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Regional Workshop on the Empowerment of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and their Families in Asia and the Pacific
11-13 October 2007
Shanghai, China
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Materials : Country Paper :

Situation of Persons with Learning Disabilities and Their Families in Malaysia

By: Teoh Hooi Ting and Lim Ming Koon

Introduction

Learning Disabilities

Learning disabilities may include people with Down Syndrome, Autism, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, Global Developmental Delay and specific learning disabilities such as Dyslexia and Dyscalculia.

Population

The number of persons with disabilities registered with the Malaysian Social Welfare Department is 197,519. Persons with learning disabilities have the highest number which is 76,619. In comparison with other disability groups, persons with learning disabilities are still way behind in terms of education, employment and social development. We are slowly catching up with others but we hope that by the next decade we will be at the same level with the others if not better.

Table 1: Total population in Malaysia: 27.3 million (Sept 2007)

Type of Disabilities No. of People registered with Welfare Department (2006)
All (total) 197,519
Learning Disabilities 76,619
Orthopedic 66,150
Hearing impairment 29,522
Visual impairment 18,258
Cerebral Palsy 887
Others 5,983

Education

School

Education for persons with learning disabilities in Malaysia is improving. Table 3 shows that more students with learning disabilities are registered each year. There were only 7,919 students in year 2000. By 2006 the number increased to 20,814. The number of schools and teachers had also increased. There are a total of 656 primary schools and 320 secondary schools with integrated special education programme. However, observation shows that the special education programmes for students with learning disabilities has much more room for improvement. In most integrated special education programmes, the classrooms size range from 8 to 12 students. In such cases, Individualised Education Programme is not possible and education programmes are usually not effective.

Table 2: Development of integrated special education programme for persons with learning disabilities in Malaysia: 2000- 2006 (SED, 2006)

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
No. of preschool 0 0 0 0 1 32 44
No. of primary school 324 424 404 473 532 588 656
No. of secondary school 116 154 160 187 225 281 320
Total 440 578 562 660 757 901 1,020
No. of preschool students 0 0 0 0 0 134 198
No. of primary school students 6,054 7,052 7,437 8,496 10,312 10,721 13,755
No. of secondary school students 1,865 2,515 2,786 3,384 4,450 5.528 6,861
Total 7,919 9,567 10,223 11,880 14,762 16,383 20,814
No. of preschool teachers 0 0 0 0 0 32 44
No. of primary school teachers 1,313 1,519 1,536 1,729 2,049 2,412 2,963
No. of secondary school teachers 421 498 579 660 810 1,057 1,359
Total 1,734 2,017 2,115 2,389 2,859 3,501 4,366

Table 3 shows that pre-school education for students with learning disabilities began only in 2004. This is a pilot project.

The progress is very slow. There is only one special secondary school with vocational training programme (Indahpura) which was began in 2006. The special education for students with learning disabilities seriously lack vocational training. Pre-vocational and vocational training programmes are yet to be formalised in integrated school programmes. One of the key problems could be lack of specialised teachers. Most integrated schools environment have limited space for vocational training programmes. We hope that the Ministry of Education will allocate more budget and resources for this urgent need to provide vocational training for students with learning disabilities. More skill based programme should be recommended.

United Voice also hope that self-advocacy will be taught formally in school so that students will learn to be more independent, aware of their rights, able to voice out for themselves and able to integrate in the community.

Table 3: Development of special education schools for persons with learning disabilities in Malaysia: 2000- 2006 (SED, 2006)

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
No. of preschool 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
No. of primary school 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
No. of secondary school 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Total 0 0 0 0 1 1 2
No. of preschool students 0 0 0 0 5 6 5
No. of primary school students 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
No. of secondary school students 0 0 0 0 0 0 110
Total 0 0 0 0 5 6 115
No. of preschool classes 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
No. of primary school classes 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
No. of secondary school classes 0 0 0 0 0 0 11
Total 0 0 0 0 0 1 12
No. of preschool teachers 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
No. of primary school teachers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
No. of secondary school teachers 0 0 0 0 0 0 28
Total 0 0 0 0 1 1 29

Community Based Rehabilitation Centres (CBR) & NGO Centres

Persons with severe learning disabilities often end up in CBRs, NGO Centres or home bound. There are a total of 274 CBRs (2006) in Malaysia. The age range of those attending CBRs could be from infant to senior citizens. Educational programmes are usually not well carried out due to lack of environment that is conducive, lack of trained teachers and poor facilities.

There are many NGO centres. Most of these are funded partially by government but mainly by public funds. Some centres are well run but such centres usually have long waiting list or may be too expensive for the lower income group.

We recommend that the Malaysian government should continue to provide more funds for CBRs and NGO Centres to improve their education programme for those with severe learning disabilities who are unable to attend regular schools.

Employment

Employment for persons with learning disabilities has improved but many are still unemployed due to lack of opportunities, vocational training, independent skills and transportation.

With double tax rebate incentives from the government, employers are beginning to be more open to employ people with learning disabilities but the respond is generally slow. There is no official statistics concerning vocational training and employment of persons with learning disabilities. Table 4 shows the situation of United Voice members:

Table 4: Occupation of United Voice members

Secondary Schools NGOs Centres Open Employment Employed by United Voice Unemployed
11

(Age 16 to 20 years old)

14

(7 job Training Centres)

(7 in Community Work places)

23

(4 in Family Business)

(19 in private Company)

20

(2 full –time support staff)

(18 as Employment Project workers)

18

(Majority in their twenties)

To encourage more persons with disabilities to work, the Malaysian government provides allowance of RM200 (USD57) a month for those who are working and earn below RM750 (USD214). In 2008, the allowance will be increased to RM300 (USD85). With this incentive, more parents are making effort to find employment for their children who are ready to work in open employment or at community work place (shelter workshop). But, there are insufficient places to accommodate more and more who are looking for supported employment.

United Voice advocates that more training should be given to persons with learning disabilities so that they are equipped to work. There is also a need for more job coaches to help persons with learning disabilities to adapt especially in open employment.

Families of Persons with Learning Disabilities

There are family support groups all over Malaysia. However, there is no national family support and advocacy movement. The government provision for families with children with disabilities includes:

  1. Education allowance RM50 (USD14) for children in CBRs, primary and secondary school; RM300 (USD86) for tertiary education.
  2. Tax Rebate
  3. Free medical treatments for their children with disabilities.

Many parents are not in favour of their children with learning disabilities to consider marriage because for poor support system which includes employment opportunities, housing allowance and social workers to counsel or guide those who wish to get married.

Self-Advocacy Movement

There are currently 10 self-advocacy groups found in 6 states. United Voice is the only registered society and is autonomous. There is a need for more self-advocacy groups to be formed all over Malaysia so that persons with learning disabilities will have healthy support groups that will enable and empower them to integrate in the community. Self-advocacy enables persons with learning disabilities to be more independent by:

  1. Developing self-awareness and self-confidence
  2. Learning to make choices
  3. Understanding basic human rights
  4. Voicing opinions
  5. Developing social skills
  6. Taking up responsibilities
  7. Integrating with the community

We hope that all sectors/parties involved in the development of persons with learning disabilities will support this movement to grow stronger in Malaysia.

(This report was prepared by Teoh Hooi Ting and Lim Ming Koon with discussion and advice from Yeo Swee Lan, the support staff of United Voice.)

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