TNAG-2092-FCO40-2978-Royal-Hong-Kong-Police-Force-1990 — Page 64

SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES

The Special Education Section of the Education Department provides the following services to English-speaking children:

(1) psychological, audiological and speech assessment;

(2) speech therapy treatment at the Special Education

Services Centres;

(3)

speech and training for hearing-impaired children at the Special Education Services centres or peripatetic teaching for them at the schools if requested;

(4)

parent counselling;

(5) referral to medical specialists if required.

Special provision for English-speaking children with special education needs are available, on a limited scale, for the less severely handicapped. These provisions are mainly in the form of special classes or remedial groups for children with learning difficulties, including those with mild physical handicaps, or visual, hearing and speech impairment. The children are normally taught in separate groups by special education teachers for the basic subjects, and are integrated with ordinary class pupils for cultural subjects and general activities whenever possible.

At present there are four special classes for children of primary school age in schools operated by the English Schools Foundation: two in Bradbury Junior School on Hong Kong Island and two in Beacon Hill School in Kowllon. They operate in sets of two, so that one class is for infant pupils and the other for junior pupils. Special classes are also provided at King George V School, Kowloon and the South Island School, Hong Kong Island, for pupils of secondary school age.

For children who have moderate to severe learning difficulties, The Jockey Club Sarah Roe Centre (24 Tin Kwong Road, Homantin, Kowloon, Tel: 760 0441) provides a developmental curriculum in keeping with the recommendations of the Warnock Report and 1981 Education Act (UK).

Before a child is considered for special education provision, assessment by an educational psychologist is required. An English-speaking educational psychologist is employed by the English Schools Foundation to provide psychological service to pupils in its schools.

Parents whose children may have special education needs are advised to contact the Special Education Section, Education Special Education Services Centre, Education Department, Perth Street, Homantin, Kowloon.