新加坡国会：未来将有80%的学前中心为特需儿童提供服务

议员祖安清心女士（丹戎巴葛集选区）提问社会及家庭发展部长：是否有计划逐步培训能够照顾和教导有特殊需求儿童的教育工作者，并将这些教育工作者安置在所有学前教育机构中。

马善高（社会及家庭发展部长兼卫生部第二部长，主管回教事务部长）： 

幼儿培育署（ECDA）致力于确保有发展需求的学龄前儿童得到有意义的培养和支持。因此，幼儿培育署已经启动了一些提升学前教育工作者技能和水平的举措。

幼儿培育署与国立幼儿培育教育学院（NIEC）及其他培训机构合作，将学前教育的广泛实践纳入在职学前教育工作者的幼儿职前培训课程和持续专业发展课程。

在幼儿园内，需要中低水平早期干预（EI）支持的儿童也通过启发辅助计划——学习支持计划（DS-LS）和包容性辅助试点计划（InSP）获得支持。幼儿培育署计划将启发辅助计划——学习支持计划扩展到80%的5至6岁学龄前儿童，并将包容性辅助试点计划扩展到更多的学龄前儿童。这些课程由幼儿园的多学科早期干预专业团队提供，如学习支持计划教育工作者、早期干预教育工作者以及联合卫生专业人员。

为了提高学习支持计划教育工作者和早期干预教育工作者的能力，国立幼儿培育教育学院提供专业文凭课程，培训教育工作者以掌握筛查工具和支持方法。

 Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for Social and Family Development whether there are any plans to progressively train educators who are able to care for and teach children with special needs and place such educators in all pre-schools.

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) is committed to ensuring that children with developmental needs enrolled in preschools are meaningfully engaged and supported. ECDA has therefore embarked on initiatives to enhance the skills and competencies of educators in preschools. 

ECDA works with the National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC) and other training providers to incorporate inclusive practice into the curriculum of early childhood pre-service training courses and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses for in-service EC educators. 

Within preschools, children requiring low to medium levels of early intervention (EI) support are also supported via the Development Support – Learning Support (DS-LS) programmes and Inclusive Support Programme (InSP). ECDA has plans to expand the DS-LS to cover 80% of preschoolers aged five to six and scale up the InSP to more preschools. These programmes are delivered at these preschools by a multi-disciplinary team of EI professionals, such as the Learning Support (LS) educators and EI educators as well as Allied Health Professionals.

To enhance capabilities of LS and EI educators, NIEC offers Specialist Diploma programmes to train the educators in administering screening tools and methods of support.