LCQ11: Supporting students with special educational needs
*********************************************************
Question:
There are views pointing out that the support provided under the existing policy for students with special educational needs (SEN) at public sector ordinary schools is insufficient. In addition, many primary and secondary schools have relayed that due to curricula constraints, they do not have the time to take care of and support the needs of SEN students, and Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) also find it difficult to cater for the needs of SEN students because of their heavy administrative workload. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the current number of (i) SENCOs and (ii) Special Educational Needs Support Teachers (SENSTs) in Hong Kong, and the respective average numbers of SEN students supported by each SENCO and SENST;
(2) of the service programmes currently provided by the Government for various types of SEN students, and the average amount of subsidies received by each student;
(3) whether the Government has considered allocating additional resources to provide accessible applied behaviour analysis trainings for students with autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(4) given that under the existing policy, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) provides pre-school support for SEN children (from birth to six years old), while the support services for school-aged SEN children over six years old are provided by schools funded by the Education Bureau, but there are views that the support services provided by the SWD and schools, as well as their effectiveness, are completely different, whether the Government will consider having the support services for SEN students provided by the SWD instead?
Reply:
President,
The Government attaches great importance to supporting students with special educational needs (SEN) and has continuously introduced enhancement measures to strengthen the support for students with different SEN. The annual expenditure on integrated education has increased substantially from $1.5 billion in the 2017-18 financial year to about $4.1 billion in the 2024-25 financial year, representing an increase of up to 170 per cent. This reflects the great importance and long-term commitment of the Government attached to integrated education.
The consolidated reply to the question raised by the Hon Gary Zhang is as follows:
(1) to (2) To assist public sector ordinary schools in supporting students with SEN, the Education Bureau (EDB) provides schools with additional manpower and professional support on top of regular subvention. The EDB provides schools with the Learning Support Grant (LSG) on an annual basis based on the number of students with SEN in a school and their respective tier of support required. In the 2023/24 school year, the unit grant rates for Tier-2 and Tier-3 support are $15,779 and $63,116 respectively. If the total amount of the LSG reaches a specific threshold, the schools will be provided with additional regular teaching post(s), titled Special Educational Needs Support Teacher (SENST) by the EDB. Also, the post of Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) has been established in each public sector ordinary school. In the 2023/24 school year, there are 844 and 1 355 posts of SENCOs and SENSTs respectively within the staff establishment. Under the Whole School Approach (WSA), all teachers in a school should have the ability and the responsibility to support students with SEN, while the SENCO plays a leading role in collaborating with other teachers and professional support staff. Schools can flexibly pool together and effectively deploy the LSG as well as other resources based on the overall needs of students and according to the principle of "individual calculation and holistic deployment", including employing additional teachers and teaching assistants and hiring professional services.
Apart from additional teachers, the EDB provides schools with additional professional support staff. At present, the School-based Educational Psychology Service has covered all public sector ordinary schools in the territory, and the Enhanced School-based Speech Therapy Service has also been fully implemented. Besides, the EDB has launched support programmes and services to address different types of SEN so that students in need can be provided with targeted support, such as the Chinese Language Tiered Intervention Programme for students with dyslexia, the respective support programmes for students with visual impairment and hearing impairment; and the School Partnership Scheme to support ordinary schools to cater for students with intellectual disability who display severe adjustment difficulties.
(3) Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) are the major types of students with SEN. Schools can provide appropriate support for them according to their severity of SEN through the 3-tier Intervention Model, such as in-class adaptation and support, group training targeted for learning, emotional and behavioural adjustment, and individual education plan for students with severe learning or adaptation difficulties, so as to make the best use of resources and maximise the effectiveness. The EDB has also implemented the Project on "Whole School Approach to Providing Tiered Support for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder". Through the "School-based Multi-Disciplinary Professional Support" and the "Non-Governmental Organisation and School Collaboration", schools are assisted in adopting evidence-based and diversified strategies to help students develop their abilities in learning, social and emotional adaptation, facilitate their integration in classroom learning and the community, unleash their potential and strengthen their life planning.
For students with AD/HD, the EDB has been developing a series of teaching resources for enhancing students' execution skills and relevant software for secondary schools to facilitate individual coaching for the students concerned. Besides, the EDB organises talks and experience-sharing sessions for school personnel on a regular basis, and provides support for primary and secondary school students, parents and teachers under the Jockey Club Keen and Active Kids Project through cross-sector collaboration with university.
Currently, there are various evidence-based support strategies to assist students with ASD and AD/HD, and applied behaviour analysis (ABA), which mainly reinforces positive behaviour using rewards, is one of them. The EDB has all along been promoting effective and evidence-based support strategies through teacher training and support programmes to enhance schools' capacity to support students. In addition, a series of learning and teaching resources that make use of information technology and interactive multimedia, such as "Video Modelling", digital interactive learning and teaching platforms, and digital learning games will be launched by phases. The elements of ABA approach have already been included in these initiatives. Schools are encouraged to deploy their resources flexibly and adopt diversified and appropriate strategies to cater for the needs of different students.
(4) The Government has been providing support services for children with special needs through cross-sector collaboration. In brief, the Health Bureau and the Hospital Authority (HA) provide assessment and medical services; the Social Welfare Department (SWD) provides pre-school rehabilitation services; while the EDB provides learning support.
Children at different stages have different needs for support. At the pre-primary level, kindergartens adopt an integrated approach of theme-based learning, enabling children to learn through a variety of games and activities based on their progress of development and learning needs. Most of the children showing slower development in individual aspects are able to gradually develop their capabilities at their own pace of personal growth. Therefore, at the pre-school level, the SWD provides subvention for non-governmental organisations to operate pre-school rehabilitation services for children with special needs under six years of age. At the primary level, students will transition to a more structured learning approach with different subjects. Schools will also gradually grasp the types of SEN of their students. By adopting the WSA, SENCOs collaborate with various professionals and subject panels in the school to cater for the learning and adaptation needs of students in a holistic manner.
To enhance the effectiveness of the transition from pre-school to primary schooling, a collaborative mechanism has been put in place among the EDB, the SWD, the Department of Health and the HA to ensure that the recipient primary schools can be aware of the special needs of students progressing to Primary One early, and facilitate their integration in the learning life of primary schools. Primary schools will make appropriate support arrangements according to the actual needs of students and provide parents with the "Summary of Transition Support for Primary One Student" to help them understand the support arrangements provided by schools and make suitable complements to enhance the effectiveness and promote home-school communication.
Ends/Wednesday, October 23, 2024
Issued at HKT 11:30
Issued at HKT 11:30
NNNN