Date: 13 July 2007

Two teachers from the Chitralada School in Thailand have been in Singapore since 2 July 2007 to exchange views on education for children with special needs and to share their expertise in craftwork with staff, volunteers and beneficiaries of voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs). The teachers, Ms Pornthip Chaosomboon and Ms Pajareeporn Sitatanee, are in Singapore for two weeks under the kind patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand.

During their stay, the teachers also had a chance to visit special education schools such as Canossian School and Rainbow Centre, as well as mainstream schools with special needs students such as Chong Boon Secondary School, to study how Singapore offers and models integrated education services for mainstream children and those with special needs.

Said Ms Pajareeporn Sitatanee, Head of Kindergarten, Special Education (Kindergarten) and Assessment (Kindergarten), "Thanks to the 2-week programme so carefully put together by the NCSS, MOE and MINDS, we have been able to exchange our views with our colleagues in Singapore on how to provide better education for our children with special needs. We hope that our craft sessions for VWOs will also be helpful for these organisations' fund-raising activities and particularly for the children themselves so that they too can make a better living."

Added Ms Pornthip Chaosomboon, (Head of Instructional Media and also Head of Home Economics and Careers (Elementary), "I have been so touched by the warm welcome from both the teachers and children at every school that we had a chance to go to over the past two weeks. Even during my art and craft sessions, the children, the elderly and all the teachers who attended were always so determined to learn how to do things better. I very much hope that this visit has been a wonderful learning experience to them as much as it has been to us."

Issued by:

Corporate Communications Division National Council of Social Service 13 July 2007