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Compulsory Education for Special Children to Expand

Compulsory education for children with special needs, which only applies to elementary and middle school, will be extended to include kindergarten and high school from 2010. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology on Sunday said a new law on special education for the disabled which comes into force Monday expands compulsory education for the disabled step by step.

From 2010, disabled children from the age of five will receive compulsory education. The age limit will be lowered to four and three in 2011 and 2012. So far, only elementary and middle school education was mandatory for disabled students, and kindergarten and high school education was free but optional.

The Ministry said education authorities will carry out disability tests from time to time so that special needs can be detected and treated early. "When identified as a child with a disability, even a baby under the age of three can get free special education," an official at the ministry said. Before the new law, it was the parents' responsibility to detect any disability in their children and find and pay for the right education facility. Also, parents had to pay for the entire cost of special education for disabled children under three, and the government only partially funded the cost of regular education.

Source: http://english.chosun.com/