QI Group’s education arm Quest International University (QIU) hosted the Special Education: Moving Beyond Boundaries (SEMB) 2021 virtual conference with the theme Embracing Uniqueness, Empowering Lives.
The two-day conference provided insights into the latest skills, knowledge and understanding of special needs education while promoting inclusive education through mainstream school systems. QI Group’s social impact initiative RYTHM Foundation, and Taarana, School for Special Needs Education, were among the supporting organisations for the conference.
The conference Guest of Honour Datin Sri Umayal Eswaran, Chairperson of RYTHM Foundation and Founder of Taarana, emphasised the need for a framework of measures to equip inclusive classrooms within the education ecosystem, supportive infrastructure, teacher training and early diagnosis, to provide equal access for students of all abilities and needs.
She also touched on QIU’s comprehensive outreach and engagement programmes that goes beyond the classroom, providing a holistic experiential learning experience including collaborations with external stakeholders and governmental bodies.
Dr Sunitha Sivakumaran, Principal at Taarana spoke about Malaysia’s Persons with Disabilities Act 2008. She stressed that the Act lacked specific provisions that prohibit discrimination against disabled persons, an absence of provisions for judicial remedies, and penalties for parties who fail to comply with the Act. She recommended that enforcement bodies like the National Council for Persons with Disabilities be granted the power to investigate complaints, strengthen the role of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM), and establish a Persons with Disabilities Commission.
You can read more about the conference here.
QIU International Conference Breaks Boundaries in Special Needs Education
An extract from Datin Sri Umayal’s speech can be found here.
For more videos from the Conference speakers, please click through
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