In its commitment to pursue the inalienable right of children with disabilities to education, the Department of Education Divisions of Negros Oriental and Dumaguete City have pursued anew for the inclusion of differently abled children in the regular schools. As the school year both for private and public schools end soon, this move sets the tone in preparation for another forthcoming school year in August.
Inclusive education or “inclusive learning” refers to the inclusion and teaching of all children in formal or non-formal learning environments without regard to gender, physical, intellectual, social, emotional, linguistic, cultural, religious, or other characteristics. In the case of children with disabilities, it refers to a system of education in which all pupils with special educational needs are enrolled in ordinary classes in the regular schools, and are provided with support services and an education based on their forces and needs.
Special Education, on the other hand, is the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials, accessible settings, and other interventions designed to help learners with special needs achieve the greatest possible personal self-sufficiency and success in school and community. It commonly takes place in a self-contained environment where all children with special needs are educated together.
“There is this widespread notion that children with disabilities will delay the progress of the whole class in general. In our experience with our children-beneficiaries who have been placed in regular schools, this is largely a myth,” states Rolando Villamero Jr., coordinator of the Process of Inclusive Education (PIE), a sub-program of CHILD, a GPRehab-implemented children’s rehabilitation project in the Metro Dumaguete area. “Teachers, parents, and the other students have all been affected positively in having a child with a disability in the same classroom,” Villamero shares.
“The child tries to cope with the class lessons while developing his social skills,” he adds. “Moreover, it teaches everyone, especially the other children, the values of kindness, concern and in helping others.”
Under CHILD’s PIE sub-program, 45 children have been placed in the regular schools since 2005. These children have been provided with the necessary support such as tutorials and therapies and have been constantly monitored through support group meetings involving the PIE coordinator, teachers, and parents.
“The strongest practical argument for Inclusive Education is that since Special Education Centers are located in the town centers, these locations automatically exclude children with disabilities whose families could not afford to pay for their transportation,” says Analou Suan, project director of CHILD. “Because of this, the education system is missing out on a number of children who could have had a productive life had they been given access to education,” she continues.
Divisions of Negros Oriental and Dumaguete City will conduct school and home visits in order to encourage and support children with disabilities, as well as provide trainings for teachers in order to improve their competencies in handling these children.
“Teacher training plays a very crucial role in the acceptance of Inclusive Education,” Suan states further. “Central to this is the awareness that there is a whole disability spectrum ranging from mild to moderate to severe. In Inclusive Education, the term differently-abled takes on a more holistic meaning, referring to all children who have different abilities, different capacities, and different styles of learning.”
A trailblazing approach to inclusive education, this is a worthwhile endeavor as it is a partnership between the private and the government sectors. Education, after all, has always been at the forefront of nation building, which includes the amelioration of the plight of all citizens. Education, too, is a right, not a privilege accorded only to the few. Students and pupils with special needs have also been taken into consideration that they should become part of mainstream schools. Already, the new curriculum for the baccalaureate degree for elementary and secondary education includes a specialization on special needs. – NWI
