The House of Representatives led by Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had pushed for the enactment of a bill instituting inclusive education and establish inclusive learning resource centers for children and youth with special needs in all public school divisions.
HB 9104, authored by Rep. Alfredo Vargas III of Quezon City was approved on third and final reading last week.
The bill recognizes the State policy to protect and promote the rights of CYSNs to make quality education accessible to them, as well as give full support for their welfare and development.
“Children have a right to education regardless of any difficulties or differences they have…According to the Department of Education [DepEd], only 2 percent of the 5.49-million children with special needs are getting government assistance and 97 percent of seven to 12 years old children are not in school. There are some parents who tend to keep their CYSNs out of school because of fear that their children may be subjected to bullying and discrimination,” said Vargas, vice chairman of the House committee on appropriations. Maricel V. Cruz
Vargas also noted that “In addition, dropout rates among CYSNs are relatively high because special education is often too expensive for an average Filipino family. As a result, most parents of CSN find it difficult to send their child to school.”
Once enacted, the measure mandates all public school divisions of the DepEd to establish an Inclusive Education Learning Resource Center for CYSNs, where there are no existing Centers.