State Of Special Education In The Phili
State of Special Education in the Philippines
With the “zero reject” policy, any parent can enroll their children in public schools – even SPED pupils. Unfortunately, not all public schools in the country has a SPED center, or at least a SPED program.
“Every school should have a program for SPED, kasi lahat ng bata, makikita mo sa lahat ng eskwelahan ,” Department of Education (DepEd) SPED division chief Mirla Olores.
Citing an estimate from the World Health Organization, Olores said children with special needs comprise 15% of the population in a given community. Back in 2012, they were estimated to be more or less 13% of the country 's youth and children, with only 2% receiving government support. But today, only 416 SPED centers nationwide are funded by the government, with 4 more waiting for recognition. Aside from this, Olores estimated around 200 public schools offer a SPED program, but without a center. That is 620 out of 34,000 public elementary schools nationwide – a long way to go, obviously, for special education in the Philippines.
Based on enrollment alone, there are 239,000 SPED pupils in public elementary schools today, and only 6,000 pure SPED teacher-items. But since the ultimate goal of special education is the child 's integration or “mainstreaming” into regular school – and eventually, in the community – Olores said every teacher should have an orientation in special education. “What teachers call stupidity is actually a specific disability. As the teacher writes on the board, and the letters seem to be dancing for the child with reading disability, the teacher might brand him as stupid. That is why all teachers must know SPED.” she said.
The Department of Education (DepEd) said it wants to achieve a similar feat of effectively honing students with special needs. In a statement, Education Secretary Armin Luistro announced the government has hiked its budget subsidy for special children or those with learning disabilities. For the new school
With the “zero reject” policy, any parent can enroll their children in public schools – even SPED pupils. Unfortunately, not all public schools in the country has a SPED center, or at least a SPED program.
“Every school should have a program for SPED, kasi lahat ng bata, makikita mo sa lahat ng eskwelahan ,” Department of Education (DepEd) SPED division chief Mirla Olores.
Citing an estimate from the World Health Organization, Olores said children with special needs comprise 15% of the population in a given community. Back in 2012, they were estimated to be more or less 13% of the country 's youth and children, with only 2% receiving government support. But today, only 416 SPED centers nationwide are funded by the government, with 4 more waiting for recognition. Aside from this, Olores estimated around 200 public schools offer a SPED program, but without a center. That is 620 out of 34,000 public elementary schools nationwide – a long way to go, obviously, for special education in the Philippines.
Based on enrollment alone, there are 239,000 SPED pupils in public elementary schools today, and only 6,000 pure SPED teacher-items. But since the ultimate goal of special education is the child 's integration or “mainstreaming” into regular school – and eventually, in the community – Olores said every teacher should have an orientation in special education. “What teachers call stupidity is actually a specific disability. As the teacher writes on the board, and the letters seem to be dancing for the child with reading disability, the teacher might brand him as stupid. That is why all teachers must know SPED.” she said.
The Department of Education (DepEd) said it wants to achieve a similar feat of effectively honing students with special needs. In a statement, Education Secretary Armin Luistro announced the government has hiked its budget subsidy for special children or those with learning disabilities. For the new school
References: http://www.rappler.com/nation/3523-special-kids-get-higher-deped-budget http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/issues/education/51277-long-way-special-education http://www.rappler.com/business/62189-provinces-low-revenues-education-services