PHILIPPINES

S en ior E du cation P rogram S p ecialist

S pecial E du cation D ivision , B E E
D epartm en t of E du cation (D epE d)

I n trod u ction
T
he grow th of special education in the P hilippines has been given a relatively good sup port
all these years both by the governm ent, non-
governm ent organizations and stakeholders in response
to th e n eeds and challenges of the tim es. T
he level of aw areness of both the governm ent and the
private sector in pro vid in g eq ual op po rtun ities to children w ith sp ecial n eeds h av e con sid era
b ly increased . O
ne positive developm ent in special education is the im plem entation of R epublic A c t
7 2 7 7 , otherw ise know n as the M agna C arta for D isabled P ersons, an A
ct p rov idin g for the rehab ilitiation, self- d evelop m en t and self-
reliance o f disabled perso ns and their in tegration in to the m ainstream o f so ciety .
I n support of this legislation, the D epartm ent of E ducation has directed
all school division s in th e coun try to estab lish S
pecial E ducation C enters to help provide effective
deliv ery o f special edu catio n serv ices n atio nw ide.
A lthough special education in the country started 9 4
years ago, in m any respects, the dem ands and needs of this program have not changed.
st
T he advent of the 2 1
century requ ires new p erspectives and directio ns in sp ecial education
to m eet the needs of the disadvantaged child ren against the persistent challenges and dem ands
of the new m illenium .

S pecial E du cation in th e C ou n try

S everal years back, D r. T eresita G
. I nciong in her country report in practically the sam e
F orum , cited som e problem s and concerns w hich beset the S PED program in the co un try.
I n p artn ersh ip effo rts w ith other governm ent agencies, non- governm ent organizations and
o th er stakeholders, w e are slow ly gen erating po sitive results.
B elow are som e of the concerns besetting the S PED
program s w hich have been correspondingly addressed:
1. I n adequ ate S pecial E du cation S ervices T h rou g h ou t th e C ou n try
T able 1 (S ee A
nnex 1 ) show s the enrolm ent report of children w ith special needs in
schools nationw ide. S ince 1 9 9 4
or in a span of 6 years, there' s a steady increase in the
num ber of clients being served in schools. T
h is m ay b e attrib u ted to th e av ailab ility o f teachers train ed in sp ecial ed u catio n .
W h ile th ere is still a g oo d nu m ber of special
children w ho are unaccounted for, either they are out of school or in school bu t have

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 not been identified, som ehow it can be told that the S PED
program in the country is now a " m ilestone tow ards m aking a dream " .
T he im plem entation of the M agna C arta for D
isabled P ersons has strongly supported
th e p ossible im provem ent of th e delivery of special edu cation services.

2 . L im ited F acilities, M
aterials an d E q u ip m en t for S ystem atic an d S cien tific E arly
I d en tification an d S creen in g P roced u re
T his rem ains a draw back in som e of the public elem entary schools w ith S
PED program s. E xcept a handful of schools like the P hilippine S chool for the D
eaf (P S D ) w hich is one of the special sch oo ls in th e co un try. PS D
h as acq u ired a state o f th e art building from H ongkong- S hanghai B
anking C orporation equipped w ith m odern facilities
an d eq uipm en t w hich facilitates accurate and scientific screen in g pro cedu re fo r ea
rly id entificatio n o f children w ith h earin g p ro b lem s. I n the sam e m anner, from
th e p riv ate sector specifically S t. L ukes H ospital and the U niversity of S anto T
om asH o spital p ro v id e services like I nfant S creening as early as 2 days old.

