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Teaching in special education schools

Special education schools run programmes that are designed for students with moderate to severe special educational needs. If you have a passion to guide children and youth with special educational needs to achieve their potential, apply to be a teacher in these schools.

Overview

Currently, there are 19 government-funded special education schools run by 12 social service agencies. All of them provide intensive and specialised learning support for children with moderate to severe special educational needs. As a special education teacher, you will undergo training to deliver the customised curriculum and pedagogy required by these children.

Requirements

If you have local qualifications

You must have one of the following:

  • GCE A-Level certificate with 2 A-Level / H2 passes and 2 AO-Level / H1 passes (including General Paper or Knowledge and Inquiry).
  • Diploma from a Local Polytechnic.
  • Full-time Diploma from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) or Lasalle College of the Arts.
  • International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma with a good overall score.
If you do not have the necessary local qualifications but have international special education qualifications

You must have all of the following:

  • Bachelor's or Master's degree in special education, or have taken sufficient special education modules during your course of study.
  • You must have taken a special education teaching practicum as part of your studies.
  • Transcript showing special education teaching practicum and English Language competence, if your degree was not conducted in English.

How to apply

To become a special education teacher, you'll need to apply directly to one of the government-funded special education schools. Applications are open year-round.

If you are an MOE teacher considering a secondment to a special education school, you can do so through the annual Open Posting Exercise. Special education schools will post vacancies on MOE's intranet.

Note: If you are interested in supporting students with mild special education needs at mainstream schools, you may apply to be an Allied Educator (Learning and Behavioural Support).

Professional development opportunities

We offer the following professional development opportunities for special education teachers:

  • Courses and workshops for trained special education teachers.
  • Curriculum development and professional dialogues through teams at special education schools.
  • MOE Master's Scholarship in Special Education, open to trained special education teachers.