Dr Low Boon Yong, Acting Chairman of the Spastic Children’s Association School,

Ms Stephenie Leow, Principal of SCAS,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Boys and girls.

I am indeed happy to be invited to your biggest event of the year – the School’s Annual Sports Day. I know all the children are eagerly looking forward to participating in the Meet and competing for every medal. Your parents will be proud to know that you can also excel in sports in your own ways and will be deeply touched by your perseverance and the will power to succeed.

2 The school has done well in its mission to provide opportunities for all your pupils to realise their maximum potential. The progress of the school is followed with deep interest by the parents and the community. At this point, I would like to congratulate the school for a very encouraging report on Master Laremie Tan, a student of your school, who made headlines in the Straits Times dated 14 March. Laremie passed his PSLE and was posted to a mainstream Secondary School (Serangoon Secondary School ) to continue his studies in the Normal Academic Stream. I would also like to congratulate 3 other students who had passed their BEST Examination Module 1 with very good grades. These students are Zaini Bin Hamid, Danny Loh and Sazlinah Bte Said. These students’ determination and perseverance to succeed, despite their disabilities, are exemplary and inspiring. I am sure many of you children present here this morning can do just as well if not better. The task is difficult but the results are worthwhile and rewarding.

3 I am pleased to note that your school is one of 3 schools in the Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) Pilot Project. The other 2 schools are Lee Kong Chian Special School (MINDS) and ESN Katong Special School. The purpose of this pilot project is to assess how IT can be used to support children with learning difficulties. Also by encouraging the pupils in these pilot schools to utilise new technologies, we are setting new goals for them to achieve. We look forward to the successful completion of this pilot project. If CAL is found to be indeed an effective tool for our special needs children, it would be appropriate eventually to extend the programme to other SPED schools. You may like to know that a study team from the MOE and National Council of Social Services (NCSS) went to the United States in May, to study how IT can be used to improve the learning capacity of our children in special schools. We are currently studying their report.

4 Your Deputy Chairman’s report that your association has raised $6 million for your purpose-built school is indeed heartening. I commend you for taking up the challenge to step up the provision of education to children with special needs. My Ministry is proud to be in partnership with your organisation by providing 90% of the construction cost of your new development project. The boys and girls of this school can look forward to special facilities and better resources when they move to the new building.

5 My best wishes go to the School Management Committee, the Principal, staff, pupils and their parents in their continuing efforts to attain greater heights for the school.

6 Boys and girls, you have all practised very hard for today. It does not matter if you do not win. What matters most is that you have participated and promoted team work. We are all proud of what you can do, so long as you continue to do your best and not give up. Above all, I hope you have a fun-filled and an enjoyable morning.