Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ22: Child assessment service
Following is a question by the Dr Hon Kwok Ka-ki and a written reply by
the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative
Council today (October 30):
Question:
It has been reported that, at present, children need to wait for more
than a year before arrangements are made for them to receive assessment
at the Child Assessment Centres (CACs) under the Department of Health
for identifying learning disabilities. After the assessment, most
parents are issued with a simple assessment report only, while a small
number issued with a detailed report. Regarding the support for children
with learning disabilities, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the following statistics in each of the past three years:
(i) the respective numbers of children referred by doctors, schools and
other channels to CACs for receiving assessment;
(ii) the average waiting time for children to receive assessment;
(iii) a breakdown, by the type of learning disabilities confirmed after
assessment, of the number of children who had received assessment;
(iv) the respective numbers of children issued with the simple and the
detailed versions of the assessment report; and
(v) the respective average time between the receipt of assessments by
children and the issuance of the simple or detailed report to their
parents;
(b) of the criteria adopted by CACs for determining whether to issue the
simple or the detailed report;
(c) of the number and percentage of those children with learning
disabilities at present in all school-age children in the territory,
with a breakdown by type of learning disabilities; and
(d) whether it will consider drawing reference from neighbouring regions
(e.g. Taiwan) and introducing legislation to protect the rights and
interests of students with learning disabilities; if it will, of the
details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
Upon consultation with the Education Bureau (EDB) and the Department of
Health (DH), my reply to the various parts of the question is as
follows:
(a)(i) The Child Assessment Service (CAS) under the DH provides
comprehensive assessment services and diagnosis for children under 12
with developmental problems (including children with learning
disabilities). The assessment team in CAS comprises professional staff
from various disciplines. In the past three years, the number of new
referral cases received by the six Child Assessment Centres (CACs) under
the CAS were 8 418 in 2010, 8 476 in 2011 and 8 773 in 2012.
(ii) Nearly all new cases were seen within three weeks at present, and
assessments for over 90% of newly registered cases were completed within
six months in the past three years.
(iii) The number of cases newly diagnosed by the six CACs under the CAS
as having various kinds of learning disabilities for the past three
years is set out in Annex 1.
(iv)(v) and (b) Generally speaking, after receiving assessment in the
CAC, a child will be issued with an Assessment Summary on the same day.
The assessment team will, having regard to the individual circumstances
and needs of the child, send a detailed assessment report to the
educational psychologist of EDB or the child's school, or to the
relevant professionals of the rehabilitation service unit to which the
case has been referred within eight weeks after the assessment.
Moreover, parents may make applications to the CAS for the medical
reports of their children when necessary. The application fee is HK$560.
(c) In 2012/13 school year, the number of students with different types
of special educational needs (SEN) studying in ordinary public sector
secondary and primary schools is tabulated in Annex 2.
In the same school year, the number of students, by major types of SEN,
studying in special schools is set out in Annex 3.
As the data collected by the EDB covers only the number of students with
SEN studying in public sector ordinary schools and special schools (i.e.
not including those in non-public sector schools), we are unable to
provide the percentage of students with SEN among all school-age
children in the territory.
(d) In accordance with the Disability Discrimination Ordinance and the
Code of Practice on Education, it is unlawful for educational
establishments to discriminate against a person with a disability. As
such, all educational establishments are obliged to provide equal
educational opportunity for eligible students, including those with SEN.
In order words, the existing legal framework in Hong Kong can basically
serve as an effective safeguard for the rights of students with SEN.
Concerning the proposal for legislation be introduced to protect
students with SEN, since different countries or places have different
needs and context, we consider that it is more appropriate, at this
stage, to explore how support measures for implementing Integrated
Education (IE) can be strengthened so that more suitable arrangements
can be provided for students. From an educational perspective, it will
be more effective for schools to adopt a Whole School Approach to
implement IE to improve their culture, policy and measures, which in
turn enhances the effectiveness of support for students with SEN.
Ends/Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Issued at HKT 18:03
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