Groups supporting physical and mentally challenged students held a public hearing at the legislature yesterday to complain about inconveniences in the education system, and urged the Ministry of Education (MOE) to create a department to handle issues concerning students with special needs.
"Many physically and mentally challenged children are ridiculed at school -- sometimes these children have to be sent abroad for a better education," said Pan Yi-ling (潘怡伶), deputy secretary-general of the Autism Society Taiwan.
"On average, there are more than ten children in a special needs classroom with only one teacher, and these children usually have different disabilities," one mother of a child with autism told the audience. "It's very difficult for the teacher to take care of all the children."
"There's one special education school in Taoyuan and one in Miaoli -- but there are none in Hsinchu," said Chan Chang-chung (詹常宗), chairman of Hsinchu County Association for the Mentally Challenged. "So our kids need to go to either Taoyuan or Miaoli for school."
However, when the groups went to the government for help, they became a political football kicked between different administrative units.
"From the [MOE's] elementary education department we were referred to the special education division, and then we were further directed to the central regional office. No department believed they were fully responsible for us," said Lin Hui-fang (林惠芳), secretary-general of the Parents' Association for Persons with Intellectual Disability.
Existing regulations state that all administrative units share part of the responsibility for dealing with special education issues.
To adequately tackle the issue, there should be an integrated administrative body that unifies all resources and functions concerning special education, Hsinchu Autism Association chairman Ho Chih-jung (
Ho's suggestion won approval from all hearing participants including the representative from the MOE's special education division.
"We [the division] would not oppose the idea," division specialist Chen Ching-feng (陳清風) said when responding to the request. "In fact, I'd be happy to see our division upgraded to a formal department within the ministry." Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ying (陳瑩) said that she will track any developments.
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