Hi everyone, this is the last part of our introductory discussion on inclusion and inclusive education, and its focus is on the status of inclusive education in the Philippine setting. Even if the Philippines is one of the signatories in the EFA Framework of Action in 1990 in Jomtien, Thailand, as well as the Salamangka Statement in 1994, the Philippines is still at the surface level or beginning level in terms of implementing inclusive education. Further research and documentations about the implementation of inclusive education in the Philippines should be conducted. Thank you. According to MUEGA in 2016, basically the Philippines has an established policy on the implementation of inclusive education, but our country still battles with the issue of quality and the durability of the implementation.
When we compare it to the international status of the implementation of inclusive education, it is somewhat parallel or the same, since, again, we have a moderately good status in terms of the implementation of inclusive education. terms of policies but there is a key weakness in the implementation part inclusive education in the philippines is realized through learner-centered and context-responsive programs by the education system specifically efforts are being made by the department of education aside from the government efforts from non-government organizations are also visible the practice of inclusive education in the court is primarily inculcated through the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013. As a core principle of K-12, inclusive education promotes institutional sensitivity and responsiveness in terms of the nature, situation, and realities of the learners, which helps in the contextualization of instructional strategies and approaches that could accommodate all types of learners. To better understand the status of inclusive education in the Philippines, let us look at the following milestone declarations and laws that shaped our understanding and implementation of inclusive education.
The first one is in 1974, the PD-603 or the Child and Youth Welfare Code. This states that every effort should be exerted to promote children's welfare and enhance their opportunities for a useful and happy life. regardless of factors such as legitimacy or illegitimacy, sex, social status, religion, etc. The second one is the Education Act of 1982, which states that the state shall promote the right of every individual to relevant quality education regardless of sex, age, creed, socioeconomic status, and other affiliations. We also have the third one, the 1987 Philippine Constitution, specifically Article 14, which states that the state shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels.
The state should also take appropriate steps to make education accessible to all. This means encouraging non-formal, informal, and indigenous learning systems, as well as self-learning in the future. independent, and out-of-school study programs, particularly those that respond to community needs. The fourth one in 1992 is RA No. 7610, also known as the Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Neglect, Cruelty, Exploitation, and Discrimination.
This states that the state shall provide special protection to children from all forms of abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation, and discrimination, and other conditions that would affect their growth and development. The fifth one in 1997 is the Department Order No. 26, Series of 1997 by the Department of Education, also known as Institutionalization of Special Education Programs in All Schools. It states that all divisions shall organize at least one SPED center which will cater children with special needs.
All the programs organized are required to adopt the inclusive education concept or the different types of SPED programs suited to the needs of the learners. In the years of 1997, institutionalized SPED programs in all schools which supported the implementation of RA-7277 or the Mania Carta for Disabled Persons. The next one.
in the same year is RA No. 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples'Rights Act of 1997. This states that the state shall recognize and promote all the rights of indigenous cultural communities. or indigenous peoples. The state should also establish the necessary mechanism so that the rights of indigenous peoples are protected considering their customs, traditions, values, beliefs, etc. Aside from that, what I really want to emphasize about RAA 371 is that measures to protect the rights of indigenous peoples to their ancestral domains are established in this national way.
law as well the seventh one in 2000 is ra number 8980 also known as the early childhood care and development act of 2000 republic act number 8980 also known as early childhood care and development act of 2000 is a policy pushing forward shared governance to support early detection intervention or edi Early detection intervention is a mechanism that allows to support the growth and development of children in the critical early years of childhood. EDI is considered as a crucial part of the plan to achieve inclusive education. However, according to Manuel and Gregorio in 2011, challenges like weak enforcement, lack of political commitment, inadequate financing, and fragmentation of the education system are also a major challenge.
of service delivery are challenges that are faced in the local implementation of ECCD. The next one is in 2000, RA No. 9155 or the Governance of Basic Education Act. It states that the state shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality basic education and to make such education accessible to all. The government shall do that by giving free and compulsory education to all.
education in the basic education level which are elementary and high school levels. Aside from that, RA number 9155 also established alternative learning systems for out-of-school youths and adult learners. The ninth one in 2007 is RA number 9442 which amends RA number 7277, the manya card. for disabled persons.
