KUCHING: The Perkata Special School at Ong Tiang Swee Road here welcomed 10 new students when it reopened for the new school session yesterday.
The new intakes bring to 107 students at the school run by Association for the Welfare of Intellectually Disabled Children (Perkata Sarawak).
These special needs students were among 463,995 students in the state, comprising primary, secondary and sixth form students who also started their 2020 school session yesterday.
Perkata Special School (Sekolah Khas Perkata), strives to provide education and knowledge to special children to be on a par with any other children.
The school operates with a total of 29 staffs, comprising nine teachers and 11 assistant teachers while the rest are support staff. It also provides transportation for the students via the school vans.
The special school accepts enrolment of children aged 4 until 17 years old, with those aged 4 until 6 for early intervention programme (EIP) while children aged 7 to 17 years undergo formal education.
The children attending Perkata Special School come from various intellectually disabled groups, namely Autism, Down syndrome, various types of brain damage such as global developmental delay, and also children with problems such as physical handicap, hearing/speech impairment and behavioral problems. These special needs students are put in classes based on their capabilities and skills.
School principal, Doreen Tie said the school’s role is to provide education and trainings to children with special needs, including physically handicapped students who require physiotherapy.
“The school, which is also a charitable organisation, is a place for children to learn within a conducive environment.
“We see each child as special, as they have their own potential. We observe the students’ capabilities and talents so that we can provide suitable lessons and place them in the right class.
“We don’t have primary or secondary classes here at Perkata. We observe and put the students in classes that suit their capabilities and talents.
“There are currently nine classes that are being offered at the school, comprising seven main curricular lessons such as language development, cognitive development, fine motor skills, gross motor, self help, reading and writing and also social development, and together with extra-curricular activities such as dance and music, and also sports,” she said.
Doreen encouraged parents with special children to enroll them in the school and obtain education like any other normal children.
