By Jan Arcilla, Manila Times, 9 Jan 2020
STATE think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) urged the government to take several measures to make education more accessible to persons with disabilities (PWDs).
In a statement, PIDS identified the lack of transportation, basic facilities and infrastructures as major challenges in providing education to PWDs.
A study of PIDS coauthored by Adrian Agbon and Christian Mina revealed the need of the government to provide mobile special education (SPED) schools especially in far-flung areas.
They urged the government to initiate more activities and programs that will increase awareness about PWDs, enhance the Alternative Learning System (ALS), and put up more SPED facilities that cater to all types of disabilities by tapping local government units (LGUs) in providing regular venues for ALS classes.
Agbon and Mina also suggested strengthening the training programs specific to handling pupils/students with special needs as part of the retooling of teachers.
Likewise, the authors also proposed the “development of learning modules on basic health care and entrepreneurial skills,” noting that this can be done by Department of Education (DepEd) in partnership with the Department of Health and the Department of Social Welfare and Development-Area Vocational Training Center, and with the help of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
Meanwhile, a related study of Save the Children Philippines (SCP) disclosed the barriers that hinder teachers of children with disabilities from using inclusive education strategies in the classroom.
Sierra Mae Paraan, basic education technical adviser of SCP, noted that barriers include the teachers’ lack of knowledge or proficiency in sign language, inappropriate student group size, poor classroom management manifested through inadequate pacing, inadequate use of materials, lack of instructional dialogue, absence of safe learning environments for children with disabilities, and insufficient budget for inclusive education.
Paraan presented the study at a research forum organized by SCP and PIDS in support of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities as part of SCP’s Kabataang-Aralin Sa Lahat Ay Ibahagi (Kasali) Program.
The study included six schools and six Early Childhood Care and Development centers in Metro Manila, with interviews and focus group discussions conducted among teachers, parents and officials of the schools, DepEd, and LGUs from June 2017 to January 2018.
Paraan revealed that prior to the trainings provided by the Kasali Program, teachers who handled children with disabilities were unaware that some of their practices are considered forms of discrimination, such as “labeling children or grouping them by ability all the time.”
“Some parents, teachers and education officials [still] hold a negative perception of children with disabilities… [They] continue [to perceive them] as a curse or their respective disability as contagious,” Paraan said.
Paraan said some parents would unintentionally discriminate their children by choosing to conceal their children’s physical disability or enrolling their kids in a normal school in an attempt to “normalize” them.
The study also found that parents prefer to enroll their children in SPED centers due to concerns over bullying and the capacity of schools and teachers to provide the needs of their children.
DepEd, together with the Resources for the Blind Inc. and the United States Agency for International Development, recently launched the Gabay Project for children with special needs.
The project aims to increase access to quality education of children with sensory impairment for the attainment of improved education and literacy outcomes through early detection, instruction, and support for the blind, deaf, and deaf-blind children.
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