Other teaching professionals

How to become a special needs teacher

Official title: Special needs teachers

Also called: Learning disabilities special education teacher, Learning support teacher, Remedial teacher, Teacher of gifted children, Teacher of the hearing impaired, Teacher of the sight impaired

Special needs teachers teach physically or mentally handicapped children, young persons or adults, or those with learning difficulties or other special needs. They promote the social, emotional, intellectual and physical development of their students.

Main tasks

Assessing students’ abilities and limitations with regard to intellectual, physical, social and emotional impairments, exceptional intellectual gifts, or other special situations
Designing or modifying curricula and preparing and delivering programmes, lessons and activities adapted to students’ abilities and needs
Giving instruction on an individual or group basis using special techniques or aids appropriate to students’ needs
Employing special educational strategies and techniques during instruction to improve the development of sensory- and perceptual-motor skills, language, cognition and memory
Establishing and enforcing rules for behaviour and policies and procedures to maintain order among students
Teaching academic subjects and practical and self-help skills to students with hearing, sight and other impairments
Stimulating and developing students’ confidence, interests, abilities, manual skills and coordination
Conferring with other staff members to plan and schedule lessons for special needs students
Preparing and maintaining student data and other records and submitting reports
Administering various forms of assessment and evaluating progress of each student

Ways in

University: Education & Teaching degrees, Offered by 14 universities in Hong Kong
Licence or registration: Registering body: Education Bureau. Law: Education Ordinance (教育條例), Cap. 279. Summary by Peernovo; check the body's current rules.

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

Median pay: HK$48,000 a month
About 1,542,900 people in 2025, and about 1,639,100 projected by 2028. (+6.2%)
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Questions people ask

How do I become a special needs teacher?

Ways in include: Education & Teaching degrees.

Do you need a degree to become a special needs teacher?

Usually. 91% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Will AI change the work of a special needs teacher?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Updated 4 October 2026