3. E arly I n terven tion P rogram I s N ot S u fficien t

A n initiative has been undertaken by the S PED D ivision of the D
epartm ent of E ducation in collaboration w ith C hristoffel B linden-
m ission I nternational, an N G O in conducting T raining W
orkshops since 1 9 9 8 for S PED and regular teachers, social w orkers
an d p aren ts o f child ren w ith d isab ilities for th em
to be trained in the hom e teaching process using the P ortage G
uide to E arly I ntervention. E arly childhood care education
has b een our focus in recent y ears b y trainin g preschool regu lar teachers o n inclu si
ve ed ucatio n and early in tervention .
T heU niversity of the P hilippines - P hilippine G eneralH ospital( U P-PG H ),D
epartm ent of R ehabilitation M edicine and the R otary C lub of M anila S an M
iguel has put up a ho spital- based pre-
school building w here appropriate edu cational intervention is provid ed
by a teacher from the D ivision of C ity S chools, M an ila.
M o reo v er, th e p articip atio n o f th e p riv ate secto r is ev id en t. S t. F rancis K
- 6 I nclusive S chool, a private school in M etro M
anila w ith funding assistance from J apan E ar F oster
P arent provides early intervention program fo r child ren w ith sp ecial need s.

4. F ast T u rn -O ver of S pecial E du cation T each ers

A good num ber of S PED
train ed teach ers h as left th e serv ice in fav o r o f a b etter
pay offered by schools abroad. O r, som e easily get prom oted to hig her positions.
O ne w ay of holding back teachers from
leav in g th eir jo b s is to p ro v id e in cen tiv es and w elfare b enefits. T he D
epartm ent of E ducation issued D ECS O rder N o. 5 , s. 1 9 9 8
w h ich articu lates am on g o th ers the need to reclassify reg ular teach ers item s to sp e
cial education teachers' item s.

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 I n other w ords, salaries of regular teachers w ho are actually pro viding educatio
nal services to ch ildren w ith special needs are upgraded 3
grades higher than the salary grade th e teach er is receiv in g .

5. I m balance B etw een the D em and and S upply for S P E D -T rain ed P erson n el
I nstitutionalization of the S PED program
in regular schools w as m andated through D ECS O rder N o. 2 6 , s. 1 9 9 7 . T
his w as deem ed im portant to be able to address the
in creasing dem and of clients w ith special needs in th e lig ht o f the dearth o f trained S
PED teach ers. T
h ro ug h the d irective all scho ol d iv isio n s throu gh o ut the co un try are requ ired
to organize at least one S PED C enter in each school division.
R ecently, the S pecialE ducation D ivision in collaboration w ith C hristoffel B
lindenm ission
I nternational conducted training w orkshops by cluster regions in L uzon to train trai
ners
on in clu siv e edu catio n w h o w ill in tu rn tak e the ro le o f train in g the reg u lar teac
hers w ith in th eir lo calities. S im ilarly, other N G O
s like the R esources for the B lind, I nc. (R B
I ) , P hilippine F oundation for the R ehabilitation of the D isabled (P F R D ), K
atipunan ngM aykapansanan sa P ilipinas, I nc ( K A M P I ) and the P ersonnelM
anagers A sso ciatio n o f the P hilippines (P M A
P ) take active role in the exercise of capability building and preparing
o u r teachers especially th e reg ular teachers in h and lin g ch ild ren w ith sp ecial n eed s.

6. A ttitu d in a l B a rrie r
T
h is is th e w o rst b arrier an d con sid ered very critical esp ecially in th e im p lem en tation
of a viable and system atic special education program .
I nform ation dissem ination cam paigns and strengthening the advocacy program s thro
ugh
paren t edu cation , orientatio n session s w ith th e regu lar teach ers, sch oo l adm inistrat
o rs,
other school personnel, the students and the com m unity helped a lot in the gradual rem o
val o f th is b arrier.
R ecent developm ents show ed that the C om m ission on H
igher E ducation has directed all teach er-
train in g in stitu tio n s to o ffer in th e cu rricu lu m u n its in sp ecial ed u catio n . T h is
w ill en title each p rospective teacher g ain and equip him self/ herself the kno w ledge
and sk ills of h an dling child ren w ith sp ecial n eeds. T
he ro le of th e teach ers in ed u catin g all
 caregivers is crucial w h ich in th e p rocess w ill help reduce this m enace.

