Miri’s one-stop early intervention centre to start operation in October
KUCHING: A One-Stop Early Intervention Centre (OSEIC) is set to commence operations in Miri this October.
According to Minister for Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah, there is a need to expand this facility to other divisions. For the record, the OSEIC was established in 2020 with a centre located at Jalan Matang here.
Another OSEIC was then set up in Dalat, covering the Mukah region, and as at Jan 25 this year, a total of 33 children were registered there.
Adding on, Fatimah who is Dalat assemblywoman, expressed gratitude to the state government for its support in allocating RM2.028 million to establish OSEIC Miri.
“This year, we have decided to open a branch in Miri, and we are thankful to the state government for approving the allocation of RM2.028 million to enable us to establish OSEIC Miri. Insha Allah, it will begin operations in October this year,” she said in her speech during for OSEIC Sarawak 2024 graduation ceremony at Waterfront Hotel here yesterday.
Elaborating, Fatimah said the decision to open a branch in Miri was based on the data, as at Dec 31 last year, that indicated the city as having registered the secondhighest number of children under the age of 6 with learning disabilities in Sarawak.
“For this reason, it is right to open OSEIC in Miri. We hope that OSEIC Miri will be as successful as the ones in Kuching and Dalat,” she said, adding that although OSEIC Kuching now occupies an entire building at Jalan Matang, there is still a waiting list of individuals requiring its services.
In this regard, she said there are plans to expand the services to Samarahan Division in order to accommodate children with special needs through the Special Needs Community Centre (SNCC).
“The concept of SNCC is to create a comprehensive complex, providing support to disabled individuals from birth to the end of life. This includes interventions through OSEIC, vocational trainings, talent development, sports activities and a hostel for those without family support,” she told reporters when met after the event.
She added that the SNCC project had received preliminary support from the government, with RM500,000 allocated for initial work.
It is envisioned to be the first complex of its kind in Malaysia, which aims to meet the diverse needs of disabled individuals at every stage of their lives, said the minister, with the OSEIC set to be a component of the SNCC.
Meanwhile, 91 children received their ‘graduation scrolls’ from Oseic Sarawak yesterday.
The ‘little graduates’ comprised 68 boys and 23 girls, all aged seven, from Oseic Kuching and Oseic Dalat. In this regard, Fatimah expressed pride in the growing trend of children joining mainstream education or Grade 1.
“We are also delighted to see our children progressing towards formal schooling, with 64 of them entering the Special Education Integrated Education Programme (PPKI). So these are the children who have undergone early diagnosis, which is very important,” she said, again highlighting the government’s commitment to inclusivity, implementing it through the ongoing development programmes run under Oseic.
“Collaboration with paediatricians from Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) has helped to ensure Oseic is able to provide early diagnosis to these children.
We hope the commitment shown not only by Oseic staff but also by parents, would continue. The dedication shown by parents has been excellent. Together, we will ensure that these entrusted children receive the care, education, and interventions that they need.
“I also hope these children would receive the same love and care at formal schools as they have experienced at Oseic,” she added.
This graduation ceremony represented the third of its kind for Oseic Sarawak since its inception in 2020. The growth was evident, with only one child joining mainstream education in the first cohort, 11 in the second, and 27 in the third, including one who joined ‘madrasah’ (Islamic education).
Oseic Sarawak also showcased increasing impact and reach of the programme, with 47 children registered in October 2020, to 495 children as at January this year.