Kota Kinabalu: The Community Development Department (Kemas) Sabah will expand its Tabika Smart Classroom and Tabika Tunas Istimewa programme for children with autism to every district in the state next year.
Its director Ahmad Fakhrul Azman Muhammad Radzi said the move was aimed at strengthening early childhood education in Sabah to keep pace with current developments, particularly in meeting the needs of Generation Alpha and children with autism.
He said the Tabika Smart Classroom programme was introduced to adapt preschool education to Generation Alpha, who have been exposed to technology from an early age, through the provision of suitable devices such as tablets and smart TVs.
“We know Generation Alpha is familiar with technology because they were born into a rapidly evolving gadget-driven world. We want them not only to be users of gadgets but also to benefit from the advantages and capabilities offered by technology,” he told Bernama.
This year, he said, the Tabika Smart Classroom programme was being implemented on a pilot basis, with one smart classroom in each district before being expanded statewide next year.
On the Tabika Tunas Istimewa programme, Ahmad Fakhrul Azman said it focuses on children with mild autism and was launched on a pilot basis at a kindergarten in Papar.
He said the programme would also be expanded to every district next year, with 20 more kindergartens planned, bringing the total number of Tabika Tunas Istimewa centres in Sabah to 21.
According to him, the expansion aimed to ease the burden on families with autistic children in obtaining appropriate education and support, as the cost of related treatment and therapy could be very high.
“For example, speech therapy alone can cost RM100 an hour to help children with autism develop their speech, while other treatments and therapies also involve significant costs. We will assess the feedback progressively as the programme is still at the pilot stage,” he said.
He added that if the Tabika Tunas Istimewa programme proved successful and received encouraging response from parents and the community, Kemas Sabah would determine the next direction for specialised preschool education for autistic children in the state.