(Singapore) New special schools "to meet the growing demand"

Feb 9, 2023, MOE.gov: New Schools to Meet Demand in the West and North-East of Singapore https://www.moe.gov.sg/news/press-releases/20230209-new-schools-to-meet-demand-in-the-west-and-north-east-of-singapore

…Better access to SPED schools for students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) 10. As part of our regular review of demand for SPED school places, MOE works with the Social Service Agencies to provide sufficient capacity to cater to the needs of specific student profiles. 11. To meet the growing demand of students with moderate SEN who have Autism Spectrum Disorder and can access the National Curriculum (ASD-NC), MOE will be setting up a new ASD-NC SPED school to cater to students of this profile to be run by Methodist Welfare Services in partnership with ACS. This follows the opening of St. Andrew's Mission School in 2022, which is currently operating at an interim site in Bukit Batok and will move to its permanent campus in Clementi in 20312. 12. The new SPED school, whi

ch will be the fifth ASD-NC SPED school, is expected to start operations in 2026 at an interim site which formerly housed Chua Chu Kang Secondary School. It will then move, in 2031, to its permanent campus next to ACS(P)@Tengah. This will allow greater partnerships between the two schools and provide more opportunities for students from both schools to interact through joint activities and academic learning. The name of the new SPED school will be announced at a later date. 13. A review of the geographical spread of the existing ASD-NC SPED schools has also shown a need for a new SPED school to meet the needs of the growing population in the North-East region of Singapore. To meet new demands for SPED places in Punggol, MOE will set up the permanent campus of Pathlight School 3 near the Punggol Digital District instead of Tengah4 as previously announced, in 2032. In the meantime, the school will continue to operate in the former Chong Boon Primary and Secondary School sites until its move to its permanent location. 14. In planning for the setting up and relocation of schools, MOE takes into account the current and projected population, as well as planned housing development programmes, in order to ensure sufficient school places for our population. We will work closely with the schools to ensure a smooth transition to their new sites, and continue to respond promptly to the changing demand for school places across Singapore.for school places across Singapore.