The Rainbow Centre is a social service organisation in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. It operates three special education schools Margaret Drive School (RCMDS), Yishun Park School (RCYPS) and a third one at Woodlands, for infants, children and youths with special needs like

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

intellectual disability Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability (in the United Kingdom), and formerly mental retardation (in the United States), Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010).Archive is a generalized neurodevelopmental ...

, developmental delay, and multiple disabilities. The Rainbow Centre Margaret Drive School is located at Margaret Drive near

Queenstown MRT station Queenstown MRT station is an elevated Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the East–West line (EWL) in Queenstown, Singapore. Located on Commonwealth Avenue, it serves nearby landmarks such as Queenstown Primary School and the Princess Hou ...

, while the Rainbow Centre Yishun Park School is located at Yishun Street 61 near

Khatib MRT station Khatib MRT station is an above-ground Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore), Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the North South MRT line, North South line (NSL) located in Khatib, Singapore, a subzone in Yishun, Yishun planning area. The station i ...

. Both schools currently run special education programmes and early intervention programmes.

History

Margaret Drive Special School started out in 1987 to cater to children with multiple handicaps. In 1989, the school introduced the programme called Structured Teaching for Exceptional Pupils (STEP) for autistic children aged between two and twelve years. In 1992, the Rainbow Centre was established, with

Ee Peng Liang Joseph Ee Peng Liang, K.St.J (; 26 November 1913 – 24 August 1994) was a businessman and a philanthropist. He was the founding member and President of the Singapore Council of Social Service as well as the Community Chest. Known as the “fat ...

as the first Honorary Patron. In 1995, Rainbow Centre set up the Balestier Special School at NcNair Road as its second school, which was officially opened by

Wee Kim Wee Wee Kim Wee (4 November 1915 – 2 May 2005) was a Singaporean journalist and diplomat who served as the fourth president of Singapore between 1985 and 1993. Born in Singapore in the Straits Settlements, Singapore during colonial rule, Wee was ...

on 1 October 1996. The Margaret Drive School later moved to a new purpose-built building with special facilities to cater to the needs of children with different learning difficulties. The building was officially opened by Aline Wong on 19 July 1999. A programme called ''Rainbow Link'' was launched in 2002 to promote volunteerism, through support, services and education. Rainbow Centre and Autism Resource Centre jointly started the

Pathlight School Pathlight School is a special school for children with autism in Singapore. Founded in 2004, it is run by the non-profit Autism Resource Centre and comprises one half of the national educational provision for autistic children. The school educat ...

in January 2004. This is an autism specific mainstream school for children with autism aged between six and sixteen years old. In 2006, in an attempt to prevent their students from being labelled, Margaret Drive Special School was renamed Rainbow Centre Margaret Drive School (RCMDS) and Balestier Special School was renamed Rainbow Centre Yishun Park School (RCYPS). In 2018, Rainbow Centre Yishun Park School (RCYPS) opened at 11 Marsiling Lane, Singapore 739148 in Woodlands. It is an interim site which took over the space previously occupied by Si Ling Secondary School. It will subsequently move to its purpose-built campus at Admiralty Link from 2022.

References

External links

Rainbow Centre
Singapore. Disability organisations based in Singapore Singaporean voluntary welfare organisations Child-related organisations in Singapore {{Singapore-company-stub