Proposed Philippine Educational

Center for Child Development

The first step for the development of your child speciabilities

CHAPTER 1 : THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

1.1 INTRODUCTION / BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Every child is entitled to receive the basic necessity of life to survive in the world.
This includes the shelter, food and clothing. The same goes to education. Every child
has the right to go to school and special children are not an exemption. They need
education that is different from ordinary children. They need special programs that can
enhance their mental and physical condition to meet their needs and be beneficial to
both their family and our community. Establishing special education centers to meet
this needs and to provide a more accessible service for children are a priority in the
awareness for children and youth with exceptional conditions.
In the early history of the Philippines, children with special needs usually are
locked up in houses and sometimes they are not even seen by proper specialists.
Especially in the local regions and provinces that are not financially capable in
establishing and maintaining health care and educational facilities. Parents in earlier
times usually denies their child to have a special child. But not all parents take on that
idea, they assume sometimes that being a special child is a lucky charm. Filipinos
often stigmatized children with special needs. They usually refer to them as abnormal.
Even children who are disabled but competitively smart and intelligent.
For a broader concept of Special Education, Special Education or special needs
education is the practice of educating students with special needs and disabilities in a
way that addresses their individual differences, conditions, and needs. Special
Education is a process that systematize a different approach to teaching methods and
procedures, aiming to a more accessible settings, equipment, and materials to special
children. One of the laws that support special education is Article 1, Section 5 of Child
and Youth Welfare Code (PD No. 603). It states that the goal of special education is
the integration of mainstreaming of learners with special needs into regular school
system and eventually in the community. It teaches them to cope and survive the daily
hindrance of living in a community and also prepares them to a more regular
environment.

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CHAPTER 1 : THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
History relays that the Philippines started special education in 1907, where
areas it is a school for the deaf and blind and was built in Harrison, Pasay City. It
marked the official government recognition and obligation in promoting towards the
education of handicapped children. But through the years, awareness for children with
special conditions and disabilities are still scarce enough.
According to UNICEF Philippines, census data indicates that 2.9% of the Filipino
Population has or have some form of disability. Vision-related disabilities recorded
highest at 50 per cent, followed by motor-related and mental (both at 14%), and hearing
(13%). Lacking proper information and recognition on these statistics are oftentimes
lead the government to be ignorant of the importance of these census and therefore
cut off from forming proper facilities, social services and legal protections which are
crucial in the development of Special Education Programs. As a quote to UNICEF
Philippines, Their marginalization only increases with discrimination.
The SPED Division of the Department of Education estimates that 12% of the
children population in the country have special needs; 2% are gifted while 10% are
those with disabilities. Over all there are only 2,105 schools offering SPED programs.
The alarming note here is that most children diagnosed to have special conditions who
were enrolled in a school with SPED programs are likely to be rich or in a family of
middle wage earners. Those who are in the margins of poverty tend to overlook their
childs condition since they cannot afford the tuition fees and following health check-up
and consultations.
But those families who want their child to be enrolled in SPED programs
sometimes doesnt know what their childs condition. Specialists who identifies and
recognizes their conditions are somewhat unaffordable and oftentimes the parents just
loses hope in ever finding what is the proper way in coping for their childs disability.

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1.3 PROJECT GOAL
To establish an educational center that can be an educational institute, a
physical and therapeutic environment for children diagnosed with special conditions.
To achieve a center beyond education, a place to help children and their parents in
learning to understand what is their childs mental to physical conditions. To become a
training ground for people who want to understand how the mechanism of special
education truly works.
1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
To provide information and instill awareness to people in regards to SPED
programs and what are the benefits a child can achieve on the program.
To identify what steps a parent can do to ensure the correct assessment of their
children and how can they acknowledge their conditions.
To establish a working ground and basis for educational centers to improve
more in achieving the best possible ways to the development of children with
disability.
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The study aims to establish the best environment for the different needs of
children with different classification of conditions. Either to further the childs
educational attainment, promote physical wellness and well-being of both the child and
their family or to oversee the capabilities of the child in facing real world environment.
1.6 SCOPE AND DELIMINATIONS OF THE STUDY
The study will focus on the awareness of SPED programs, children with
disability assessments. To deliver an understanding in the correct and proper
identification of the childs disabilities. Maximize innovative and modern design in the
learning potential of the children. Present ways through materials and utilization of
proper planning of spaces to aid the different needs of children with different conditions.
Lastly to standardize non-traditional classroom set-up that is beneficial not only in the
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CHAPTER 1 : THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

