<\/p>\nlong been a problem<\/p>\n
<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Many parents do not want their children to stay at home, where they would regress without meaningful activities or interactions.<\/p>\n
Students typically went to MVS around the age of 18 and had to graduate when they turned 21. They repeated Year 1 if they were not assessed to be work-ready.<\/p>\n
The final batch of 37 students marked their last day of school on Nov 20 with a graduation ceremony and carnival. Alumni from as far back as the class of 2012 joined in the bittersweet last hurrah at the 225 Mountbatten Road campus, which shares premises with the Singapore Association for the Deaf\u00a0(SADeaf).<\/p>\n
MVS principal and administrator Ernest Toh said there were 22 students in Year 1, who are not considered to be work-ready, and 15 in Year 2.<\/p>\n
Of the Year 2s, 11 obtained Institute\u00a0of\u00a0Technical\u00a0Education\u00a0(ITE) Skills Certificates in food preparation, food and beverage services or housekeeping operations.<\/p>\n
Around 10 MVS graduates have found jobs, said Mr Toh. Most are continuing with workplaces they interned at during their time with MVS.<\/p>\n
One of them, Mr Sri Ramachandran Vijayan, 20, is deaf and uses sign language to communicate. He will start full-time work as a housekeeper with Sofitel Singapore City Centre in December, continuing from his internship.<\/p>\n
He said he is happy to be earning a salary of around $1,200.<\/p>\n
MVS was founded in 1975 to train deaf young people to be skilled workers. To meet the needs of the community, it opened up to students with various learning disabilities in the later years.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Education (MOE) and Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said in a joint reply that MVS had seen a decline in enrolment in recent years, with increased challenges in training students for the evolving job market.<\/p>\n
Following a joint review in 2022, MOE, in agreement with SADeaf, which manages MVS, discussed ceasing MVS\u2019 operations by end-2025, with MOE providing additional funding to help the school sustain the quality of its education up to the final cohort of students.<\/p>\n\n\nThe final batch of 37 students marked their last day of school on Nov 20 with a graduation ceremony and carnival.<\/p>\n
ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
MVS also stopped enrolling new students from January 2024, so that the remaining students graduate in 2025, it added.<\/p>\n
Over the past two years, SADeaf, together with MSF and SG Enable, explored its proposal to set up the Institute for Inclusive Futures (IIF), a vocational training centre for adults with disabilities. MOE and MSF also helped to secure a site for the new initiative.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite extensive efforts from all involved, MOE and MSF were informed by the IIF Board that the transition would not be able to proceed, as it would require a significant change in operations for MVS,\u201d said the statement.<\/p>\n
In June, MVS notified its students and parents of the school\u2019s closure by the end of the year.<\/p>\n
They were also informed during a parent-teacher meeting that the IIF programme was cancelled due to budget issues.<\/p>\n
Parents were disappointed that plans for the IIF fell through after the school already said there was a designated new place.<\/p>\n
They thought the students would continue to learn in a familiar environment, with MVS students and staff moving to the new school. <\/p>\n\n\nMVS principal Ernest Toh (second from right) chatting with staff and students after giving his final speech.<\/p>\n
ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
One parent, Ms Elisa Adeliani, 51, said: \u201cThere was a big hope for our children, especially the ones who are not ready to work yet, who need more training and time, including my son, to continue their studies under IIF.\u201d<\/p>\n
The small business owner\u2019s 20-year-old son has autism.<\/p>\n
For Ms Adeliani\u2019s family, who are Singapore permanent residents, the plan is to return home to Jakarta after 19 years here, having secured a place in a school there for her son.<\/p>\n
For some MVS students, the plan is not as certain<\/p>\n
Homemaker Elaine Chong, 54, is hoping for her son Ethan Justin Yeong to continue with The Tree Cafe, where he interned from May to November. <\/p>\n
Mr Yeong, 21, who has global developmental delay, has an ITE Skills Certificate in food and beverage service from MVS. <\/p>\n
As an intern, he worked five hours a day every weekday, and was paid $5 an hour. <\/p>\n
He will also be getting the help of a job coach from SG Enable to assess and guide him. <\/p>\n
SG Enable said MVS students with higher support needs are being referred for adult disability services, such as sheltered workshops or programmes run by the Enabling Services Hubs if they are living in the East, North-East and West regions.<\/p>\n
