RCGS received a HK$2.76 million grant from the Innovation and Technology Fund for Better Living, which has gone towards the school’s Living Skills Robots for Students with Intellectual Disabilities initiative, launched in January 2024.

The aim of the project is to develop intelligent educational robots tailored to the needs of students with intellectual disabilities, to enhance their life skills. “We encourage students to use the robots for learning both at school and at home, empowering them to become independent learners,” said Lee Ngok-tsun, head of the assessment and teaching support division at RCGS. “Robots have humanlike faces, consistent tones, precise movements, and the ability to repeat instructions tirelessly, all of which benefits learners with autism,” he noted.

Each RCGS student has access to their own robot to use at home and at school, while 35 schools taking part in a wider pilot programme have been given two robots per campus. Lee hopes that with additional funding, students at all schools can have access to a personal robot, to use both on campus and at home.

“Our school is dedicated to cultivating resource sharing within the special education community. I hope that this can bring about revolutionary development in the field of special education,” said Lee. He hopes to extend the use of the living skills robots to all SEN schools in the city, and sees a culture of collaboration as key to the adequate provision of SEN resources across Hong Kong’s schools.

“Many students with intellectual disabilities are visual or auditory learners, and robots can provide audiovisual interactive effects that facilitate their learning,” noted Lee. The robots are designed to improve students’ lived experience and education by enhancing their independent living skills. Each robot has a built-in program that includes 50 life skills. The highlight of the program, according to Lee, is that it encompasses both traditional skills – such as laundry, cooking and sweeping – and skills that involve technology, such as using machines for self-ordering and self-payment.

The robots’ capabilities include enhancing Cantonese language learning for non-native speakers, and using additional languages such as Nepali and Urdu to support non-Cantonese-speaking students. Further, detailed Lee: “In response to the needs of students with weaker oral skills, the robot is equipped with various touch sensors. It provides different responses based on the location students touch on the robot’s body.”

An initiative like this rests on providing a wealth of different resources to cater to students with diverse needs, keeping inclusivity a central focus.

“In response to the needs of students with autism who require advance notice, and the characteristics of students with intellectual disabilities who may have a weaker memory, parents can input text information and the playback time in the application,” explained Lee. “The robot will then release individualised instructions at the designated time.”

Inclusivity is at the core of many of Hong Kong’s special educational institutions, including the Child Development Centre (CDCHK). The centre informally opened in 1976 under the guidance of occupational therapist Sarah Roe – an educator whose name is known across the city as it was later lent to the ESF Jockey Club Sarah Roe School (JCSRS), the first English-language-curriculum school specialising in special education.

Dr Yvonne Becher, CDCHK’s chief executive and director for programme development and learning, has seen a marked change in Hong Kong’s SEN provision. “Although still relatively limited, there is more government-funded SEN support in terms of quantity and variety in early childhood for non-Cantonese speakers,” she said. Becher has also noted an increase in SEN provision in international schools across both primary and secondary institutions.

The shortfall in English-language SEN provision is something that Anna Smakowska, principal of JCSRS, is well aware of. “In Hong Kong, based on our admissions data, we know that there are a number of English-speaking students with complex needs who are unable to access mainstream curricula and require specialist adaptations to their learning,” she said. And while Smakowska credits international schools’ efforts to meet the growing needs of their student populations, she noted, “they often lack the required expertise and resources to meet the needs of students with complex barriers to learning”.

Established in 1986 with six pupils, JCSRS now caters to 70 students between the ages of five and 19. However, Smakowska said: “Despite the growth, demand for SEN provision for English-speaking students continues to exceed the available resources. While the landscape of SEN provision in Hong Kong has changed over the years, there is still work to be done to ensure that every child has access to the education they need and deserve.”

JCSRS is uniquely poised from a resource-sharing and learning perspective: it is a member of the English Schools Foundation (ESF), which creates “excellent opportunities for schools with better expertise to share their best practices with other international and local schools, promoting a collaborative and innovative environment for all”, said Smakowska.

Becher highlights accessibility and financial concerns as key issues parents of SEN children face when considering education options. “Affordable choices and relevant support are more available when a child speaks Cantonese,” she noted. “For families who are not Cantonese speaking, school places are limited and extra therapies are often charged in addition to school fees.”

Lee concurred, saying, “Parents’ greatest concern is to have more resources to help SEN students with their learning.” As well as issues with accessibility for school-aged children, he added, “Parents are also concerned about their children’s lives after graduation and their ability to live independently.” Lee further highlighted the current long waiting times for adult residential care homes, and a lack of community resources. Becher cited concerns surrounding a lack of government-funded sheltered workplaces and support services for non-Cantonese-speaking SEN school leavers.

While there is a consensus on the need for further resources and provision across the city, there is also recognition of the efforts being made towards more inclusive support for Hong Kong’s SEN students.

“I believe that many educators are still working tirelessly for the benefit of SEN students,” said Lee. “For example, I have noticed that some research institutions are currently developing smartwatches, smart school uniforms and smart sleeves to sense the emotions of SEN students, aiming to improve their behavioural issues stemming from emotional instability.”

Genuine inclusion means going beyond mere acceptance and accommodation of SEN students, he continued. “I believe that teachers in special schools have a responsibility to enhance their students’ life skills, making them more capable of integrating into the community without excessive accommodations based solely on their disabilities,” said Lee.

Becher echoed these sentiments, adding that inclusion should be considered across various stages of education: “We should always aim to create a friendly environment and conditions for everyone to recognise each individual’s learning abilities without bias, and to provide plentiful and equal learning resources and room for development to allow everyone to blossom and reach their full potential.”

Such potential would be a signal for educators that inclusion has been achieved, said Smakowska. “When we get inclusion right, the child will feel that they have a strong sense of belonging and have conditions for learning that enable them to thrive.”•