Special needs and school absenteeism
- Chris Wong Tak Wee
- Oct 25, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 14
A recent study in the UK found that children with a learning disability (known as intellectual disability (ID) in Singapore) and autism have poor attendance or even deregister from school. The study included a survey of over 1,500 parents of children with special needs and investigated absenteeism in May 2021 and the contributing factors.
In this post, we explore these factors and take a look at the situation here in Singapore.
Absenteeism and Barriers to school attendance
A range of factors were highlighted as barriers to school attendance:
Unmet special education needs
Lack of flexibility
Bullying
Mental health and well-being difficulties (especially anxiety)
Poor parent-teacher relationships
The study suggested that COVID-19 and the resulting school closures and disruptions likely exacerbated rather than caused the difficulties with school attendance. Hence, it meant that the factors above were a problem even before the pandemic.
What about in Singapore?
Singapore has always strongly emphasized the importance of education for its citizens. The Compulsory Education Act mandates that all children aged six years old but under 15 years must attend a national primary school unless exemption is granted. This was extended to children with moderate to severe special needs as well in a landmark move in 2019.
There is good awareness of the complexity behind absenteeism issues, with the Ministry of Education (MOE) recognizing the need to work with the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) in this area. Examples of efforts include working with community partners such as Family Service Centres (FSCs) to engage parents, and tapping on partners such as Social Service Offices (SSOs) and Social Service Agencies (SSAs) to support the families etc.
That said, there are no clear numbers on absenteeism and deregistration for students with special needs in Singapore. Anecdotally, I have worked with young persons and adults with special needs who dropped out of school and stayed home for many years. Some of these adults continue to stay home and not attend any day services; some others start attending day services but often with significant problems with the transition to and sustaining their attendance. And the reasons behind the drop-out of these adults are not dissimilar - unmet education needs due to significant behavioral and mental health difficulties, experiencing rejection and bullying, and parents' difficulties in working with the school etc. Many of these adults unfortunately later present with significant social and mental health difficulties challenges due to the many years of limited meaningful engagement at home.
What now then?
The good news is that Singapore has done a great job of keeping most of its young persons in school, including students with special needs. While there are no doubt still some that fall through the cracks, it does not seem to be a large number, based on anecdotal experience.
Nevertheless, there is value for research to be done to specifically examine the rates of absenteeism and deregistration for students with special needs in Singapore. An exploratory study could first be done to explore the prevalence and contributing factors in the local context. Subsequently, more targeted recommendations and interventions could be looked into to address the barriers to school attendance. With that, there will hopefully be fewer students with special needs who drop out of school, and fewer adults who subsequently stay at home with social and mental health difficulties.
What do you think? Feel free to share your experiences, thoughts, or any ideas below!