Most of the cohort are receiving active guidance and transition support, while a small number are still weighing their options or making their own arrangements, the agency added.<\/p>\n
Some MVS graduates who do not have a job or longer-term programme lined up have found a glimmer of hope with social enterprises.<\/p>\n
On top of his thrice-a-week cafe skills training programme, Mr Phoon also takes paid baking classes and outings with Singapore Fashion Runway social enterprise if he has the energy. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want him to lose momentum,\u201d his mother said, adding that he enjoys his cafe training, though he dreads the crowded commute there.<\/p>\n\n\nStudents of Mountbatten Vocational School hugging the school’s principal Ernest Toh (centre).<\/p>\n
ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Mr Zander Lim, 20, has been receiving training since April at a hydroponics farm with social enterprise The Nard Foundation, which offers training for people with special needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat he needs now is to learn how to follow routines, follow instructions. So I\u2019m grateful for the chance for him to be occupied and learn something. I\u2019m not so particular about him getting paid,\u201d his father Zachary Lim said. <\/p>\n
He said his son is waiting to undergo a psychological assessment for enlistment into national service.<\/p>\n
Diagnosed with autism when he was three, Mr Zander Lim went to Pathlight School and dropped out of ITE before going to MVS in 2024.<\/p>\n
Mr Lim, a teacher, hopes to enrol his son in SG Enable\u2019s work skills training programme. The School-to-Work Transition Programme by MOE, MSF and SG Enable, in partnership with special education schools, offers training and work options for students with disabilities. <\/p>\n
His eventual hope is for his son to take up work such as hydroponics farming, which is slower paced and does not require much interaction with others. <\/p>\n
Like Mr Phoon, some MVS graduates are also going through assessments to enter sheltered workshops. <\/p>\n
The estimated waiting time for a place at APSN Centre for Adults is three to six months, while that at MINDS Regional Hub in Hougang and Queenstown is six months, according to an SG Enable guide to sheltered workshops as at Sept 30. For Bizlink\u2019s sheltered workshop, the wait time stands at one year. <\/p>\n
For those looking for vocational education, Metta School and APSN Delta Senior School also offer ITE Skills Certificates and Workforce Skills Qualifications courses respectively.<\/p>\n
APSN also offers retail operations and horticulture vocations, while Metta School offers a residential air-conditioning course.<\/p>\n
Metta School said it has a total of 434 students, with 111 of them in the ITE vocational certification programme and 24 in the vocational non-certification programme. <\/p>\n
Dr Eunice Tan, head of special education at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, said: \u201cMetta School and APSN run comparable programmes, and it is natural for parents to prefer these schools since their children have been educated within those systems.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added that day activity centres and sheltered workshops serve individuals who typically have higher support needs and greater daily living challenges, compared with those enrolled in MVS. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs such, they… cannot be viewed as a direct replacement or equivalent,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Of the 15 MVS staff, Mr Toh said eight out of the 10 who were actively seeking new roles have already secured jobs in the social service and education sector.<\/p>\n
Senior instructor and job coach Wong Kar Leng, 52, who spent 14 years in MVS, is starting a new role as a hospitality services teacher at Northlight School in January. <\/p>\n\n\nMVS student Zander Lim (left) giving teacher Wong Kar Leng a home-made certificate of appreciation.<\/p>\n
ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u201cI hadn\u2019t gone for interviews in years. My resume was rusty,\u201d she said. \u201cBut our principal asked us to send it in and MOE helped match us to new roles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Staff were seen wiping away tears at the ceremony.<\/p>\n
Mr Toh, who is 61 and has spent 14 years with MVS, will be retiring at home in Penang. \u201cI\u2019m sad but proud of what we\u2019ve done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The day ended with a mass dance to songs like Shake It Off in the school hall, a session the students had every Thursday, for the very last time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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