Sarawak needs training institute for kids with special needs, says Fatimah
KUCHING: The Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Ministry is requesting for a special training institute to be set up in Sarawak, to accommodate children with special needs.
According to Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah, her ministry had submitted this request to the federal Ministry of Education ( MoE) back when its minister was the present Home Affairs Minister Tan Sri Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Currently, the federal Education Minister is Dr Maszlee Malek.
So far, the Sarawak government has not received any positive response from the federal government regarding the proposal.
On the setting up of the special training institute, Fatimah pointed out that the objective is to equip Sarawak with the facilities to train children with special needs so that they, through the acquisition of certain skills, could become independent and contributing members of society.
There is one fully- equipped special training institute in Peninsular Malaysia, catering to children with special needs, she said.
“I believe that the proposed institute could help children with special needs, including those with autism and dyslexia, develop some living skills,” she said in launching an autism art exhibition at the MBKS Complex here yesterday.
Quoting the statistics of Sarawak Education Department, Fatimah said 778 autistic children – 664 boys and 114 girls – are attending lessons at registered schools in Sarawak.
However, Fatimah believed that the number of children with special needs far exceeds the number of those attending the registered schools.
“In my opinion, there are children with special needs who are not being sent to schools, or being turned down by the registered schools.”
Moreover, Fatimah called upon parents of children with special needs to take part in roundtable discussions with the relevant authorities to identify the needs of their children so as to improve the existing education system.
She added that they could put forward the outcome of these discussions to Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg for further actions.
It is learnt that four schools in Sibu are providing lessons, with Chinese as the teaching medium, for children with special needs.
There is only one school each in Kuching and Serian that provides similar programme.
The autism art exhibition at the MBKS Complex is still open to the public today and tomorrow, from 8am to 5pm daily.