A bill seeking to provide free special education to help rehabilitate and develop the country's estimated 376,000 handicapped children has been introduced by Sen. Loren Legarda, a press release from her office said.

Under Senate Bill 941, the Department of Education and the Department of Social Welfare and Development shall establish a special schooling program that would cater to the needs of mentally and physically handicapped children.

Under Legarda's bill, special schools for handicapped children shall be established in every province, city and municipality, the press release said.

They shall also provide free pre-elementary and elementary levels of education with maximum opportunities for integration with non-handicapped peers. The DepEd shall prescribe a special learning program, taking into consideration the aptitude handicaps and talents of the children.

Legarda said Congress shall set aside P50 million for the initial implementation of the special education program.

The program and its benefits shall include free ambulatory equipment or devices for handicapped children, free tuition and allowances for textbooks and transportation, the press release said.

Special services such as note-takers and readers for the blind, sign interpreters for the deaf and tutorial instruction shall also be provided.

The National Statistics Office's latest Census on Population and Housing estimates at more than 940,000 the total number of Filipinos with disability, the press release added.*

back to top