEN in addition to teaching classes. In the case of the school in Sha Tin, a new subject teacher was hired to share Chan’s workload.
Over 10 per cent of the some 630 pupils in Chan’s school have special education needs ranging from autism to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. They have been integrated with other pupils in class so teachers tailor-make curriculums for different abilities, with help from the coordinator.