In the Manyakarta for disabled persons, it is declared that persons with disabilities are part of the Philippine society. Thus, the government shall provide support for persons with disabilities to achieve their full improvement and total well-being including their integration into the mainstream society. It also states that persons with disabilities should live as freely and as independently as possible, thus establishing their inherent dignity and individual autonomy as parallel to the standard rules in the equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities and the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.
Aside from that, RA No. 9442 also states that the rights of persons with disabilities must as welfare services, and that the full realization of their rights should not only be the concern of the persons with disabilities, but also of their family members, the community where they belong to, and all government and non-government organizations. The next one, in 2009, is the Department Order No. 72, Series of 2009, entitled Inclusive Education as Strategy for Increasing Participation. rate of children.
In the Department Order No. 72 Series of 2009, the DepEd actually stated three kinds of inclusive education program placement options in the Philippines. We have full inclusion, partial inclusion, and self-contained in special education. As we all know, when we say full inclusion, it means that all children, despite of their requirements and interests and needs, receive their total education. within the regular classroom and then we have partial inclusion which we could say is parallel or synonymous with mainstreaming or integration and then we have self-contained in special education or the one which we could say is segregated or segregation. As you can see, this is what I am talking about when I said that a strategy for the improvement of the implementation of inclusive education is mainstream.
I said there that communities usually evolve from excluding persons with disabilities to segregating them to integrating them or mainstreaming them until we have the full inclusion. There are different reasons as to why that happens. And usually that is because of the different barriers or challenges that we face in terms of the implementation of inclusive education. In the Philippines, to be more specific, we have the following strategies approaches that we do in terms of the implementation of inclusive education programs these are enumerated in this graphic organizer which i found on the unesco 2021 sub-education policy review report inclusive education in the philippines the first one is self-contained or special class which is a separate class for only one type of exceptionality. Self-contained or special class usually involves moderate to severe types of disabilities.
The next one is itinerant teaching in which a traveling teacher reaches out to children with special needs in other schools or at home to provide direct and consultative services. Just like the self-contained or special classes, usually persons with moderate to severe types of disabilities are the ones that are included in this type of program. Next one, we have the resource room which is actually a facility.
It is a designated place where the child with special needs enrolled in the regular school program goes to in order to make use of the specialized equipment. Next is pull out in which this is a strategy wherein the person with disability enrolled in the regular class reports to the resource room. room for a period of time for special instructions by the SPED teacher. And then we also have integration or mainstreaming which refers to the enrollment of a child with special needs in a regular class with support services.
And the last one is inclusion in which we all know that all children with disabilities regardless of the nature and severity of their disabilities and need for related services receive their total education within the regular education classroom even if we have these different programs approaches and strategies in terms of the implementation of inclusive education in the philippines at this point in time there is still inadequate provisions and we are still lacking a definite process on how to really include children with disabilities in the general education setting. The next one in 2011 is RA number 10157 also known as the Kindergarten Education Act. This is actually aligned with the World Education Forum conducted in Dakar, Senegal in 2000 in which by 2015 we have to be able to achieve the education for all goals. Remember that one of the education for all goals is to expand and improve early childhood education.
And we all know that the Kindergarten Education Act aims to provide equal opportunities for all children to avail accessible, mandatory, and compulsory kindergarten education. Then the next one in 2012 is RA No. 10361, the Domestic Workers Act or Batas Kasambahay. This one is very interesting because it allows domestic workers the opportunity to finish basic school.
education through allowing access to alternative learning systems. And if possible, they are also allowed to pursue higher education or technical and vocational training. In this law, the employer should adjust the work schedule of the domestic worker so that access to the aforementioned education or training would be possible. But of course, without hindering the domestic workers from providing the service. required by their employers.