7. L ack of C oordin ation A m ong G overnm ent A g en cies in th e P rov ision of P rogram s an d
S ervices
W hile there are no consolidated efforts in com ing up a system atic program
from id en tificatio n to transitio n o f children w ith sp ecial need s b efore, this tim e th e D
epartm ent of S ocial W elfare and D
evelopm ent through the N ational C ouncil for the W elfare o f D
isabled P ersons (N C W D P ) has taken the lead role in this task. I nter-
agency m eetings
am ong departm ents of the governm ent are regularly held to thresh out issues and concer
ns

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 and m ap out plans for the benefit o f the m arginalized sector.

8. D earth of R esearch es an d S tu dies re C h ildren w ith S pecial N eeds

T
he field of special education has in recent years gained recognition am ong enthusiasts,
lik e teach ers and even p arents to em b ark into research an d furtherin g their stud ies alo
ng th e area o f sp ecial educatio n m o st esp ecially on inclusiv e educatio n. T
h is is a p o sitiv e
develop m en t in sp ecial ed ucation esp ecially w ith th e o ffering of special edu cation u n
its in th e cu rriculu m o f teach er- train in g in stitu tio n s o r in th e p re- service lev el. W
ith sp ecial
education as the chosen area, it is expected in a few years tim e w e w ill be generating
a good source of data w e can use in program developm ent and im provem ent.

IM P R O V ING QU A L IT Y A ND A CCESS IN SP EC IA L ED U CA T IO N
O
ur efforts are geared tow ards the intensification of m easures to en sure qu ality sp ecial edu cation .
A
s w e realize, the present tim e is characterized by enorm ous developm ent of inform ation technolo
gy that som ehow affects special education in the country .
C oncerted effo rts have focu sed on the iden tificatio n o f strategies. T
h ese strateg ies are seen
through som e initiatives that are likely to m eet the m any challenges and ever-
changing dem ands of the tim e.
F or the past tw o decades, the trend in the education of children w ith special needs is tow a
rds th e p ro m otion of in tegratio n an d p articip atio n as ag ain st seg reg atio n .
T
o help enhance participatio n rate am ong children w ith sp ecial needs, in clusive education h as
becom e the m ain thrust in the education of children w ith special needs in the P hilippines. T
h is is im plem ented through the organization of S PED
C enter as resource center in special needs education. A t present there are already 1 3 3 S PED
C enters throughout the country.
O ne m odel of inclusive education in the P hilippines is the m ainstream ing program . T
his can b e eith er p artial o r to tal. I ts operationalization is best exem plified in the S
pecial E ducation C enter
w here the C enter is part of the regular elem entary or secondary school. T
h e sh iftin g o f d isab led
children in the regular class becom es a part of th e school program becau se the child ren are alrea
dy w ithin the school O
perating o n the p rinciple of p lacem en t in the " least restrictive env iro nm en t"
the m ainstream ing program can be the P hilippine com m itm ent to inclusive education.
 T here are ap proaches identified to m ak e inclusive edu cation w ork in regular schools. T
hese approaches are as follow s:
1 . E stablishm ent of a S PED
C enter w hich w ill function as a R esource C enter to: 1 .1
support ch ildren w ith sp ecial needs enrolled in regular schoo ls'
1 .2 assist in the con du ct of in-
serv ice train ing s fo r regu lar teach ers, ad m in istrato rs an d prospective S PED
teachers;
1 .3
con d uct co ntin uous assessm en t o f children w ith disab ilities and th eir referral; an d
1 .4 p rodu ce approp riate teaching m aterials.

