Special Needs Students in Singapore Mainstream Education

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Research proposal
Special Needs students adaptation and experiences in Singapore mainstream education
system
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Purpose and significance of the study........................................................................................4
Research questions.....................................................................................................................5
Literature review........................................................................................................................6
Challenges of SEN students in the field of learning and interaction in the primary schools. 6
Inclusive education of children with autistic spectrum disorders in Secondary mainstream
schools and social stigma in Singapore..................................................................................8
Issue of lack of competency of the teachers...........................................................................9
Research methodology.............................................................................................................11
Theoretical framework of research.......................................................................................11
Research design and data collection:....................................................................................11
Data analysis technique........................................................................................................14
Expected outcomes...................................................................................................................14
Limitations of the study...........................................................................................................15
References................................................................................................................................17

2RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Abstract
The aim of the paper is to prepare a proposal for the purpose of studying the issue of children
with special needs in relation to the issue of their inclusion in the mainstream education of
Singapore school. This issue is significant due to the fact that Singapore’s educational
infrastructure does not have the necessary infrastructure in order to provide inclusive
education to children with special needs. The total percentage of children with special needs
is impacted by autism which is not only restrictive of their normal physical growth, it is
equally impairing for the development of their educational achievement. The issue of
inclusive education is one that has been given much light at the global forum. Moreover, this
issue has been considered to be significant due to the fact that the educational infrastructure
lacks the required assistive technology for imparting education to the SEN student. This issue
has been debated and researched thoroughly and a detailed methodology has been developed
in the body of the research in order to harp on the issue of their exclusion from the
mainstream educational system. This research is expected to be completed within a period of
24 weeks.

3RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Introduction
The term special needs has been defined as the vast array of disabilities ranging for
the problem of terminal illness to cognitive impairment and some of the psychiatric problems
children with special needs are in need of the additional guidance and assistive support in
order to survive and sustain in any situations and the depending on the nature of illness, it
night last long for the lifetime (Aljunied et al., 2011). The UNICEF report on the protection
of human rights mentions the number of barriers to inclusion is one of the prevalent issues of
concern. This has been argued that their abilities are overlooked in most of the situations and
these barriers exist irrespective of having the number of changes. According to estimation
the total number of disabled population 26814994 out of which 56% are male and 44%
females (Humphrey et al., 2013). Moreover, the total numbers of children with special needs
are higher in comparison to the total number of the adult population (Humphrey et al., 2013).
As per the research, it has been observed that there are different types of disabilities
associated for example physical, developmental, behavioural emotional and sensory
impairment. What has been previously seen is that there is a significant change in the
behavioural aspect of children with autism spectrum disorder and other multiple disorders.
The issue of cognitive impairment is one of the key aspects of the disabilities of the children
with special needs. The paper aims to analyse the issue of suitability of the adoption of
special needs students within the education and learning system of Singapore. This paper
aims to prepare a research proposal on the issue. This has been observed that there is a
number of challenges of these students with special needs which are not restricted to any
particular country; instead it is one of the common factors spread across all the countries. It
has been argued a number of burnout for the teachers in the mainstream education is higher
when it comes to imparting skills and learning to the children with special needs (Aljunied et

4RESEARCH PROPOSAL
al., 2011). There is the number of challenges associated with lack of support for the students
which restrict the mode of learning. The Ministry of Singaporean education department has
estimated the total numbers of children with learning disabilities are 5%, while 3% to 5% of
the children have dyslexia (Humphrey et al., 2013). The Singapore government has allocated
over 55$ to the development of special education of these children even though it has been
argued that the lack of learning and teaching ability of the teachers do not have the required
infrastructure in order to cater to the needs of the students with special needs (Kauffman et
al., 2018).
Purpose and significance of the study
This issue of suitability of mainstream education for students with special needs is
one of the most significant issues in academic debate and discussion. It is interesting to note
that the total percentage of children with special needs is the recipient of passive care and
protection (Schaffer, 2017). However, what is problematic here is the idea that different
abilities of the children are not worthy of care and concern and differentiation. The
significance of this study is to understand the obstacle to inclusion into the mainstream
learning and education system. The beginning of the process of socialisation which leads to
the growth and development of a child is pre-learning at the primary stage of schooling, and
this is also significant to understand the discrimination and exclusion at this stage aggravates
the process of fulfilment of potentials (Kauffman et al., 2018). This is important in this
regard to conduct further studies in order to understand the nuances of the issue of inclusion
of these children with special needs. Some of the challenges existing in the inclusion of
children with disabilities in mainstream education are community misperceptions about the
type of disability and the stigma attached to it, lack of assistive technology to make the
learning process effective and interactive, low enrolment of these children lack proper

5RESEARCH PROPOSAL
curriculum and many other issues (Humphrey et al., 2013). The case of Singapore, it is
significant to note the fact like all other Western nations, it is also faced with the problem of
lack of teacher education programs that can provide the required help for the development of
assistive learning to these children(Bernard-Opitz et al., 2001). In addition to these issues,
there is an issue with the primary learning system of Singapore that lacks the required
assistance to the children in general schools. This is also glaring to note that the children
with intelligence, cognitive modifiability leads to the process of large-scale discrimination of
the children with special needs in the mainstream educational institutions of Singapore
(Hwang et al., 2015). There is discrimination on the basis of autism in the general schools of
Singapore. Hence this study will be focusing on the multiplicity of aspects associated with
the SEN students. This study is particularly significant for the fact that it will help build
insight into the issue of the level of exclusion of these children from the perspective of the
teachers and the school staff. This is significant to understand from the perspective of the
teaching staff and their attitudes towards the autism spectrum disorder children.
From the above discussion, it is pertinent to understand that there is a persistent gap
in the mainstream education structure of Singapore which lacks the assistive technology and
the alternative communication required for the development of support to the children with
special needs. There is an enhanced need to understand the existing gaps in order to develop
a knowledge-based understanding of the nuances of the lack of inclusion of children with a
different form of disabilities.
Research questions
RQ1 what are the challenges faced by children with an autism spectrum disorder in
mainstream educational institutions?