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STUDY GUIDE FOR MODULE NO. 2

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN THE PHILIPPINES

MODULE OVERVIEW

In striving to educate as many children as possible and with limited funds to build a separate special
education infrastructure to cater to the needs of children with disabilities, inclusive education was officially
adopted in 1997 by the Department of Education in the Philippines as a viable educational alternative.

Inclusive Education is the core principle of the K to 12 Basic Education Program. This promotes the right of
every Filipino to quality, equitable, culture-based, and complete basic education. Through inclusive education,
all Filipinos will realize their full potential and meaningfully contribute to building the nation2 The inclusiveness
of the K to 12 Education.

On this learning module, you will understand and be aware of the Philippine’s Department of Education on
its Vision, Mission, and the Policy Guidelines on the K-12 Basic Education Program.

MODULE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of this Module, you should be able to

1. Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of concepts related to inclusive and special education that
promote supportive environments to diverse learners (like inclusion, integration, mainstream, transition,
etc.) as indicated in the DepEd Inclusive Education Policy;
2. Demonstrate knowledge of responsive special and inclusive education programs for diverse learners;
and
3. Compare and contrast Inclusive Education in the Philippines with that of International standards.

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN THE PHILIPPINES (DEPED)

I. Definitions

Inclusive education

The 2009 Department of Education Order No. 72 defines inclusive education as the philosophy of accepting all
children regardless of race, size, shape, colour, ability or disability with support from school staff, students,
parents and the community. The more recent 2013 Enhanced Basic Education Act refers to gifted and talented
children; learners with disabilities; learners of the madrasa curriculum; indigenous peoples; and learners in
difficult circumstances, such as geographical isolation, chronic illness, abuse, or displacement due to armed
conflict, urban resettlement or disaster as target groups of inclusive education.

Special education needs

The proposed 2019 Special Education Act defines learners with special needs as children who differ in mental
characteristics, sensory ability, neuromuscular or physical characteristics, social abilities or multiple handicaps
and/or have a lag in development requiring tailored school practices or special education services. The act
includes gifted, talented, disabled, impaired and handicapped persons in need of special education and

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services of rehabilitation.

II. School Organization

Considered an inclusive and learner-centred teaching and learning strategy, the 2016 Basic Education
Research Agenda defines inclusive education as a cross-cutting issue implemented through special education,
indigenous peoples’ education, madrasa education, the country's Alternative Learning System and alternative
delivery modes.

 Special education (SPED) is part of the country's education system and is implemented through a
specific programme targeting both children with disabilities and gifted and talented learners, who need
a systematic and deliberate process to achieve functional literacy and achieve their individual potential
and capability. Supporting the 1997 Magna Carta for Disabled Persons, the 1997 Department Order
No. 26 on Institutionalization of SPED Programs in All Schools established at least one special
education centre for children with special needs in all schools. Called resource centres for inclusive
education, the centres were intended to support the integration of children with disabilities into regular
schools through the production of appropriate teaching materials and continuous assessment. Specific
guidelines to set up special education centres in regular schools were defined in 2000.
The 2019 Special Education Act aims literally to institutionalize inclusive education though the
institutionalization of at least one special education centre in each school division and three such
centres in larger divisions, equipped with adequate qualified staff and administered by the principal of
the regular school.
 Indigenous peoples’ schools are registered within the Department of Education and mainstreamed in
the national education system but benefit from some flexibility in terms of curriculum, teacher
recruitment and school calendar.
 Madrasa education was institutionalized in 2004 through the Standard Curriculum for Elementary and
Public Schools and Private Madaris (i.e. madrasa schools), and then improved with the Refined
Elementary Madrasah Curriculum in 2011 in public elementary schools with at least 15 Muslim students
and in private madaris. Madrasa education is provided in public and private schools within the context
of Muslim culture, customs, traditions and interests through the integration of the Arabic Language and
Islamic Values Education (ALIVE) in the basic education curriculum.
 The Alternative Learning System is a parallel learning system to the formal education system usually
conducted in community learning centres. Established by the 2001 Governance of Basic Education Act,
it provides an opportunity for the out-of-school population to access and complete basic education.
 Alternative delivery mode programmes are based on self-learning modules to cater for learners in
difficult and different circumstances.

III. Laws, Plans, Policies and Programmes

The 1987 Philippine Constitution enshrines the right to quality education for all citizens and mandates the state
to take appropriate steps to make it accessible to all (Art. 14, Section 1). The state must also establish an
integrated education system build upon the needs of the people (Art. 14, Section 2). The 2013 Enhanced Basic
Education Act calls for learner-oriented and responsive education provision according to the needs, cognitive
and cultural capacity, circumstances and diversity of all learners through target-based programmes.  The
2015 Education Plan reaffirms the overarching nature of inclusive education for the policy and planning
framework for education for all.

