Bukit Harapan

Training Teachers

In addition to providing a home and school for our Special Persons, we also provide the opportunity for youths from the rural areas to receive professional training in the field of care and rehabilitation of the handicapped, both physical and mental.

People from the rural areas are seldom given a chance of ‘further education’ mainly because many of them have to leave school very early to help feed their families. Bukit Harapan has provided these youth with the opportunity of in-service training at its Home, giving these youth the knowledge and professional skills useful and necessary in the care and rehabilitation of Special Persons.

Bukit Harapan had also in the past employed an English Tutor to assist with mastery of the language and every opportunity is taken to assist them become competent “curative educationists.”

Teachers are given training by Ms Liza Barron, a specialist in this field from Singapore—she provides two months intensive training a year to our teachers so as to constantly upgrade their educating skills in their classroom work with Special Persons.

In 2001, an Australian couple stayed for six months, also giving intensive training to the staff, so much so that Bukit Harapan can proudly say that its teachers would easily get a job in Singapore schools for Special Persons and yet they have willingly stayed on at Bukit Harapan at minimum salary.

In Camphill Institute, Scotland where Anne Keyworth received her training, the principle followed was: One is trained in every field of Care, Education and Therapy so that the Curative Educationist will be able to help any Special Child, be the person emotionally-handicapped, physically-abused.