leaning aspect but to the health and physical conditions of children as well and allow
room for the child to progress to shape his or her personality in his or her own pace.
1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS, ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
Abnormal deviating from what is normal or usual, typically in a way that is
undesirable or worrying.
Condition - the circumstances affecting the way in which people live or work,
especially with regard to their safety or well-being.
Disability - a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements,
senses, or activities.
Discrimination - the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of
people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex.
Educational Center / Centre - is that which refers to the place where people
gather or congregate for a particular purpose.
Education is the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of
knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits.
Special Education - is a form of learning provided to students with exceptional
needs, such as students with learning disabilities or mental challenges.
DepEd Department of Education
PD Presidential Decree
SPED Special Education
UNICEF - United Nations International Children's Emergency

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CHAPTER 2 : CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

2.1 RELATER LITERATURE AND STUDIES
2.1.1 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1.1.1 FOREIGN
Inclusion In The Classroom: Has It Gone Too Far?
Article by Sharon Cromwell
Education World
Copyright 2004 Education World
Inclusion of all children with disabilities in regular classrooms seems to be the
law of the land. But is it the right thing for all kids? And how are teachers
handling it?
Inclusion -- the idea that all children, including those with disabilities, should and
can learn in a regular classroom -- has taken firm root in many school systems,
although it is not specifically required by law.
To oppose inclusion would seem to advocate exclusion. Yet, some observers
maintain that full inclusion isn't always the best way to meet student needs. Critics of
full inclusion ask whether even students with the most severe disabilities benefit from
placement in regular classrooms.
Further, some outgrowths of inclusion involve rethinking the structure of the
regular classroom. Inclusive classes may require more than one teacher. And teachers
and students may need specific technology to help students with disabilities perform
better.
While few educators oppose inclusion completely, some express reservations
about how full inclusion works in the classroom. Albert Shanker, writing for the
American Federation of Teachers in 1996 in "Where We Stand," asserted, "What full
inclusionists don't see is that children with disabilities are individuals with differing
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CHAPTER 2 : CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

needs; some benefit from inclusion and others do not. Full inclusionists don't see that
medically fragile children and children with severe behavioral disorders are more likely
to be harmed than helped when they are placed in regular classrooms where teachers
do not have the highly specialized training to deal with their needs."
NOT QUITE UP-TO-DATE
What appears to be a major in hurdle in the path to finding the proper method
for inclusion is the fact that very few major policy making groups have addressed the
issue in decades. The National Education Association (NEA) the largest and most
powerful teachers' union displays its official stance on the topic which the group
approved in 1994.
Groups with a more narrow purpose are only slightly more current with thier
information. Both Kids Together and the National Dissemination Cetner for Children
with Disabilities offer resources from February 2010.
While the debate is still in the forefront of the industry and the arguments made
in the remainder of this article are valid, it is clear that the discussion has become stale.
ENDORSING 'FULL INCLUSION'
In contrast, the National Association for State Boards of Education (NASBE)
strongly endorses the "full inclusion" of students with disabilities in regular classrooms.
In 1992, NASBE released a report titled "Winners All: A Call for Inclusive Schools." The
report called on states to revise teacher-licensure and certification rules so that new
teachers would be prepared to teach children with disabilities as well as those without
disabilities. It also recommended training programs to help special educators and
regular educators adapt to collaborating in the classroom. Another organization that
has approved a resolution supporting inclusion is the Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development (ASCD).

