By Shikin Louis
KUCHING, Nov 15: Teachers play a critical role in the early detection of students with developmental delays, says Deputy Minister for Education, Innovation, and Talent Development I (Education and Innovation) Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee.
He said teachers, after identifying the students who exhibit signs of delays, should refer them to a multidisciplinary team, comprising an audiologist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, and educational psychologist or psychiatrist.
“After this group of four officers have confirmed that there are some forms of delay in the developmental milestone, the students will be referred to the hospital to get the confirmed diagnosis by either three of the specialists, namely family medical specialist, paediatrician or psychiatrist.
“Once they have their medical diagnosis confirmed, they will be referred to the Social Welfare Department as part of the process and after that, they will be sent to the District Education Officer where they will be streamlined which level they should be put into the Integrated Special Education Programme (PPKI),” he said in response to Meradong assemblyman Datuk Ding Kuong Hiing during question-and-answer session in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUS) sitting here today.
In Meradong constituency, Annuar revealed that there are about 21 students currently awaiting their screening appointments, scheduled for January 10, 2025, to determine whether they should be placed into PPKI.
Annuar also said the Ministry of Education offers several early-stage detection tools and programs to facilitate timely identification.
These include the Program Pengesanan Perkembangan dan Intervensi Murid Pra-Sekolah (Preschool Student Development Screening and Intervention Programme) designed to support preschool teachers in identifying potential learning challenges, and developmental intervention kits which have been distributed to preschool educators across Malaysia, with 21 teachers in Meradong recently trained to use these kits.
For students continuing to struggle in reading, writing, and arithmetic beyond Standard 2, the Ministry has set up annual screenings to assess their progress and identify those who may require more intensive intervention.
On Sept 9, according to a New Straits Times report, the Ministry of Education’s director-general Azman Adnan announced that nearly 28 per cent of the 448,113 Standard One pupils for the 2024/2025 academic session have not yet mastered reading, writing, and counting (3M). — DayakDaily
