The number of ethnic minority students in Hong Kong’s public schools with special education needs has been underestimated, with teachers wrongly assuming their learning difficulties are related to the use of multiple languages, according to an NGO.

Shalini Mahtani, founder of the Zubin Foundation, a charity dedicated to supporting the city’s ethnic minority community, vowed to help children with special education needs (SEN) on Tuesday when she opened a family centre for this group at a shop at Austin MTR station.

In the 2020-21 academic year, the number of diagnosed non-Chinese-speaking students with SEN in public schools, which includes ordinary primary, secondary and aided special schools, was 1,260, data from the charity showed.

Source: https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3207162/number-ethnic-minority-students-special-education-needs-hong-kong-schools-underestimated-says-ngo