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 2 . I nform ation, D issem ination and E ducation
2.1

E xplanation o f the concepts o f integ rated education and inclusiv e scho ols to par
en ts and fam ily m em bers, adm inistrators, supervisors and the com m unity
2 .2 In-S ervice trainings in special needs education for all C lassroom ( R eceiving) T
eachers 2 .3
C ontinuo us orientation of the school personnel and pupils in inclusive schools

3 . S trengthening the S upport S ervices w hich include the follow ing:

3 .1 H iring of trained S PED teachers to serve as R esource T eacher/ I tinerant T
eacher/ C onsulting T eacher
3 .2 C ontinuous in- service training of S PED teachers and adm inistrators
3 .3
P ro v isio n o f sp ecialists like p h y sical th erapist, sp eech th erap ist an d o th er sp ecia
lists w henever available
3 .4 H iring of teacher- aides from trained parents, com m unity-
based rehabilitation w orkers,
com m unity volunteers and others w ith specialized trainings
3 .5
I m plem entation of the " buddy" system w here a trained classm ate can be paired
w ith a pup il w ho h as disab ility
3 .6 P rovisio ns of instructio nal m aterials, assistance dev ices an d essen tial equ ipm ent

4.
P arent and C om m unity I nvolvem e
nt 4 .1
P rovision of parent education
4 .2 I nvolving fam ilies, people w ith disabilities and the com m unity in the decision-
m aking process
4 .3 L inkage w ith other G os and N G O s w o rk ing fo r ch ild ren w ith d isab ilities

5 . U tilization of the T eam A pproach to M astery ( T

A M ) (D edeJ ohnston, W ill P roctor and S
usan C orey)
InT A M
classroo m s, stud ents w ith disabilities are edu cated alo ng side their no nd isabled
peers throughout the entire school day'
there is an average ratio of tw o nondisabled
ch ild ren to each ch ild w ith d isab ility .
S upporting the S PED C enters are other program s, nam ely:
 膜 S pecial D ay S
chools 膜 R esidential S
chools
膜 S
pecial E ducation C enters 膜

I tinerant T eaching P rogram

膜 R esource R oom P rogram
膜 H ospital S chools
T able 2 (A nnex 2 ) show s the existin g edu catio nal facilities for children w ith special need s.

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A LT ER NA T IV E M OD ELS
I n pursuance of our goals to the cause of inclusive education in the 2 1 st century som e altern
ative
m o dels in th e deliv ery of edu catio nal services for ch ildren w ith sp ecial needs are p ut in place
:
1.
T his program is presently undertaken by the N ational C ouncil for the W
elfare o f D isabled P ersons (N C W D P ) w ith funding assistance from
C hristoffel B lindenm ission I nternational ( C B M
I ) . I t has for its pilot project in P arapaque C ity, M etro M anila w hich
w ill h op efully end th is y ear.
A s an alternative delivery system , the approach of C B R
has w idely been recognized
and accepted as the m ost suitable and viable w ay of providing com prehensive rehabilit
ation serv ices an d eq u al op p o rtu n ities to th e m ajo rity o f p erso n s w ith d isabilities.
S im ilar efforts are undertaken by som e N G O s like S
im on of C yrene F oundation in the B icol R egion and R esources for the B
lind, I nc. in N ueva E cija.

2.
T his is one m odel of a com m unity-
based rehabilitation service, w here instruction takes place in the hom e.
R esource m aterials in the form of m odules are provided for
th e special child to w ork on.
P arents, parateachers or com m unity volunteers w ho w ill
act as facilitato rs are train ed to p ro v id e th e d eliv ery o f serv ices. T
h e facilitato r fo llo w s a system atic program of skills and guides. T
he ch ild w ill sequentially go th rough each task un til m astery is achiev ed .

3.
T
his is an instruction al d eliv ery sy stem w h ere th e ch ild w ith sp ecial n eeds is taug h t
particu lar skills in a natu ral settin g such as th e h om e o r an y co n v enien t p lace in t
he com m unity. T his serves as an outreach program of the S pecial E ducation D
iv isio n o f the D epartm ent of E ducation addressing the needs of out- of-
school handicapped children and youth ages 8 - 1 8 years old.
I t has a sp ecial feature o f accred itin g the clientele' s h om e stu dy in a reg ular sch
ool program o f th e p aren ts as th e clien tele d esire it. T
his is done by recom m ending the
child w ith special educational needs to take the P E P T
( P hilippine E ducational P lacem ent T est) after giving all the lessons for the C B S
 PED program . T h e resu lt o f th is test w ill
determ ine the grade placem ent of the child in the school.

