Majority of special needs students are autistic: Education Minister

Most of the 2,015 students with special education needs are autistic, the Education Minister Aishath Shiham has said on Sunday.

In commemoration of the World Autism Awareness Day, which falls on the 2nd of April every year, Minister Shiham said that the ministry has included a module for teaching autistic children in its ‘Diploma for Inclusive Education’, which entails an addition 152 hours of teaching.

There are 215 teachers who have completed the module, she added.

She further said that 28 teachers have been trained in educating special-needs students and that 189 are currently enrolled in the Maldives National University’s diploma course.

Minister Shiham also said that courses catered expressly to students with autism have been introduced in 193 schools and that three such centers have been set up in the outer lying atolls.

Shiham said that the government has had considerable success in ensuring that special needs students have access to education.