DepEd ensures inclusive education for learners with

special needs
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February 24, 2017
PASIG CITY, February 24, 2017 In line with the Departments thrust in providing quality and
inclusive basic education for all, the Department of Education (DepEd) continues to provide the
necessary educational interventions for learners with certain exceptionalities through its Special
Education (SPED) program.

The SPED program of DepEd provides a holistic approach in catering to the needs of learners with
various exceptionalities. This program ensures that learners with exceptionalities will have access to
quality education by giving them their individual and unique learning needs.

This initiative caters to learners with visual impairment, hearing impairment, intellectual disability,
learning disability, autism spectrum disorder, communication disorder, physical disability, emotional
and behavioral disorder, multiple disability with visual impairment, and to those who are
orthopedically handicapped, chronically ill, and gifted and talented.

Up to date, DepEd has recognized a total of 648 SPED Centers and regular schools offering the
program471 of which are catering to Elementary students and 177 are catering to High School
students.

The Education Department has recorded around 250,000 enrollees with certain exceptionalities at the
elementary level and around 100,000 at the high school level in School Year (SY) 2015-2016.

Instructional programs

The parents or guardians of learners with certain exceptionalities may reach out to principals or
guidance counselors of schools where they wish to enroll their children to determine the necessary
instructional program that their children need best.

The instructional programs that the SPED teachers shall implement the following:

1. Self-contained/Special Class a separate class for only one type of exceptionality which serves
moderate to severe types of disabilities;

2. Itinerant Teaching a traveling teacher reaches out to children with special needs in other
schools or at home to provide direct and consultative services;

3. Resource Room 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, either in a tutorial
situation or in a small group session handled by a SPED teacher;
4. Pull-out a kind of program where the child enrolled in the regular class reports to the resource
room for a period of time for special instructions by the SPED teacher;

5. Integration/Mainstreaming refers to the enrolment of a child with special needs in a regular

class with support services. There are two degrees of integration: Partial Integration and Full
Integration. In Partial Integration/Mainstreaming, a child with special needs enrolled in a special
class is integrated with regular children in non-academic activities like work education, physical
education, arts, school programs, etc, then gradually integrated in the academic subjects if qualified.
Meanwhile, in Full Integration/Mainstreaming, a child with special needs sits in the regular class in
all academic and non-academic subjects; and

6. Inclusion all children with disabilities, regardless of the nature and severity of their disability
and need for related services, receive their total education within the regular education classroom.

Strengthening teachers capabilities

In SY 2015-2016, DepEd has provided capability trainings to 345 teachers and 45 administrators and
supervisors involved in delivering quality education to learners with certain exceptionalities.

Among the partners of DepEd in enhancing the capabilities of teachers handling learners with
exceptionalities and in promoting the SPED advocacy are the Resources for the Blind Inc., Autism
Society of the Philippines, Leonard Cheshire for the Disabled Foundation (LCDF), and Attention
Deficit Hyperactive Disorder Society (ADHD Society).

Moreover, the other partner organizations of DepEd for the SPED program are the Learning
Disabilities Association (LDA), Philippine Association for the Intellectually Disabled (PAFID),
National Association for the Gifted (NAG), Philippine Federation for the Rehabilitation of the
Disabled (PFRD), Parents Advocate for the Visually Impaired Children (PAVIC), and National
Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA).