To meet an increase in demand for primary-level places, Pathlight School will open a new campus in Tampines in January 2023 which can take in 500 pupils with autism spectrum disorder.
The new campus will be built on a site previously occupied by East View Primary School. The location was selected based on the geographical distribution of Pathlight’s current demand and the site’s close proximity to mainstream schools like Junyuan Primary School and St Hilda’s Primary School, said the Ministry of Education (MOE).
Pathlight students and their peers in mainstream schools will have opportunities to interact through joint activities.
Such interaction will give the youth a better understanding of people with special needs and train them to interact with one another, Second Minister for Education, Ms Indranee said in her speech.
The new campus will have an open community space where Pathlight pupils can interact with members of the public.
“(Promoting inclusivity) is about changing mindsets so that we do not see those with special education needs as ‘other’ but simply as people who just happen to have different needs,” said Ms Indranee, who was at Pathlight to launch the Professor Brawn Cafe, a social enterprise which offers inclusive job opportunities.
Up to 50 students a year from the secondary and vocational track will have an opportunity to train at the cafe. Students who have been trained can then find work on their own or via MOE’s School-to-Work Transition Programme, SG Enable and the Ministry of Social and Family Development.
In her speech, Ms Indranee cited research showing that people with disabilities hope for greater independence. Their quality of life is higher if they are employed as work provides community, purpose and income.
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Source: The Straits Times, 27 July 2019