The next one is RA number 10410 also known as the Early Years Act. The Early Years Act is an important milestone law in inclusive education in the Philippines because it promoted the inclusion of children with special needs for example through the use of Filipino sign language as the visual language of the deaf community. Then we also have the next one which is RA number 10533 or the Enhanced Basic Education Act, also known to us as the K-12 Implementation Act. In this law, it is established that the state shall maintain and support a complete, adequate, and integrated system of education which is relevant to the needs of the people.
Aside from that, the National Basic Education Curriculum is required to be learner-centered, inclusive, developmentally appropriate, culturally sensitive, and should follow the framework for the mother tongue-based multilingual education. And it also must be flexible so that schools and instructors can localize and indigenize instruction depending on their community's context. Lastly, RA number 10533 also requires all Filipino teachers to do the best that they can in order to design inclusive classrooms where all learners would feel that they are accommodated and included. The next one is RA number 10665, also known as the Act Establishing the Open High School System. In this law, the state has broadened access to education through the Alternative Secondary Education Program that is evident right now in public high schools you will see there the integration of the open high school system this enables out-of-school youth as well as those children or individuals who have difficulties in terms of personal physical financial and etc to complete secondary education the next one in 2015 is the 2015 education The 2015 Educational Plan emphasizes the government's passion, commitment, and dedication to implement education for all and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and Millennium Development Goals in terms of education.
It also adopts the Inclusive Education Framework in a sense that it aims to do interventions and mechanisms to include working children. or working learners. Aside from that, it also aims to reach out to street children and their families so that they could be provided with basic education and even other basic services. Lastly, the 2015 education plan aimed to increase the number of special education classes integrated within the regular basic schools as well as the inclusion of persons with disabilities or learners with disabilities in existing regular classes. The next one in 2016 is RA 10931, also known as the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.
If you analyze it, RA 10931 is also aligned with achieving EFA goals since it emphasizes that all students should have the rights to quality education. at all levels. Thus, education starting from basic education until tertiary education including technical and vocational training have been made accessible to all.
And the last one and the one I am most excited about which is still not a law is the inclusive education bill, a senate bill that has passed the readings in 2021. So I am excited. for it to be passed as a law because when you look at the inclusive education bill, it ensures that no learner with disability shall be denied admission and inclusion in any public or private early or basic education school in the country. Aside from that, persons with disabilities are also given equitable educational opportunities and support services such as capacity building for them, for the students or for the persons with disabilities, their families or caregivers, and their teachers. Lastly, the Inclusive Education Bill also includes establishing inclusive learning resource centers in local government units.
in collaboration with the Department of Education. That ends our discussion on the milestone declarations and laws that somehow shaped our understanding and implementation of inclusive education in the Philippines. In the following slides, I will be showing additional information about the implementation of inclusive education in the Philippines. So first, let's start with the DepEd's inclusive education programs which involve programs for the gifted learners, programs for the learners with disabilities, the madrasa program, the indigenous people's education, and programs for learners under challenging circumstances.
program and the program for learners under challenging circumstances. First, the madrasa program involves a program that uses a curriculum where the teaching is based on Quran, Islam, and moral education. Basically, this is considered as a program that preserves the Islamic faith and culture in the Philippines. The next one, the program for learners under challenging circumstances involves strategies. on how to include learners such as street children, homeless children, orphaned or abandoned children, working children, and other types of difficult circumstances where children become excluded or underserved because of their difficult or challenging situations.
The next one is a program by Save the Children in the Philippines. Basically, Save the Children is an independent organization that helps children in different locations. Their program, Kasali, or Kabataang Aralin sa Lahat ay Ibahagi, is a project focusing on inclusive education. It includes children with disabilities who are 12 years old and below so that they could be provided with access to inclusive basic education programs and services.
