Children with special needs covers a variety of disabilties from severe intellectual and physical impairments to delayed developmental milestones. These children need special attention and care. Parents plays the pivotal role in their care. Nevertheless most parents are ill-equipped and require the guidance and emotional support. Some may even require financial assistance to care for these children.

It came to my attention recently that the current educational system in Malaysia do not accomodate students with special needs. A parent came with complaints that her child was asked to go home as the teachers in the school had enough students and cannot cope with this child. There was no offer of any assistance or providing an alternative. Teachers remain ignorant and at times aloof when it comes to such cases.

I find it unacceptable that a government funded school is unable to handle such a case appropriately. Even if the school is not equipped to handle children with special needs, there should have been an alternative option provided. As our nation builds more and more schools, it has unfortunately left a bunch of special children in its wake. Current centres are inadequate and working on maximum cylinders. Most depend on voluntary services as well.

The Ministry of Education has a special unit , Jabatan Pendidikan Khas to handle such issues. A check on their website showed an out of date telephone number but beautifully written objectives and functions. It appears to be one of the few portions of the website that was not updated. Is our Ministry of Education putting enough emphasis on educating our children with special needs? Sadly it appears that this group has been long forgotten.

Jabatan Pendidikan Khas,Ministry of Education