Monday, February 18, 2008 Editorial: Lifting disability bias
NOWHERE is a school’s impact more felt than in the area of inclusive education for persons with disability (PWDs).
Lifting the shutters of ignorance and bias, schools open doors for PWDs and their families. Special education (Sped) teachers evaluate the literacy needs of the differently abled child, provide the functional education to improve his or her participation in society, and link with nongovernment organizations (NGOs) that facilitate integration beyond the academe.
But schools are also influential in getting the rest of the studentry and their families to understand and empathize with PWDs.
Delia Miñoza, Sped coordinator of the Mandaue City Central School, recalls how PWDs received in the late 1980s a treatment far different from the one they receive now that the Department of Education (DepEd) has institutionalized disability-inclusive education.
Before the widespread recognition of the needs of slow learners and students with learning and other forms of disability, special students were often blamed as laggards purposely adding to the workload of teachers or disrupting classes with erratic behavior or poor self-discipline.
Miñoza recalled that many students spat, teased and baited differently abled students who became unruly or hyperactive when the lessons could not hold their attention. Because of disruptions and other classroom incidents, many parents of regular students complained to teachers or administrators that the inclusion of PWDs posed as hindrances, even threats, to their children’s learning or safety.
Access
Through the passage of Batas Pambansa 232, or the “Special Education Act of 1982,” the state provides for access of education for all, regardless of physical and mental condition.
In schoolyear 2004-05, the Sped programs carried out by special schools, Sped centers, regular schools with Sped programs, and special classes served the needs of 156,270 children with special needs. According to www.deped.gov.ph, 49 percent or 77,152 of these students are mentally gifted or fast learners.
The remaining 79,118 (51 percent) are students with disabilities. The learning disabled are the most numerous at 40,260, followed by the mentally slow, the hearing impaired, autistic children, students with behavioral problems, visually impaired, speech-defective, orthopedically handicapped, chronically ill, and children with cerebral palsy.
According to the DepEd Cebu City Division, Sped services were initiated by the Zapatera Sped Center in 1975. Self-contained classes, as well as mainstreaming and inclusion in regular classes, are availed of by 244 students classified as mentally challenged, hearing impaired, visually impaired, multi-level handicapped, as well as those having cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome and autism. Of this population, 21 Sped adults are undertaking transition class for possible employment and assimilation outside the academe.
The Cebu City Division Sped data for schoolyear 2007-2008 also notes that, aside from Zapatera, there are six other public schools offering either Sped Centers or classes. The Labangon Sped Center has 16 hearing-impaired enrollees while the San Nicolas Sped Center serves 54 students with various disabilities. Sped classes are offered at the Bulacao Community School and Barrio Luz Elementary School.
Aside from a Sped class, the Don V. Rama Memorial National High School has nine mentally challenged adults enrolled in a transition class. For 84 hearing-impaired students, self-contained classes are offered at the First High School for the Hearing Impaired, opened in 1982.
Advocacy
The exodus of teachers, specially those with Sped training, has affected the government’s thrust for disability-inclusive education. Miñoza notes that the ideal ratio should be one teacher for 10-15 students in a Sped class to address the demands of special learning. This is compounded by the limited number of Sped teacher items in many schools’ plantilla.
While Sped trainings are given annually to administrators, Miñoza observes that personal will can also ensure that the trainings are re-echoed down the ranks of the teaching and administrative staff. Continuing education can upgrade Sped teachers’ techniques in working with students having disabilities. But Sped enhancement programs can also help regular teachers, as well as their students, ensure the success of inclusive education by extending the most basic of all: empathy and support for PWDs.
