IN A major step forward in the national plan to help school children with learning difficulties, the first two batches of officers specially trained to tackle dyslexia received their training certificates yesterday.

Referred to as special needs officers, the 47 officers have been posted to primary and secondary schools around the island since graduating earlier this year.

In a plan drawn up by the Education Ministry, all primary schools will, by 2010, have an officer trained to spot and help dyslexics.

This is a learning difficulty where those with the condition have trouble spelling, reading or differentiating letters of the alphabet.

It is estimated that about 3 per cent of the population in Singapore is dyslexic.

Although there have been no formal surveys, the Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS) says that going by international trends, as many as 23,000 children from kindergarten to secondary level could suffer from the condition.

The special needs officers will come in to help alleviate some of the pressure on teachers and students.

They will not only go into classes to help dyslexic children understand lessons better, but also give one-on-one help to their charges.

One of the graduates, Mr Jeyaram Kadivan, 25, who is currently attached to St Gabriel's Secondary School, said: 'This national scheme is important because teachers are normally too bogged down with the curriculum to adequately handle children with learning disabilities.'

Since completing his course in August, Mr Jeyaram has jumped into the thick of it already.

With three other officers, he has been developing new teaching material and methods catering specifically to dyslexic students. They hope to test these out next year in their four schools: St Gabriel's, Montfort Secondary, Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road) and St Patrick's Secondary.

Meanwhile, the DAS announced yesterday its plans to open another three learning centres islandwide to cater to about 750 more students.

The DAS already has four such centres, which teach literacy skills to more than 1,000 dyslexic students. These classes supplement their education in mainstream primary and secondary schools.

Parents pay $500 every three months, after subsidies from the Education Ministry.

The DAS, a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping dyslexics, said the expansion is due to increasing demand.

Mr Robin Moseley, DAS executive director, said 'there are still thousands of dyslexic students who need to be identified and helped'. The students it reaches are just 'the tip of the iceberg', he said.

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