ASSESSMENT FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

Services for individuals with special education in Malaysia are shared by three Ministries. Ministry of Health is responsible for identifying and certification of children with special needs. The Ministry is also given the responsibilities for early prevention and treatment of children with special needs so as to minimise the impact of impairment towards the child’s quality of life. Most psychometric tests for categorising children with special needs would be used by these medical professionals. Products of psychometric tests from Western World have drawbacks when implemented in Malaysia. Educational services for children with special educational needs are being provided by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development and the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education screen children for probable special educational needs as early as standard 1 through the LINUS tests. At risk children are identified and certification by the Ministry of Health is sought. At the Ministry of Education level, assessment of children with special needs serve two purposes, (i) to identify children with special needs and allocate them appropriate special education programme and (ii) to monitor their educational progress and to maximise their learning potentials.