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CHAPTER 2 : CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Educators are not the only ones battling over inclusion. Not all parents of
students with disabilities support the approach. Some parents fear losing specialeducation services they have fought for and believe their children will be "dumped" into
regular classrooms without appropriate support.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Controversy over full inclusion spotlights another, larger, issue in education.
Some organizations endorse goals that assume inclusion is a given. One such
group, the Consortium on Inclusive Schooling Practices, states that it focuses on
"systemic reform rather than changes in special education systems only."
The Consortium's three broad goals are:

"To establish a change process in multiple states focused on systemic reform;

To translate research and policy information into implementable educational

practices;

To develop the capacity of state and local agencies to provide inclusive educational
services."
"Examine all sides of the debate, and it becomes clear that inclusion is a microcosm

of education reform," maintains an essay, "To the Best of Their Abilities"

(Teacher magazine, February 22, 1995). "The issues extend far beyond special
education. All children can learn at high levels' has become a rallying cry for improving
schools. How can policymakers, practitioners, and parents work together to ensure that
students in every classroom in every school are achieving that ideal?"
MAKING INCLUSION WORK
Even the staunchest backers of inclusion recognize that it requires support services
and changes in the traditional classroom. Here, from the Utah Education Association,
is a listing of provisions that must be met for inclusion to work best:
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CHAPTER 2 : CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

"adequate supports and services for the student,

well-designed individualized education programs,

professional development for all teachers involved, general and special educators
alike;

time for teachers to plan, meet, create, and evaluate the students together;

reduced class size based on the severity of the student needs,

professional skill development in the areas of cooperative learning, peer tutoring,

adaptive curriculum, varied learning styles, etc.,

collaboration between parents, teachers and administrators,

sufficient funding so that schools will be able to develop programs for students
based on student need instead of the availability of funding, or lack thereof."
If these conditions are met, the fear of dumping students in regular classrooms

becomes moot.
Despite the debate over inclusion, how far it should go, and how much it should
cost, the latest developments in special education, to some observers, offer more
cause to celebrate than to despair. A November 4, 1996, Time magazine article titled
"The Struggle to Pay for Special Education" summarizes the current state of special
education this way: "The good news is that huge strides have been made to improve
the plight of special-needs students. The question now being asked,' says Judith
Heumann, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services,
'is how we can do it, as opposed to should we do it.'"
*Federal

law still requires that a full continuum of placement options be available to

each special education student and that placement decisions be made by the Individual
Education Program (IEP) team, based on the student's needs. Congress and the
courts, however, have affirmed the legal right of children with disabilities to be educated
in the least restrictive environment possible. To many, that means "full inclusion," with

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CHAPTER 2 : CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

all students belonging in regular classrooms. To others, it means full inclusion for some
children with disabilities and for other children with disabilities a different approach.
2.1.1.2 LOCAL
EDUCATION OF CHILDREN WITH MULTIPLE DISABILITIES IN THE PHILIPPINES
By Maria Melissa Rossana C. Sta. Ana
The term multiple disability is used in different ways in different contexts, but
is commonly connected with the basic concept of disability. Multiple disability is often
referred to as having two or more disabilities in the same person. From an educational
point of view, multiple disability can be regarded as a closely interwoven network of
conditions. It is not simply the sum of various disabilities, but a structure that is
complicated by the fact that its elements affect each other in ways that are frequently
obscure. Children with multiple disabilities is a rather complicated group as it includes
various combinations with respect to the number, kind and profoundness of their
disabilities. Although, there is always one leading disability in every case. In the
Philippines, the general classification of this category of children is usually based on
the leading disability.
Educational Supports for Children with Special Needs
The fundamental principle of inclusive schools is that all children should learn
together, whenever possible, regardless of any difficulties or differences they may
have. The Department of Education in the Philippines has responded to this by
institutionalizing Special Education as early as the 1960s. The Special Education
Division is tasked primarily to formulate policies, plans and programs for the
preparation of instructional materials, and the evaluation of programs in special
education; conduct researches and develop standards of programs and services for
special learners; plan prototype in-service education programs to upgrade the
competencies of all support staff directly or indirectly involved with the implementation
of the programs; and establish linkages with agencies concerned with the education
and welfare of children with special needs.
However, due to the countrys economic situation - among others, such
programs and services are still limited and are not readily available to children with
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CHAPTER 2 : CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