Disability

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The 1997 Magna Carta for Disabled Persons, amended in 2007, mandates the state to ensure that persons
with disabilities have access to quality education, making special education provision able to serve various
types of impairments, in particular the visually impaired, hearing impaired, those with intellectual disabilities and
other types of exceptional children throughout the country.

In response to the implementation of the Magna Carta, the 1997 Department Order No. 26 on

Institutionalization of SPED Programs in All Schools established resource centres in regular schools to provide
continuous support to children with special needs. The 2010 department order Strengthening Special Education
Program at the Basic Education Level financed regular secondary schools to train education personnel and
provide the institutions with adequate teaching materials.

Memorandum orders in 2000, 2006 and 2008 contained provisions on reasonable accommodation in higher
education. In particular, the 2008 Manual of Regulations for Private Higher Education encourages private higher
education institutions to admit students with disabilities.

Inclusion of children with special needs was promoted in the 2013 Early Years Act, for example through the use
of Filipino Sign Language as the visual language of the deaf community, and in 2013 with the  Enhanced Basic
Education Act, which encourages the implementation of the Alternative Learning System to cater for the needs
of the target group. The 2015 Education Plan calls for an expansion of the current basic education services
through the multiplication of special education classes within the regular elementary and secondary schools and
through the inclusion of learners with disabilities into existing regular classes.

Gender

Gender equality is enshrined in the 1987 Constitution (Art. 14, Section 14). The 2009 Philippine Magna Carta of
Women establishes a non-discriminatory and pro-gender equality and equity framework for policy formulation
and implementation. In relation to education, it reaffirms the right of equal access and elimination of
discrimination in education, scholarships and training. In addition, it declares unlawful the discrimination in
education of women due pregnancy out of marriage in the form of expulsion, non-readmission or enrolment
prohibition.

In 2013, a joint memorandum was adopted by various government bodies, including the Department of
Education, to mainstream gender perspectives in local planning, programming and budgeting.

Ethnic and linguistic groups and indigenous groups

Encouraged by the 1987 Constitution (Art. 14, Section 2), indigenous peoples’ education was formally regulated
in the 1997 Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act. The latter lays down indigenous peoples’ right to equal access to
cultural opportunities, including through the education system, where they have the right to receive education in
their own language through the establishment and control of education institutions, respecting their cultural
methods of teaching and learning. Although Filipino and English are recognized as official languages for
communication and instruction, regional languages are acknowledged to serve as ‘auxiliary media of instruction’
(Art. 6, Section 7 of the Constitution).

In response to the distinct education needs of indigenous communities, the 2004 department order titled  Permit
to Operate Primary Schools for Indigenous Peoples and Cultural Communities allows the school curriculum to
be adjusted according to the cultural interest of the community, as long as core learning competencies are
cultivated. Based on the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act, a 2010 department order on the  Alternative Learning
System curriculum for indigenous peoples’ education draws on the Alternative Learning System curriculum
while taking into account the concerns of indigenous peoples. The 2013 Enhanced Basic Education

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Act reaffirms that basic education for kindergarten and for the first three years of elementary education must be
provided in languages understood by the learners. It further mandates the Department of Education to
formulate a mother-language transition programme from the first local language to English for other grades.

At the policy level, the 2011 department order Adopting the National Indigenous Peoples Education Policy
Framework aimed to create an inclusive and respectful education system for learners belonging to minority
groups, ensuring universal and equitable access of all indigenous people to quality and relevant basic
education and providing adequate and culturally appropriate learning resources and environments. In particular,
the framework intends to integrate indigenous knowledge systems and practices and recruit and train teachers
and learning facilitators engaged in implementing education programmes for indigenous people. Since 2012–
13, mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) has been implemented nationwide, with 19 local
languages now used for instruction.

The Philippines’ Response to Indigenous and Muslim Education (PRIME) programme is an education
development initiative of the Department of Education that seeks to improve equitable access to and quality of
basic education for girls and boys in disadvantaged indigenous and Muslim communities.

Poverty

Within the school health and nutrition programmes, the breakfast feeding program aims to improve the
nutritional status of its beneficiaries and increase their attendance rate. Expanded to 14 regions, the programme
serves undernourished children from kindergarten to grade 3. With the introduction of  implementation
guidelines in 2012, the feeding initiative was renamed School-Based Feeding Program and gave more flexibility
to schools.

With the aim of addressing the poorest Filipinos, the Conditional Cash Transfer programme provides a monthly
education subsidy to encourage school attendance.

