Frequently asked questions
- Who will conduct the educational placement assessment for children? What abilities of children are evaluated?
- How will the Centre follow up the child with special educational needs after the educational placement assessment?
- Will the school be informed of the educational placement assessment results?
- Is it compulsory for parents to follow the educational placement recommendations when selecting schools for their child?
- How long do I have to wait for the educational placement assessment?
- At what time will the educational placement assessment take place? How long will it take?
- What should parents do if their child cannot attend the assessment due to illnesses, a fever or other specific reasons?
1. Who will conduct the educational placement assessment for children? What abilities of children are evaluated?
The educational placement assessment is conducted by psychological counsellors and special education teachers. The assessors use standard assessment tools, clinical observation as well as refer to the documents provided by schools and parents, including the children’s learning status, growth background and medical treatment, etc. to objectively evaluate the children’s intelligence level, learning abilities, emotional and behavioural performance as well as social adaptation from different aspects so as to provide the most appropriate educational placement recommendations for them. If the assessors find out that the child has speech and language as well as motor skill problems during the assessment, relevant therapists will be invited to join the assessment team in order to evaluate the child’s learning needs in the most comprehensive way.
2. How will the Centre follow up the child with special educational needs after the educational placement assessment?
According to the child’s overall ability, the assessors will recommend the child to enroll in the regular class, inclusive class, special education small class or special education class. In addition, the assessors will also provide schools and parents with advice on teaching, counselling and upbringing based on the child’s individual situation. If the child is confirmed to have special educational needs after the assessment and his/her parents agree with the relevant educational placement recommendations, the parents can select schools for the child in accordance with the relevant recommendations. All schools which accept students with special educational needs will design an Individualised Education Programme and teaching activities for each student according to his/her abilities, learning characteristics and development needs so as to provide appropriate curriculum, teaching assistance, assessment adjustment and specific support for the student.
3. Will the school be informed of the educational placement assessment results?
All the information collected and the results obtained from the assessment are regarded as personal information; therefore, they are absolutely confidential. The school will not be informed of the assessment results without the parents’ consent. Besides, if the child has attended school, the school must provide relevant information about the child’s learning and adaptation at school for assessment reference.
4. Is it compulsory for parents to follow the educational placement recommendations when selecting schools for their child?
Yes, the recommendations are made based on the child’s overall cognitive performance, learning ability as well as his/her emotional and behavioral performance. In order to enable the child to obtain appropriate teaching assistance, parents are advised to follow the relevant recommendations when seeking for schools for their child; however, it is up to parents to make the final decision.
5. How long do I have to wait for the educational placement assessment?
In general, both the children who have not entered school and the school children will take the assessment within 1 month and 3 months respectively, after the submission of all the required documents by their parents; the preliminary educational placement recommendations will be provided for parents so that they will know the educational direction of their children.
6. At what time will the educational placement assessment take place? How long will it take?
The educational placement assessment will be conducted during office hours, i.e. Monday to Thursday: 09:00-13:00 / 14:30-17:45; Friday: 09:00-13:00 / 14:30-17:30; the assessment time varies from 1.5 to 3 hours according to the assessment activities and individual student’s situation. If it is necessary, a Declaration for Attending Educational Placement Assessment will be issued upon the request of parents.
7. What should parents do if their child cannot attend the assessment due to illnesses, a fever or other specific reasons?
It is not suitable for children to take the assessment when they are sick. During illness, children are usually tired, weak and emotional; additionally, the medicine they take may make them drowsy. All these physical conditions may lead to inaccurate assessment results that cannot fully reflect children’s actual abilities. Therefore, parents should consider cancelling the assessment appointment and the Centre will make a new appointment for the child later.