special needs. Children with disabilities are one major group for whom the right to
education, equal opportunities and right to participate in society has yet to be won in
the Philippines.
Based on the latest Department of Education 2000 report, out of 80 million
Filipinos, 50% are children and youth (0-24 yrs.) The SPED Division of the Department
of Education estimates that 12% of the children population in the country have special
needs; 2% are gifted while 10% are those with disabilities. On the projected population
of 43,303,145 children and youth (0-24 years old) for the year 2000, there were
5,196,377 children with special needs.
However, of the 5,196,377 CSNs only 2.6% or 136,523 were provided with
appropriate educational service while 97.4% or 5,059,854 did not receive appropriate
educational services for school year 2002-2003. Furthermore, of the 136,523 children
with special needs enrolled in schools: 69,888 (51.19%) were mentally gifted/ fast
learners and 66,635 (48.81%) had disabilities. (Note: National statistical data on SY;
2003-2004 has yet to be consolidated.) In the Philippines, there are a total of 2105
schools offering SPED programs:
o

4 National Special Schools

450 private special schools

147 recognized Special Education Centers

1504 Regular schools with SPED programs

2.1.2 REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES

2.1.2.1 LOCAL
SchoolBased Management: Promoting Special Education Programs in Local
Schools
This is a qualitative study of 11 schools and six school divisions selected to
expand and organize Special Education-Inclusive Education Program in the Third
Elementary Education Program (TEEP) of the Department of Education in the
Philippines. School based management (SBM) became the integrating framework of
TEEP three years into the project. The study investigated how the local schools in
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CHAPTER 2 : CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

selected pilot areas have used SBM to address the issues on (1) access to formal
school, (2) quality of educational experiences, and (3) stakeholders participation in
school activities that are relevant to the interests of children with special needs. Results
show that most schools gauge access by the number of identified students with special
needs. Quality is linked to the availability of SPED teachers and resources.
Participation is associated with parents involvement in their special childs
individualized education plan.
The Philippine government in its continuing effort to improve the quality of
education in the country launched the Third Elementary Education Program (TEEP) in
1997. This nine year project was aimed at improving the quality of primary education
by means of decentralizing governance at the elementary school level (Department of
Education, 2006). The passage of Republic Act 9155 in 2001 provided the Department
of Education (DepEd) the legal mandate to reorganize governance in basic education.
With such directive, school-based management (SBM) became the framework for
making institutional changes to improve elementary school students learning (DepEd,
2006). The school divisions selected for TEEP are located in the poorest provinces in
the country. The mean scores of the students in these divisions were among the lowest
in the National Achievement Tests. The DepEd selected the schools with the
assumption that if school reform could be successfully launched in the marginalized
sectors of the country, then it will be as effective when adopted in the urban areas
(DepEd, 2006).
The Philippines, as a signatory of the Salamanca Statement of Action on Special
Needs Education, recognizes the principle of equal educational opportunities for all
children regardless of their physical, intellectual, social, emotional, linguistic or other
conditions (Salamanca Statement, 1994). This framework was adopted in the
Philippines through the Department of Education Culture and Sports (now DepEd)
Order no. 26 which institutionalized inclusive education. The order required the
organization of at least one SPED center in each division and implementation of SPED
programs in all school districts where there are students with special needs.

