SENSE

Latest Development of Integrated Education

The EDB has all along been providing public sector ordinary schools with additional resources, professional support and teacher training to facilitate the implementation of the Whole School Approach to IE in catering for students with SEN by providing the students with appropriate teaching and learning adaptation and accommodation, as well as cultivating an inclusive school culture.

Starting from the 2019/20 school year, the Government has strengthened the support for public sector ordinary schools in the implementation of IE, including extending Learning Support Grant to all public sector ordinary schools; increasing the grant rate for tier-3 support in multifold; providing additional regular teaching posts and upgrading the post of Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) post to  promotion rank in ordinary schools with a comparatively large number of students with SEN; further extending the Enhanced School-based Educational Psychology Service; implementing the Enhanced  School-based Speech Therapy Service and providing the Grant for Supporting Non-Chinese Speaking (NCS) Students with SEN to schools admitting NCS students with SEN.

To facilitate professional exchanges on catering for students with diverse needs, the EDB has launched the School Partnership Scheme. Special Schools with proficient experience in supporting students with SEN are invited to serve as Special Schools cum Resource Centres (SSRC) to provide support for ordinary schools. Short-term attachment programme will be provided to students with intellectual disability who experience severe learning and adjustment difficulties in ordinary schools, helping teachers of ordinary schools to grasp the skills and strategies in supporting these students.

Starting from the 2007/08 school year, the EDB has been providing serving teachers with structured training courses on supporting students with SEN pitched at basic, advanced and thematic (BAT) levels with set training targets.  From the 2017/18 school year onwards, the EDB has been providing serving teachers with the Professional Development Programme for Mental Health, with a view to raising their awareness of mental health and enhancing their professional knowledge and capacity to identify and support students with mental health needs.  The EDB has also been providing in-service training for serving principals, middle managers and teaching assistants.  On the other hand, in order to build the professional capacity of prospective teachers in catering for students with SEN, local teacher education universities have also put in place modules related to special education or catering for students with SEN in their initial teacher education programmes.  This enables pre-service teachers to acquire certain knowledge and skills in taking care of students with SEN before they become teachers.

Please browse specific pages for relevant information regarding different categories of SEN.