Inclusive Education
Abstract
A paragraph from Desiderata says, “You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars, you have a right to be here.” The paragraph is in consonance with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) 1994 Salamanca Statement which calls for the accommodation of all children, regardless of their physical, intellectual, emotional state in an ordinary school. The Framework for Action stipulates that children with special educational needs, namely: the gifted, the mentally retarded, the visually impaired, the hearing impaired, the orthopedically handicapped, the learning disabled, the speech defectives, the children with behavior problems, the autistic children and those with health problems, must have access to regular schools – that is the basic idea of the department’s Inclusive Education or Mainstreaming Program.
In the Mainstreaming Program, the department maintains a warm and accepting classroom community that honors differences and embraces diversity of students. In the Philippines in 1992, the enactment of Republic Act 7277, otherwise known as the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons, provided the Department of Education a stronger impetus to improve on its educational services for these children. Its implementation of a child-centered, interactive and participatory curriculum has eliminated isolation among children with special needs. Today, there are more than a hundred public and private schools offering educational services to special children through the Inclusive Education Program or Mainstreaming Program. These institutions are scattered geographically in the 17 regions of the country. In this connection, Saint Louis University (SLU), being a catholic learning institution, has opened its doors to accommodate students with disabilities including the blind prior to the emergence or propagation of inclusive education principles in North Luzon. At first, this was not an easy adjustment for some
A paragraph from Desiderata says, “You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars, you have a right to be here.” The paragraph is in consonance with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) 1994 Salamanca Statement which calls for the accommodation of all children, regardless of their physical, intellectual, emotional state in an ordinary school. The Framework for Action stipulates that children with special educational needs, namely: the gifted, the mentally retarded, the visually impaired, the hearing impaired, the orthopedically handicapped, the learning disabled, the speech defectives, the children with behavior problems, the autistic children and those with health problems, must have access to regular schools – that is the basic idea of the department’s Inclusive Education or Mainstreaming Program.
In the Mainstreaming Program, the department maintains a warm and accepting classroom community that honors differences and embraces diversity of students. In the Philippines in 1992, the enactment of Republic Act 7277, otherwise known as the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons, provided the Department of Education a stronger impetus to improve on its educational services for these children. Its implementation of a child-centered, interactive and participatory curriculum has eliminated isolation among children with special needs. Today, there are more than a hundred public and private schools offering educational services to special children through the Inclusive Education Program or Mainstreaming Program. These institutions are scattered geographically in the 17 regions of the country. In this connection, Saint Louis University (SLU), being a catholic learning institution, has opened its doors to accommodate students with disabilities including the blind prior to the emergence or propagation of inclusive education principles in North Luzon. At first, this was not an easy adjustment for some
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