Singapore Education

Special Education

The education of children with disabilities is catered by special education (SPED) schools. These schools are operated by Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs), and funded by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the National Council of Social Service (NCSS). At present, there are 21 SPED schools in Singapore.

In SPED schools, children with autism, intellectual, sensory, physical or multiple disabilities are provided with customised educational programmes and training. The aim of these programmes is to maximise each child's potential, help him or her to be independent, and to integrate into mainstream society.

Students who are able to sit for the PSLE papers and pass them successfully will continue their education in designated mainstream secondary schools. Those who are unable to do so will proceed to training centres or workshops run by the VWOs where they will be equipped with the necessary skills for open or sheltered employment.

Besides the formal education provided by the state, there are more than 300 private schools in Singapore which also provide a wide range of supplementary courses. These include business studies, external degree programmes, fine arts education, IT courses, language classes, tuition and many more.

These private schools are required to be registered with the Ministry of Education (MOE). The 2 main private arts institutions in Singapore providing post-secondary education in fine arts are the LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). They are run autonomously with funding from the Ministry of Education (MOE).