Children engaged in labour

The 2015 Education Plan identifies children engaged in labour as a specific group of unreached and

underserved learners. It sets out to strengthen the implementation of distance learning programmes at
elementary and secondary levels to reach out to children who cannot attend regular classes.

Street children

The 2015 Education Plan calls for strengthening current partnership between government agencies and

partners and the Department of Education to reach out to street children and their families and provide them
with basic education and other basic services.

IV. Governance

Coordination across sectors

The 2019 Special Education Act intends to establish the Bureau of Special Education to institutionalize and

manage special education. It is to design an appropriate curriculum and tailored programmes and supervise
divisions for gifted and talented youth and children and youth with disabilities within the Department of
Education. It is also responsible for early identification of special needs and the provision of medical and
financial assistance.

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According to the 2015 new organizational structure of the Department of Education, the Bureau of Learning
Delivery is in charge of the Student Inclusion division.

At present, the Bureau of Alternative Learning System, under the Department of Education, is in charge of non-
formal education. Strengthened in 2004, it addresses the learning needs of all marginalized learners, including
indigenous learners. Madaris are also under the jurisdiction of the Department of Education, although most of
them are private and locally managed.

Development programmes and service delivery for persons with disabilities, including in education, are
managed by the National Council on Disability Affairs, a national government agency with the mandate to
formulate policies and coordinate the activities of all public and private organizations dealing with disability
issues and concerns.

Through the 2013 Department Order No. 27, the Department of Education institutionalized the Gender and
Development Focal Point Systems, an institutional mechanism to ensure gender mainstreaming in government
offices at the national, regional and school levels.

Coordination across government levels

According to the 2019 Special Education Act, local governments bear the responsibility for special
education institutions, the organization of parent–teacher associations and coordination with other civil society
actors.

V. Learning Environments

Infrastructure

The 1983 Act to Enhance the Mobility of Disabled Persons by Requiring Certain Buildings, Institutions,
Establishments and Public Utilities to install Facilities and Other Devices sets specific provisions to ensure
access to school to some specific groups of people with disabilities.

Curriculum

The 2009 Philippine Magna Carta of Women calls for a revision of educational materials and curricula to avoid
gender stereotypes and images and ensure that gender-sensitive language is used. Gender-related
modules have been developed and launched in the basic education curriculum.

According to the 2013 Enhanced Basic Education Act, the national basic education curriculum must be learner-
centred, inclusive and developmentally appropriate, culturally sensitive, consistent with the principles and
framework of MTB-MLE and flexible in order to allow schools to localize and indigenize according to the
context.

Learning materials

Appropriate learning materials have been prepared to support the indigenous peoples’ curriculum, open to
consultation and translated into 14 different languages. Indigenization of learning materials is encouraged in
Occidental Mindoro and Oriental Mindoro provinces.

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VI. Teachers and Support Personnel

Teachers’ right to professional development is enshrined in the Constitution (Art. 14, Section 5). However, with
regards to special education, trainings are not provided on a regular basis. Ad-hoc programmes are
implemented upon the specific request of local authorities. At the national level, a training for special education
teachers has been organized by the Department of Education’s Bureau of Elementary Education, while
trainings on visually impaired learners and those with multiple disabilities were provided by non-government
organizations from 2007 and 2009.

According to the 2000 Memorandum Order No. 23 on Quality Education for Learners with Special Needs,
teacher training institutions must include special education courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels
and provide further learning opportunities for qualified special education teachers through scholarship
programmes, in coordination with the Commission on Higher Education and other government and non-
government agencies.

The 2009 Philippine Magna Carta of Women calls for capacity building on gender and development for teachers
and personnel involved in the education sector.

VII. Monitoring and Reporting

Within the Basic Education Information System (BEIS), all Department of Education offices and units gather
relevant data from schools, learning centres and education programmes for the effective planning and
implementation of education programmes.

Inclusive Education Program

1. Multigrade Education

One of the continuing initiatives of the Department of Education (DepEd) along its thrust of increasing access to
quality elementary education is strengthening the implementation of the Multigrade Program in the Philippine
Education (MPPE) Multigrade Education Program addresses pressing concerns and issues on the provision of
customized teaching and learning materials for multigrade classes and professional development of teachers.

2. Special Education (SPED)

This Special Education Program specifically aims to enhance access and upgrade the quality of SPED
programs and services, as well as to raise the efficiency of education services directed towards all recognized
SPED Centers for elementary and secondary schools with classes for learners with special needs. The ultimate
goal of SPEd is the inclusion of children with special needs into the regular school system and eventually, in the
community.

