In 2016, the main premises of Kranji Secondary School in Choa Chu Kang started undergoing renovation, and the school had to relocate to a holding site for a period of time.
That was bad news for Naufal Dzareef Azahar, who entered Secondary 1 in 2018 and found that he was unable to join his classmates for certain lessons.
While his temporary classroom was located on the first floor, certain lessons took place on the upper levels, such as in a computer laboratory on a higher floor.
With no lifts in the temporary facility, Naufal, a wheelchair user who has muscular dystrophy, had no way to access the upper storeys.
Things changed when he entered Secondary 2 the following year, and the school moved back to its original site.
The premises had been outfitted with lifts, kerbs had been removed, and corridors and doorways were widened. As a result, Naufal was able to manoeuvre around school independently, though his friends would often accompany him.
Naufal, now 16 and due to sit the N levels this year, said: “I felt sad and left out when I couldn’t join my classmates for those lessons. I sat in my classroom by myself and my teachers gave me work. But the school did try their best; they supported me where they could.”
To make schools more accessible to students like Naufal, the Ministry of Education (MOE) will ensure that all primary and secondary schools in Singapore are fitted with lifts by around 2026.
Currently, about 70 per cent of the 186 primary and 152 secondary schools are fitted with lifts.
Education Minister Lawrence Wong said in a written parliamentary reply last month that the remaining schools will be undergoing a lift installation programme.
He was responding to a question from Mr Darryl David (Ang Mo Kio GRC) on whether all schools here are able to cater for students with physical disabilities.
An MOE spokesman told The Straits Times that the programme will “enhance the remaining schools’ accessibility and allow them to better support persons with physical disabilities”.
Each school will be provided with one to three lifts, depending on its layout and site terrain. For example, sites on hilly terrain may have more lifts.
The programme is to ensure that all schools have basic barrier-free accessibility, which gives people with physical disabilities access to all floors of the school building, said MOE.
However, ST understands that a school will need to have more than just lifts to have full barrier-free accessibility. For example, it may also require equipment such as ramps, handrails and grab bars.
There are currently 64 primary schools, 34 secondary schools and four junior colleges and centralised institutes islandwide with full barrier-free accessibility for students with physical disabilities.
Naufal, who hopes to study cyber security at a polytechnic, said he is very happy at Kranji Secondary. “I’ve made a lot of friends who help and support me.”
His mother, Madam Norliza Mohd Hassan, 53, said she is grateful for the school’s support.
“Even in the temporary site (without lifts), the school did its best to make changes to his classroom schedule and arrange classes on the first floor when possible,” said Madam Norliza, an educator.
“But now with the new facilities, we can see he is more engaged in school… He can move around freely. We prefer this – we want him to be independent, just like other children his age.”