4.
T
he ultim ate aim of education is to dev elop in the learner desirable k no w ledge, sk ills,
values an d attitud es that can effectively u sed to alleviate p ov erty an d im p ro v e the qu
ality o f life o f th e in d iv id u al. T hus, vocational program
is an im portant com ponent of the curriculu m fo r ch ild ren w ith special need s.
E ducational opportunities and other serv ices

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 are provided in order to m axim ize their potentials and becom e productive and im pr
ove th eir q u ality o f life, th u s ensurin g th eir in teg ratio n in th e m ain stream
o f so ciety .
I n the P hilippines, various vocational program s are designed to m eet diversified n
eeds of children w ith special n eeds. T
his m ay com e through apprenticeship program , sheltered w orkshops and the like.
F or students w ith m ental retardation, a vocational training program has been conce
ived as an alternative secondary program . M
entally retard ed ad olescents are equ ip ped in the
school w ith vocational skills and are recom m ended to train in the com m unity.

SPED PR OG RA M S A ND P R O J EC T S
I n o ur efforts to further en hance inclu siv e ed ucation , th e fo llow in g in itiatives are prese
n tly considered:

F or the governm ent to keep the quality of teachers and school adm inistrators and supervi
sors
fo r sp ecial ed ucation an d fo r in clusive ed u catio n it is bu t im p erative to p ro vid e th em cap ab
ility b uilding ex ercises:
A m ong those initiated by the S pecial E ducation D iv ision are the follow ing :
1 . S um m erT raining P rogram for T eachers of the H earing I m paired and the V
isually I m paired 2 . T raining W orkshop for T eachers of C hildren w ith M ental H
andicap
3 . S cholarship P rogram on O rganization, A dm inistration and S upervision in S
pecial E ducation (O ne sum m er and a five- m onth duration w ith a ten-
w eek practicum
4 . M obile T raining for T rainers in S PED
5 . T raining P rogram for T eachers in the S chool I ntegration of C hildren w ith A utism
6 . C om petence E nhancem ent of S PED
P ersonnel through N ational C onferences/ C ongresses
T able 3 (A
nnex 3 ) presents the num ber of teachers handling children w ith special needs. M
ajority o f th ese teach ers h av e receiv ed train in g in sp ecial ed u catio n .

O ne of the functions of the S pecial E ducation D

iv ision is to u nd ertak e stud ies n ecessary
fo r th e p rep aration of instruction al/ reso u rce m aterials for sp ecial ed ucatio n .
I t has designed the follow ing preparations:
1 . M aterials P roduction in B raille and in L arge P rint
T he P hilippine P rinting H ouse for the B lind (P P H B ) an attached office of the S
 PED
D iv isio n , p rep ares all tex tb o o k s in b raille an d in larg e p rin t. T
h ese m aterials are later
distrib uted to schools w ith organized classes for th e blind u p on requ est.
C losely helping the P P H B in this undertaking is the R esources for the B lind, I nc.
(R B I) an N G O , w hich
does m assive production of resou rce m aterials in braille th ro ugh th e use of com puter
s.

2 . D evelopm ent, F inalization and P rinting of H andbooks on:

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 2.1 I nclusive E ducation
2 .2 E ducating C hildren w ith L earning D
isa b ilitie s 2 .3 E ducating C hildren w ith B
ehavior P roblem s 2.4 S ocio-
R ecreational and S ports A c tiv itie s
2.5 L earning C om petencies for the G ifted (L C G ) and E nrichm ent M
aterials (E M ) for G rades I - I I I
E xceptfor N os. 2 .1
and 2 .5 , th e rest are still in the process of finalizatio n and p rinting .

