Taiwan Today

The Legislative Yuan passed the third reading of an amendment to the Special Education Act Oct. 23 that includes extending eligibility for special education to children with emotional or behavioral disorders, also covering those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The revision also expands funding for special education by stipulating that the central government must spend at least 4.5 percent of its annual educational budget on special education. Local governments will also be required to allocate a minimum of 5 percent of their overall educational budgets toward special education. Legislator Chen Chieh-ju of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party called the passage of the amendment “a milestone in special education.” Claiming that the quality of the nation’s special education has been low up until now, she said the government “owes special-needs students and their parents too many apologies.” Meanwhile, lawmaker Hung Hsiu-chu of the ruling Kuomintang said that with the passage of the amendment, students with mental and physical disabilities as well as gifted students will obtain the appropriate care as has been the intention all along in the act’s implementation. With the amendment, the number of articles in the act has been increased from 33 to 51. One of the categories of special-needs students in the act is children with “severe emotional disabilities.” However, as the category had not covered students with ADHD, the revision expanded the category’s classification to children “with emotional or behavioral problems” in order to allow for the inclusion of hyperactive students. According to the amended law, every city and county must set up at least one special education school branch or class, with priority in recruiting students to be given based on the severity of the disability and the number of disabilities. In addition, the revised law stipulates that principals of these schools must have expertise in special education and must invite parents of special needs students to participate in the formulation of individualized education programs at the schools. (SB) (This article originally appeared in the “United Daily News” Oct. 24, 2009.)