They are partners with the government and other private institutions as well as other stakeholders. in the education system so that the CASALI project could become successful. Now let us move on to the challenges in the implementation of inclusive education.
The following are collated by different authors such as Muega in 2016, Rojas et al. in 2019, and Ragindine et al. in 2020, all of which can be seen on the UNESCO 2021 Sub-Education Policy Review Report. Inclusive Education in the Philippines The first challenge in the implementation of inclusive education in the Philippines are the views on the appreciation and value of inclusion in the Philippines, both in the national level and the local level. The mindset in terms of what is inclusion and why is it important is the key challenge in the implementation of inclusive education because the concept of inclusive education seemed to be novel. and new, and a field that is not fully understood by stakeholders like lawmakers or government officials, and even teachers and parents and the community members themselves. The next one is teacher training, specifically in general education or those of us who are not specializing in special education because we simply are not equipped with the knowledge and skills that are required for us to provide inclusive education instruction and for us to create inclusive classrooms.
Next is inadequate funds because as I have said on the previous discussion video, implementing inclusive education requires an overhaul of the education system. We have practices, materials, facilities that are not inclusive. So we really need a lot of funds if we really want to have a successful implementation of inclusive education. The next bullet is a set of things that we lack in terms of the implementation of inclusive education. We lack special education teachers, facilities for special care, special education classes, and appropriate resources.
And the last one is the inappropriate allocation of learning materials, which means that we are not really thinking about how to properly distribute the learning materials that we are developing. If we have developed learning materials, so so that our learning materials could be more inclusive. In line with those challenges, here are the proposed strategies in implementing inclusive education in the Philippines.
So you really just have to recommend solutions to resolve or somehow alleviate the challenges of the implementation of inclusive education. inclusive education in the philippines so first we should change the views on the appreciation and value of inclusion we should raise awareness about what inclusion is and why is it important and we should also make people understand how crucial inclusive education is to our present and future society. When we say people here, these are not only those that are part of the education system. It should include lay people because if we want to successfully implement inclusive education in the Philippines, our community or citizenry should first understand what it is, why is it important to have inclusive education? Is it important?
And what are the benefits that they could possibly get from it? As we all know, people usually fear, exclude, or discriminate the things that they do not understand fully. Next is improving teacher training, specifically in general education.
Basically, provide training in in-service teachers regarding how they should design and develop inclusive instruction, as well as how they should be able to provide the necessary training. well as how they could create inclusive classrooms. This is not solely reliant on teachers.
We should also involve school administrators because inclusive education should be a school-wide effort. Then, for teacher training for pre-service teachers, inclusive education should be inculcated in their curriculum as well as in their practice teaching and field study. So right now, you have this course, Foundations of Specialized Teachers.
and inclusive education. So obviously, we are at the entry or beginning level of this in the pre-service teacher training program. The next one, of course, is that we have to provide more funds, more sources or resources, and more support, both in local and national efforts of implementing inclusive education. And of course, I just want to specify, but this is a part of the additional resources.
I want to emphasize on learning materials because our learning materials right now in our education system is really not inclusive in general the society really just have to support all the efforts in implementing inclusive education I am saying the society because it includes us in the education system and all of the other stakeholders from the national to the local government units and including lay people or common citizens that ends our first lesson or our introductory lesson in inclusion and inclusive education As a generalization, your task or your activity number one is to develop a poster with a slogan that represents your answer to this question. As a BSE student, what is your role in promoting and expanding the implementation of inclusive education in the Philippines? You can answer this in a way where you can say the ways on how you can help in the promotion and expansion of inclusive education in the Philippines. Thank you. Your poster could be digital or traditional.
In terms of the other details regarding this activity, you will see this on the activity sheet that will be distributed next week. That would be all for this lesson's discussion. I hope that you were able to understand all that has been discussed and that you were able to achieve 85% proficiency on the enumerated learning objectives for this lesson. Thank you so much and have a great day! Thank you.