Press Release
May 3, 2017

Senate tackles bill providing free education for children with special needs

Senate Committee on Education has tackled on Wednesday a proposed measure guaranteeing free education for children with "special educational needs" filed by Senator Joel Villanueva.

Senate Bill No. 1298 or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2016 aims to implement "zero-reject policy" in public schools as the bill mandates all public schools in the country to have their own SPED center and program.

The bill also seeks to provide these public schools additional resources for special education including the establishment of SPED centers, hiring of SPED teachers and other SPED services.

"Isa po sa mga adhikain ng batas na ito ang tanggalin ang diskriminasyon sa mga batang may kapansanan. Kung walang facilities at SPED teachers ang ating mga paaralan, diskriminasyon na po ito," the senator said adding that all kinds of students, regardless of their status or disabilities, must be in school.

To date, there are 34,000 public schools in the Philippines but only 600 of them have SPED centers and SPED programs.

In a study conducted by the World Health Organization, it says that 15% of the population in a community has special needs but only 2% of which is being given government support.

"Marami kasing magulang ang hinahayaan na lang sa bahay ang kanilang mga anak na may kapansanan. Hindi naman po natin sila masisisi dahil magastos po talaga kung dadalhin sila sa mga pribadong paaralan na may SPED programs o kaya para makakuha ng serbisyo sa mga propesyunal tulad ng psychologist, occupational, physical, speech at behavioral therapists," the senator further shared.

In the bill, parental consent must first be given before the conduct of initial evaluation on a child with special educational needs and the use of an "Individual Education Program" or I.E.P. which is a unique curriculum designed for a specific disability.

Autism, intellectual disability, developmental delay, orthopedic impairments, deaf, and blindness are among the disabilities covered by the measure.

The proposed measure also aims to strengthen "mainstreaming" in schools that incorporates children with special needs in regular classrooms.

This can be done through a skills upgrade of teachers, increase of SPED facilities and improvement of SPED programs.

"Naniniwala po tayo, at marami ring scientific studies ang nagsasabi na hanggat maaari, ang mga batang may kapansanan ay dapat nakahalo sa mga regular general education classrooms o iyong tinatawag natin na "mainstreaming," the senator stressed.

Villanueva, however, clarified that it would still be the parents' call to subject their children to the said program.

"Magbibigay daan po ang panukalang ito para maunawaan nating lahat ang sitwasyon ng ating mga mamamayan na may iba't ibang kapansanan at kasabay nito ay mabigyang respeto at pang-unawa ang mga indibidwal na may kapansanan," Villanueva said.

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