Central District Community Services Consultancy Council (CCSCZC) member Huang Cheng Bin showed his concern yesterday about Kai Chi School, a school for children with special needs, which will be losing a professional speech therapist shortly.
Huang made the remarks in a speech at the start of a general meeting of the committee.
The general meeting took place in the auditorium on the ninth floor of the Municipal Market Complex of Patane.
Kai Chi School provides early-age training and education to children with special needs. According to Huang, the school’s current speech therapist will be leaving shortly but there are currently no candidates who are skilled in this profession to take the school’s vacancy in Macau, causing the principal and parents to “panic”.
To resolve Macau’s skills shortage issue in terms of speech therapy, Huang urged the government to invest in the development of local speech therapists by encouraging teenagers to study this profession.
At the meeting, Huang also said that the traffic environment around Kai Chi School can create a hazard for pupils when they go to school. Since the school is located on Guia Hill above Rampa do Padre Vasconcelos, pupils have to walk up the hill along a narrow two-way street in order to arrive to school after getting off buses at the nearest bus stop.
Huang urged the government to provide a safe route for the pupils by widening the pavements leading to Kai Chi School and laying on school buses, which could also relieve parents’ worries about their children’s safety at the same time.
Huang also said he hoped that the government could raise its awareness of the difficulties faced by pupils in Kai Chi School, such as by paying more attention to children with special needs.
Central District Community Service Consultative Council (CCSCZC) members attend a regular meeting in the auditorium at the Municipal Market Complex of Patane yesterday. Photo: Nicole Iun
