Cassandra O.

Nuñez August 3, 2019

+639488040181

Learnings of the week No. 4

The three significant learnings I got from the week’s session are first the chronology of
events in special education in the Philippines, SPED in the Philippines started in 1908 where the
school for the deaf (in Harrison, Pasay City) was established and marked the official government
recognition of its obligations towards the education of the handicapped children, second the
different policy and legislations of SPED which is very helpful to each one of us and third the
different Alternative Educational Models for children with Special Needs Alternative
education encompasses many pedagogical approaches differing from mainstream pedagogy.
Such alternative learning environments may be found within state, charter, and independent
schools as well as home-based learning environments. Many educational alternatives emphasize
small class sizes, close relationships between students and teachers and a sense of community.
The growth of special education in the Philippines has been given a relatively good support all
these years both by the government, non-government organizations and stakeholders in response
to the needs and challenges of the times. The level of awareness of both the government and the
private sector in providing equal opportunities to children with special needs have considerably
increased. One positive development in special education is the implementation of Republic Act
7277, otherwise known as the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons, an Act providing for the
rehabilitation, self-development and self-reliance of disabled persons and their integration into
the mainstream of society. In support of this legislation, the Department of Education has
directed all school divisions in the country to establish Special Education Centers to help provide
effective delivery of special education services nationwide. Although special education in the
country started 94 years ago, in many respects, the demands and needs of this program have not
changed. The advent of the 21st century requires new perspectives and directions in special
education to meet the needs of the disadvantaged children against the persistent challenges and
demands of the new millennium.
 A good number of SPED trained teachers has left the service in favor of a better pay
offered by schools abroad. Or, some easily get promoted to higher positions. One way of holding
back teachers from leaving their jobs is to provide incentives and welfare benefits. The
Department of Education issued DECS Order No. 5, s. 1998 which articulates among others the
need to reclassify regular teacher’s items to special education teachers' items. In other words,
salaries of regular teachers who are actually providing educational services to children with
special needs are upgraded 3 grades higher than the salary grade the teacher is receiving.
Institutionalization of the SPED program in regular schools was mandated through DECS Order
No. 26, s. 1997. This was deemed important to be able to address the increasing demand of
clients with special needs in the light of the dearth of trained SPED teachers. Through the
directive all school divisions throughout the country are required to organize at least one SPED
Center in each school division. Recently, the Special Education Division in collaboration with
Christoffel Blindenmission International conducted training workshops by cluster regions in
Luzon to train trainers on inclusive education who will in turn take the role of training the
regular teachers within their localities. Similarly, other NGOs like the Resources for the Blind,
Inc. (RBI), Philippine Foundation for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled (PFRD), Katipunan ng
Maykapansanan sa Pilipinas, Inc (KAMPI) and the Personnel Managers Association of the
Philippines (PMAP) take active role in the exercise of capability building and preparing our
teachers especially the regular teachers in handling children with special needs.

Special education is important because children with special needs have equal rights to
education. In fact, this is why schools with special education programs teach students so they can
receive the education they deserve!

Often students with disabilities are looked down by people in society and it is wrong. Special
education in schools is designed to bring out the best in students thereby empowering them and
encouraging them to learn more. It is said that being a teacher usually constitutes a very lonely
job. However, SPED teachers have their own community to work with. They are a well-
connected group and usually take inputs from each other on different matters pertaining to the
classroom. This gives them an edge over other teachers who often find it difficult to consult their
peers in times of needs. By knowing how others are handling and dealing with a similar
situation, they can apply the same methodology to their own classroom and expect good results
in the process. This can prove valuable in tricky situations where the reputation of the institute
may otherwise be brought into question.

The need to expand access to welfare and education of children with mental retardation
and other disabilities take on a sense of urgency as evidenced by an increasing public awareness
and concern for them. This development may be attributed to the strong advocacy role assumed
by the parents and to the several laws enacted in the last decades. Vital among such recent
legislations is the Republic Act 7277 or the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons, an act providing
for the rehabilitation, self-development and self-reliance of disabled persons and their integration
into the mainstream society and for other purposes. This act is replete with opportunities for
people with disabilities to access services of government and non government. The
implementation of “Biwako Millennium Framework for Action Towards an Inclusive, Barrier-
Free and Rights Based Society for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific” provides for
regional policy recommendations for action by Governments in the region and concerned
stakeholders to achieve an inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society for persons with
disability in the new decade 2003-2012. This legal document further raised public awareness
regarding children with disabilities that eventually resulted in propelling both the government
and non government organizations into actions. In consonance with this, the Office of the
President issued the Presidential Proclamation No. 240, declaring the period 2003-2012 as the
Philippine Decade of Persons with Disabilities. Consequently Executive Order No. 417 dated
March 22, 2005, was issued by the President instructing all heads of departments, chiefs of
bureaus, offices, agencies and instrumentalities of the national government, and local
government units to implement plans, programs and activities towards the development of
persons with disabilities. Special education started in the Philippines is now celebrating its
millennium having started in the Philippines 1907 with the establishment of the Insular School
for the Deaf and the Blind, a residential school located in Pasay City, Metro Manila by M. Delia
Delight Rice, an American educator. This was later reorganized in 1970 into two separate
government special schools: the Philippine National School for the Blind, and the Philippine
School for the Deaf. Other government and private special schools based on categorical
disabilities were also set up. Special schools were first set up for people with: mental retardation
and physical disabilities in 1927, cerebral palsy in 1953, and behavior problems and chronic
illness in 1962. Such schools were few and private special schools were economically not
accessible to many people with disabilities. Moreover, there was some social stigma attached to
attending special rather than regular schools. In 1956, a more formal training of teachers for
children with mental retardation, hearing impairment and visual impairment was offered at
Baguio Vacation Normal School. In 1957, the Bureau of Public Schools (BPS) of the
Department of Education and Culture (DEC) created the Special Education Section of the
Special Subjects and Services Division. The inclusion of special education in the structure of
DEC provided the impetus of the development of special education in all regions of the country.
The components of the special education program included legislation, teacher training, census
of exceptional children and youth in schools and the community, the integration of children with
disabilities in regular classes, rehabilitation of residential and special schools and materials
production. Growing social concern for the welfare and integration of people with disabilities
voiced by parents and advocates including legislations led to the enactment of Republic Act 5250
which established a ten-year training program for teachers in 1968 and led to the admission of
children with disabilities into regular public schools. However, without appropriate school and
parental support, these children had difficulty coping with the regular classes and soon dropped
out of school. To date, enrollment (SY 2006-2007) of children with disabilities recorded a total
of 162,858 served by the various programs below.