MANILA – In an online webinar with the National Council of Disability Affairs on Monday, the Department of Education (DepEd) reaffirmed its target of increasing the number of enrollment among students with disabilities.
This coincides with the celebration of the 18th Women with Disability Day, in which the DepEd joined the Department of Labor and Employment, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and other stakeholders in promoting the “3E’s to Empowerment” for women with special needs, specifically their equal participation in education, employment, and election.
According to Annalyn Aquino, DepEd Senior Education Program Specialist of Student Inclusion Division-Bureau of Learning delivery, boosting enrollees for learners with disabilities is one of the department’s key objectives, given its significant decline during the pandemic.
Based on the most recent data, from 152,420 female learners enrolled in the school year 2019-2020, it has declined to 38,914 enrollees in the school year 2021-2022.
“Ang nakikita nating rason (The reason that we are seeing…) is that learners with disabilities are not being properly tagged in the Learner’s Information System (LIS), especially our learners with disabilities who are in mainstreamed classes,” Aquino said.
It led to a series of orientations for receiving teachers, school heads, and supervisors, to address the issue of proper tagging to learners, she added.
In addition to increasing student enrolment, DepEd is doubling its efforts to increase the number of schools that offer programs for students with disabilities.
As of now, 13,408 schools in the country have a Special Education Program (SPED).
“Gusto nating palawakin ‘yung kapasidad ng ating (We want to widen the capacity of our) SPED centers by converting it into an inclusive learning resource centers,” Aquino said.
The DepEd also intends to mount items for SPED teachers, including the creation of data indicators such as completion rate, survival rate, and school leaver rate.
Aquino also recognized the important role on the adoption of RA 11650, or the Act ensuring inclusive education for learners with disabilities, would serve in intensifying and speeding up the DepEd’s efforts and goals for students with special needs.
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