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CHAPTER 2 : CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Special education started in the Philippines in 1907 with the establishment of
the Insular School for the Deaf and Blind. The school started with 92 deaf persons and
one blind person. Today, DepEd serves 11 types of children with special needs in
public schools. As of school year 2006-2007, there were 162,858 students with special
needs at the elementary level, 51% or 83,231 of whom are in the gifted program. The
remaining 49 % were students with various disabilities such as hearing impairment,
visual impairment, learning disability, mental retardation, behavior problem, autism,
and cerebral palsy. Students with learning disabilities comprise 25% of students with
special needs. However, up to this date, many children with learning disabilities, mental
retardation, and autism remain unidentified in public schools (DepEd, 2006). The
inclusion of children under these three categories of special cases were among the
major concerns of the TEEP-SBM-Inclusive Education (IE) project.
National policies notwithstanding, programs and services for children with
special needs are concentrated in the urban areas (Camara, 2003). Therefore, the
TEEP schools were a practical logical choice to pilot inclusive education.

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CHAPTER 2 : CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

GATHER
DATA
AND
INFORMATION
AND
DEVELOP AN ANALYTICAL
INPUT FOR THE PROPOSED
PROJECT.
DEVELOP NEW GUIDELINES
BASED ON THE EXISTING
LAWS AND POLICIES IN
REGARD
TO
SPECIAL
EDUCATION.
INCLUDE FOREIGN DATA
FOR INCLUSION IN FUTHER
ANALYSING THE PROPOSAL.

PROCESS

PROPER ANALYSIS OF THE

PROJECT AND IDENTIFY
POSSIBLE PROBLEMS.
PROVIDE A PROPOSITION
FOR
AN
EDUCATIONAL
CENTER THAT WILL CATER
DIFFERENT
TYPES
OF
DISABILITY
IN
DEVELOPMENT OF THEIR
MENTAL
AND
PHYSICAL
CONDITIONS.
PROVIDE THE FIRST STEP IN
IDENTIFYING
THE
SAID
CONDITIONS FOR PROPER
LABELING AND
DEVELOP
POSSIBLE
ALLOCATION
OF
RESOURCES
FOR
THE
DEVELOPMENT
OF
THE
CENTER.

OUTPUT

INPUT

2.2 RESEARCH PARADIGM

AN EDUCATIONAL CENTER
COMPLETE WITH FACILITIES
THAT
CAN
SERVE
THE
DIFFERENT NEEDS OF THE
CHILDREN ACCORDING TO
THEIR CLASSIFICATION OF
DISORDER.
PROVIDE A SPECIALIST CLINIC
THAT CAN HELP THE PROCESS
IN DEFINING THE MENTAL AND
PHYSICAL
WELLNESS
OF
CHILDREN.
PROVIDE AN ENVIRONMENT
WITH ASSOCIATION WITH
NATURE. EITHER IN OUTDOOR
PARKS AND ACTIVITY AREAS.

2.3 HYPOTHESIS
In providing proper facilities, education and platform for the development and
enhancement of SPED program, it is in great regard for the well-being of children with
special conditions and abilities. By providing the very basic foundation of education
within reach of the poverty line would be really helpful for the overlook sector of
disability. It is not just the goal to educate children but help families and parents to
coping conditions where areas there are not in capable of providing. And the main goal
of this study is to help children to conquer the Real World Expectations.

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CHAPTER 2 : CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

2.4 ASSUMPTIONS
The aim of the study is to provide information and data on the current situation
of SPED programs and SPED regulated schools. To let people know what it means to
provide proper facilities in building a childs character with his or her disability. It is
intended to increase availability and intensity of early intervention and prevention
programs for those who are in need. And through this assumptions, the study is here
to provide a learning guide to improve awareness of people who are in the shadow,
and to let the special education program a motivation for a general education
partnership.

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