Romeo*, father of a 22-year-old special needs student, has sacrificed his previous job to devote more time to care for his daughter. Once a real estate agent who drove himself to work every day, he now finds himself being his daughter’s personal driver as she attends a public high school in Makati. Their family’s main source of income is dependent on Romeo’s wife, who works as an elementary school teacher in the same school where their daughter had undergone the special education (SPED) program.

Due to the high tuition cost of private schools that implement SPED, Romeo has decided to rely on government schools. Here, his daughter’s education is free and inclusive of a school uniform, shoes, and school supplies.

However, the free public education that Romeo’s daughter receives also comes with its fair share of problems. The K-to-12 program applies the same lessons for both regular basic education schools and public SPED schools. The difference lies in SPED’s measures that cater specifically to special needs students.

Before the K-to-12 program was implemented, concerns regarding the proper training of teachers were brought up. Fourteen months prior to the program’s implementation, Senator Pia Cayetano expressed her unease at the lack of teachers being trained for the K-to-12 program. This lack of training combined with a shortage of instructors affects both students undergoing regular and special education—a problem that has plagued public education ever since.

In his daughter’s previous public elementary school, students both with and without special needs were known to have been handled in the same classrooms. Although the program aims to help integrate SPED students into the regular basic educational system, he noticed that the manner of instruction was inconsistent with the specific needs of each SPED child. His daughter’s teachers would also change indefinitely throughout the school year.

Romeo describes an incident wherein a teacher had not properly attended to a special needs student in his daughter’s mixed class. “The teacher failed to do anything for the student kasi ‘yung rason niya ay baka magwala ‘yung bata…Kulang sila sa training at tao (The teacher failed to do anything for the student because their reason was the child might lose control…They lack training as well as manpower),” he says.

Slow development

Before the recent improvements in SPED, many argued that the Department of Education (DepEd) still had “a long way to go” in developing the program. The main problem lies not in its curriculum, but in the lack of SPED centers, trained teachers, and funds to begin with. The need to support the education of students with special needs was only recognized in 1997 with the issuance of DepEd Order No. 26 s.

In addition, the Zero Reject Policy, which pushes schools to accept any child regardless of their conditions, was only implemented recently. Initially, this did not directly improve the reach for special needs students because most schools were not equipped with a SPED program.

DepEd then issued an order for the funding of SPED centers in 2012. At the time, only 2% of Filipino children with special needs were receiving government support. Because of this, the government allocated 56% more funds than they did in the past year for SPED.

As of 2014, 620 out of 34,000 public elementary schools are implementing a SPED program. Rappler reported that a shortage of trained teachers still persists, with only 6,000 teachers attending to 239,000 special needs students. With these statistics, Vice President Leni Robredo is now pushing for a law to be passed that would require every public school to have a SPED center.

By early 2018, A Special Place, the first residential community for those with autism will be built in Alfonso, Cavite. It also aims to accommodate people with other special needs, as well as their family members. The Association for Adults with Autism Philippines, which is spearheading the project, hopes that every member of the community will grow and receive both health and educational services.

Assessing improvements

Diane Villar is currently the Managing Director of Kids Can Do, Inc., a privately-owned SPED center that provides occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, and special education services. According to her, the state of SPED in the country has progressed through the years. “[This is] because of the increase in awareness in schools and personnel,” she explains.

Because of the increasing influx of students with learning disabilities, more awareness and consideration are needed to address special needs students and their education. “They now have a better understanding of the conditions. Schools can make use of their experience; for example, the local government in Pasig, Marikina, and others have included SPED and PWDs (persons with disabilities) in their budget[s] and programs,” she shares.

Since the start of the Duterte administration, DepEd has increased its efforts to provide higher quality and accessible education regardless of a student’s learning ability. Part of these efforts included the creation of the Special Curricular Programs and Student Inclusion, which focused on improving and planning programs that better cater to children with special needs.

Beyond schools and local government, Villar also notes that there are other organizations which rally and fight for the right of PWDs. She cites the Autism Society of the Philippines, the Down Syndrome Association, and the ADHD Society amongst others.

Despite this, she admits that there is still room for improvement with the current curriculum. Villar suggests introducing programs that would tackle life skills as well as vocational training for those who can be considered educable.

She also mentions the need for better classroom and material facilities, and stresses the need for more trained teachers who may help in understanding each child’s case and condition. According to her, the addition of more trained personnel would help in better “assess[ing] the student for proper placement.”

The need for more

When asked whether the current SPED program truly helps the development of a child with special needs, Villar remains hopeful. “As long as the program is in place, as long as the placement of the student is correct, [and] as long as the child has been properly identified and assessed [then the program can truly help their development],” she says.

She also mentions that for the SPED program to help a special needs child’s development, there must be equal action from the teachers and the child’s family. “Parent participation, school policies—that makes a big difference,” she says.

Such participation embodies itself in dedication that Romeo himself commits to his daughter’s education. He has made multiple Facebook groups to link parents to various SPED student resources and foster more discourse within their sector. Despite the aspects that sorely need improvement, he feels as though the school’s SPED program has helped his daughter in her transition into high school and still believes in the program’s future improvements.

*Names have been changed to protect the person’s identity.