3. Madrasah Education

The Madrasah Education Program (MEP) aims to provide the Muslim learners with appropriate and relevant
educational opportunities within the context of their cultures, customs, traditions and interests through the
integration of the Arabic Language and Islamic Values Education (ALIVE) program in the basic education
curriculum so that the Muslim citizens shall have the intellectual and educational capacity to participate actively
in the social, economic and political endeavours of the country.

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4. Indigenous Peoples Education (IPEd)

The Indigenous People’s Education (IPEd) Program is DepEd’s response to the right of Indigenous People (IP)
to basic education that is responsive to their context, respects their identities, and promotes their indigenous
knowledge, skills, and other aspects of their cultural heritage. Additionally, the IPEd Program supports the
realization of the K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum, which subscribes to the following standards and
principles that are: inclusive, culture-sensitive, and flexible enough to enable and allow schools to localize,
indigenize, and enhance based on the community’s educational and social context.

5. Alternative Learning System (ALS)

Alternative Learning System is a program aimed at providing an alternative path of learning for the out-of-school
youth and adults who are basically literate but have not completed 10 years of basic education as mandated by
the Philippine Constitution. Through this program, school dropouts will be able to complete elementary and
secondary education outside the formal system.

6. Alternative Delivery Mode (ADM)

ADM is a tried and tested alternative modality of education delivery within the confines of the formal system that
allows schools to deliver quality education to marginalized students and those at risk of dropping out in order to
help them overcome personal, social, and economic constraints in their schooling (Republic No. 10618 (An Act
Establishing Rural Farm Schools as ADM of Secondary Education and Appropriating Funds Therefor).8
Additionally, ADM may also be defined as follows: 1. Instructional or learning modalities that do not strictly
follow the typical set-up for regular classroom instruction 2. An alternative way of delivering and providing
education to learners who are enrolled in the formal school but for various reasons cannot attend school
regularly and are at risk of dropping out. 3. It is one of the two categories of Flexible Learning Options. One of
which is Alternative Learning System. 4. It is flexible in terms of time and duration of the instruction, the place of
instruction and the modes of instruction depending on the context and needs of the learners.

7. Alternative Learning System Education Skills and Training ( ALS-EST)

ALS-EST: The Alternative Learning System (ALS) Integrated Education and Skills Training Program modifies
the regular ALS program by integrating Technical Vocational Training and other skills training. The program will
utilize existing DepEd expertise, particularly from remaining technical high schools and select Senior High
Schools, and leverage partnerships with SUCs, LGUS, private sector and CSOs, to provide the technical-
vocational and other skills training components attuned to the demands and opportunities of the local
community and the country. The ALS Integrated Education and Skills Training Program aims to produce ALS
completers that not only are able to catch up with basic academic education, but have also acquired technical
competencies suitable for immediate employment. Thus, this program will be able to help fulfill the state’s
obligation to provide basic education, at the same time mitigating the problem of a considerable number of out-
of-school and unemployed youth.

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LEARNING ACTIVITY 2: REFLECTION

Reflection Activity: Write/Type your reflection in a Microsoft Word and send it to the instructor saved in a word
file. Use this question as a guide to your reflection paper.

“What can you say about the implementation and execution of Inclusive Education in our schools?”

SUMMARY

Here are some pointers to remember:

 The 2009 Department of Education Order No. 72 defines inclusive education as the philosophy of
accepting all children regardless of race, size, shape, colour, ability or disability with support from
school staff, students, parents and the community.
 The proposed 2019 Special Education Act defines learners with special needs as children who differ in
mental characteristics, sensory ability, neuromuscular or physical characteristics, social abilities or
multiple handicaps and/or have a lag in development requiring tailored school practices or special
education services. The act includes gifted, talented, disabled, impaired and handicapped persons in
need of special education and services of rehabilitation.
 According to the 2013 Enhanced Basic Education Act, the national basic education curriculum must be
learner-centred, inclusive and developmentally appropriate, culturally sensitive, consistent with the
principles and framework of MTB-MLE and flexible in order to allow schools to localize and indigenize
according to the context.
 DepEd recognizes the need for teachers to undergo professional trainings and seminars related to
special education and inclusive education programs.
 Inclusive education program includes the following: Multigrade Education, SPED, Madrasah Education,
Indigenous Peoples Education, ALS, Alternative Delivery Mode, Alternative Learning System –
Education Skills and Training.
REFERENCES

 https://education-profiles.org/eastern-and-south-eastern-asia/philippines/~inclusion#Definitions
 https://www.deped.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/List-of-Programs-and-Projects.Final_.TS_.pdf
 DO 21 s. 2019 Policy Guidelines on the K-12 Basic Education Program
 DO 72 s. 2009 Inclusive Education as Strategy for Increasing Participation Rate of Children

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