There is a lack of public places in Hong Kong schools to serve tens of thousands of special-needs children, a new study shows.
According to a report by the SEN Rights Association, there are only 287 places to provide 46,000 special needs children requiring vital therapy.
To address this, the association has called on Hong Kong’s government to boost funding for training and rehabilitation services and help reach more children in need
Hong Kong’s Education Bureau recently found that 6.2% of Hong Kong students required special educational needs in the last academic year.
Currently, non-governmental agencies that operate social services for children with special needs above the age of six receive no subsidy from the Social Welfare Department.
Ho Cheuk-hin, an organisation officer for SEN Rights Association, told the South China Morning Post that the Labour and Welfare Bureau should extend programs offered by six parent resource centers to all of the city’s 18 districts.
Hong Kong lawmaker, Shiu Ka-chun, who represents the city’s social welfare sector and supports the Association’s push for greater resources, said support and services should “not come only after tragedies”.
“They should accompany people’s development,” he said.
The remarks come as families with special-needs children throughout Hong Kong continue to struggle with the instability and hefty cost of support services.
A mother who only wished to be known as ‘Suen’ told the South China Morning Post that her family had to spend HK$3,200 a month for eight sessions on attention and social skills training for her seven-year-old son. It posed a “heavy burden”, she said.
Her son, who was diagnosed with developmental delays and ADHD, always failed to submit his homework on Fridays because he was exhausted by the sessions every Thursday, she added.
“It has been difficult for him. It has been difficult for me. But we have to keep it up because there is little support at his school,” Suen said.