Singapore President Halimah Yacob Visits the Singapore International Foundation’s Occupational Therapy for Children with Special Needs Project in Jakarta, Indonesia
The SIF’s first special education project in the Indonesian capital aims to address increasing demand for inclusive education for these children, through capacity-building and close collaboration among healthcare practitioners in the two countries.
Jakarta, Indonesia, 5 February 2020 – Singapore President Halimah Yacob today paid a visit to the Foundation for the Development of Children with Special Needs (YPAC) in Jakarta, Indonesia where Singapore volunteers worked alongside their Indonesian counterparts to raise capacity for the care and support of children with special needs. The visit by President Halimah, who is also Patron of the SIF, builds on the SIF’s mission to strengthen cross-border ties through collaborations that effect positive change.
The SIF’s Occupational Therapy for Children with Special Needs project (2019-2022) is an ongoing collaboration between the SIF, YPAC Jakarta, and SingHealth. The project aims to build the capability of Indonesian special education practitioners; for instance, by equipping them with the tools and strategies to adopt an integrated approach to the management of their beneficiaries. The training will be conducted by a team of Singapore International Volunteers (SIVs) made up of occupational therapists from SingHealth’s KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH). By the end of the four-year project, the team of SIVs aims to train 50 Indonesian special education practitioners, including 20 ‘master trainers’ to benefit more than 2,000 members of the Indonesian community.
The SIF’s President Halimah said: “As global communities, Singapore and Indonesia share a common goal to achieve positive sustainable development in areas such as inclusive education. I am heartened to witness the strong collaboration between the SIF, our Singapore International Volunteers from KKH and the Indonesian special education practitioners in YPAC Jakarta. The SIF’s Occupational Therapy for Children with Special Needs project has enabled the two sides to exchange knowledge and skills, while deepening our people-to-people ties. I hope that this cross-cultural project will continue to uplift the lives of children with special needs in the years ahead.”
