SINGAPORE — Special needs students can look forward to taking art classes — such as pottery, percussion and drama — from artists, as part of a new National Arts Council (NAC) programme launched yesterday.

The aim of the Artist-Special Education (SPED) School Partnership Programme is to provide holistic development for the students and help develop their motor and communication skills through activities they enjoy, said Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong.

Speaking at the launch held at the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (MINDS) Lee Kong Chian Gardens School, Mr Wong said: “We want it to be a very integral part of (the) curriculum, not something they do just for enrichment purposes; that means it’s woven into the curriculum to help the children express themselves better.”

Currently, five SPED schools are part of the programme — the pilot started last February — but Mr Wong hopes the remaining 15 SPED schools can come on board within the next few years.

In a separate partnership with the Social Service Institute, the NAC has 20 artists who have been trained to teach students with special learning needs.

Under the programme, SPED schools will be funded up to S$17,000 across two years and can also pick the type of art classes it wants to teach.

The artists will also train the schools’ teachers and co-develop the curriculum so that the art classes can continue after the programme ends.

For instance, MINDS Lee Kong Chian Gardens School’s teachers have helped potter Tan Lee Meng plan her classes by pairing up high-functioning students with weaker students.

Sculptor Victor Tan, who is visually-impaired and taught at Lighthouse School — which takes in visually- and hearing-impaired, as well as autistic students — said the students needed more hands-on guidance, as compared to his other students from Red Swastika School who are able to watch his demonstrations and follow instructions accordingly.

He pointed out that schools have a part to play if the special needs students were to further their interest in the arts.

Mr Tan said: “I think for the people involved, they need to see art as important for the children ...

“At both Lighthouse and mainstream schools, art is not a main subject, art is (something they) can do with or without.”

Siau Ming En