T
o ensu re a baseline data for program develo pm ent, the follow ing in itiativ es are ventured
into :
1 . C urriculum R edirections for C hildren w ith S pecial N eeds
2 . I m pactof M odified C urriculum P rogram for S pecial L earners
3 . C om parative S tudy on the M arginal C om petencies of T rained and U ntrained A
d m in istrato rs in the I m plem entation of I nclusive E ducation
4 . D evelopm ent of P rogram M odels for C S
N s 4 .1 P rogram M odels for G
ifted L earners
4 .2 C om puter A ssisted I ntstructions ( C A I ) for the G
ifte d 4 .3 H eadstart P rogram for the G ifte d
4 .4 I ntegrated E ducation for W orking C hildren

M ultip licity of partn ership s and co llab o ratio n w ith go vern m ent agencies,
edu cation al in stitu tio n s, civics organizations and international agencies such as U
NES CO , U NIC E F , S EA M EO -INNO T ECH , P erkins S chool for the B lind, M
om busho S cholarship of J apan, N ational I nstitute for S pecial E ducation ( N I S E ),
C hristoffel B lindenm ission I nternationl (C B M I ), R esources for the B lind, I nc.
(R B I ) have indeed provided difference in the grow th of special
educatio n in the co untry.
M ost recent developm ent is the just concluded 1 5 h A sian C onference on M
ental R etardation w hich the P hilippines hosted a w eek ago. T
he C onference has provided a healthy forum for
F ilipino and foreign practitioners as w ell to netw ork and exchange ideas that w ould redou
nd
to the betterm ent an d im provem en t o f ed ucatio nal services for ch ild ren w ith special needs
.
FU T U R E CO NCERNS A ND PRO JECT S
A
s w e co ntin ue to strive for excellence in th e delivery o f ed ucation al serv ices, th e co ntin u in g
ch allen ge upon us is to provide the best to all children w ithin th e m ainstream
through highly
effective and innovative strategies in an enriched an d conducive learning en viron m ent.
R ecognizing the new
ag e o f ed u catio n, the follow ing strateg ies are iden tified to h o p efu lly
stim ulate the challeng es of th e tim es:

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 1. D evelopm ent of hom e-
based, com m unity based early intervention and other alternative
m eans of service delivery for ch ild ren w ith disabilities;
2. E d ucation of p arents an d fam ilies of children w ith disab ilities;
3. C onduct of positive attitude form ation program aim ed at non-
disabled persons in the
education system ( e.g. school authorities, teachers and students) to b reak stereo ty pin
g of p erso ns w ith disab ilities;
4. O
rg anizatio n of log istical su pp o rt ( e.g . tran sp ort and acco m m od atio n ) to facilitate t
he particip atio n of person s w ith d isab ilities in edu cation p rog ram s;
5. I ntroduction of parent-
teacher con sultative gro ups to assist schools in responding to
in d ivid ual ed ucation al n eeds o f ch ild ren w ith d isab ilities, as as to ensu re su ccessf
ul in tegration in ind ividu al cases;
6. G rad ual integration of sp ecial edu catio n in to m ain stream inclusive education ;
7. S
trengthening/ updatin g of training/ refresher pro gram for school teachers an d o ther scho
ol
p erso nn el to im p ro v e th eir cap ab ilities fo r d ev elo p in g th e fu ll p o ten tial o f stu d en ts w
ith d isab ilities;
8. D
issem ination of teacher resource m aterials for use of child ren w ith special learning needs;
9. O rganization o f add ition al sup po rt fo r reg ular classroo m teachers;
1 0.
R evision of procedures for the adm inistration of exam inations to enable children
and
adu lts w ith d isab ilities to o btain acad em ic q u alificatio n , in clud in g h ig h er ed u ca
tio n q ualificatio ns;
11. U
se of technolog y and organizations of services to im prove access to textbooks an
d reference m aterials in ap propriate fo rm ats; and
1 2. S tren gth en p artn ership an d co llab o ration in reg io n al an d in tern atio n al lev els.

T
ruly the presen t and the future w aves of tran sform ation brough t about by this era p lace us
at the advantage of bridging special education of y esterday and special education of tom orro
w. W
e, in education afterall, p repares tom o rrow ' s adults n ot o nly fo r a life of w o rk but also a life
of w orth.
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