By Jennani Durai

FOR past students of Singapore's two special education institutions, graduating meant leaving school with some skills, but with no certification to show for it.

That will change from next year, when Metta School and Delta Senior School offer their students a vocational education programme that comes with nationally accredited qualifications.

The students will be trained in three areas - horticulture and landscaping, food and beverage (F&B), and hotels and accommodation.

In addition to classroom lessons, several companies have also been roped in to provide on-the-job training to students.

At the end of the three-year programme, students will be armed with either the ITE Skills Certificate or Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ). These qualifications will give them a better chance of landing a job.

The change was one of two announced yesterday by Ms Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State for Education, to boost the quality of special education in Singapore.

Speaking at Delta Senior School's graduation ceremony, she said that in addition to introducing the certification programme, the Education Ministry will also beef up facilities at both schools to better equip them for vocational training.

Among the new facilities are industrial kitchens, gardens for landscaping, and mock hotel rooms.

Being given skills certification represents a big change for Metta and Delta students. Since they were opened in 2000 and 2001, respectively, their students have had to try and land jobs armed with no qualifications. Though some have managed to do so, having certificates will open doors for many more students.

Mr Shantha de Silva, 45, general manager of the Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard City Centre - one of the outfits that will give on-the-job training to students - said that while his hotel has no qualms about hiring people with disabilities in the past, the new certification will make it easier for them to get jobs.

'From a potential employer's point of view, this is an external body certifying that the person you are hiring is competent for the skill you are hiring him for.'

Another boost for the students is that the three areas they will be trained in are expected to be future growth areas.

The landscaping industry in Singapore, for example, is worth almost $1.2 billion, and needs an estimated 800 new workers every year, said the Centre for Urban Greenery and Ecology, a training centre set up by the National Parks Board and the Workforce Development Agency, earlier this year.

Said Ms Jeanne Pang, 33, business manager of landscaping company Prince's Landscape and Construction: 'Landscaping is really growing here, because everyone is going green and everyone wants more plants and more trees. There is a real need for more capable people in this field, and we are definitely looking to hire more people with disabilities.'

In her speech yesterday, Ms Fu also praised the quality of education provided by the two schools. She said a key success factor was the 'ability of the teachers to customise the curriculum to cater to the unique learning styles and pace of students with special needs'.

Student Loi Bing Kun, 20, who graduated yesterday, said the teachers in Delta Senior School have helped him a lot and given him many opportunities.

He is currently on a work attachment with a pizzeria in Orchard Road.

'My goal is to have a stable job in the F&B industry, return to school to take more WSQ certifications and save more money,' said Mr Loi, who has mild intellectual disability. 'One day I want to be a restaurant boss.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.