What is Hiep?

HIEP (Holistic Inclusive Education Programme) is a project funded by PADU (Education Performance and Delivery Unit), Ministry of Education but carried out by a project team from Universiti Sains Malaysia. This project is headed by Prof Dato Dr See Ching Mey with over 30 dedicated professionals, researchers and individuals.


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Malaysia has introduced special education integrative programme for special education needs (SEN) children since 1988. Although inclusive education has been introduced in many developed countries, Malaysia has not officially implemented such programme in its school system. Hence, this project aims to implement the Holistic Inclusive Education Programme (HIEP) in five selected primary schools in Taiping to measure the readiness and acceptance of the community in and outside the school, and effectiveness of the inclusion programme.

If the model implementation is successful, the same model and modus operandi can be replicated nationwide. HIEP will allow SEN students to have access to and participate in mainstream education just like all other students. The SEN students will be assessed by our multidisciplinary professional teams. They will also be assessed for inclusive readiness and academic ability before their assignment to academic or non-academic inclusion.

Inclusive education focuses on transforming the education system so that it can accept diversity in many forms. Inclusion should be viewed as a “dynamic approach of responding positively to pupil diversity and of seeing individual differences not as problems, but as opportunities for enriching learning” (UNESCO,2005). This statement sums up our strategic approach to facilitate inclusive education for SEN children.

Inclusion and participation in school activities have been reported as beneficial because they are linked or lead to:-

  1. Better academic achievement
  2. Promotion of interpersonal competencies
  3. Development of civic responsibilities
  4. Reduction in school dropout rates
  5. Better job opportunities

In this project, HIEP is defined as the educational practice of placing special education needs (SEN) students in the mainstream environment where they can be integrated (included) and be educated likewise as students in the mainstream.