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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No.4667

Introduced by Representative FAUSTINO ‘INNO’ A. DY v

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Data from the Department of Education (‘DepEd’) shows that only 2 percent of the 5.49
million children with special needs (‘CSN’) are getting government assistance while 97 percent
of children aged 7 to 12 are not in school.

In a statement, Special Education expert and consultant Genevieve Rivadelo-Caballa of
ALRES Philippines said a lot of children fall out from the system because of limited facilities
designed for their requirements and lack of teachers who are equipped to cater to them.

Although there are now over 600 public schools across the country equipped for special needs
students, according to the DepEd, it remains imperative to institutionalize the teaching method,
curriculum, and school facilities which are appropriate for all children at all levels, including
CSN.

This bill seeks to establish an Inclusive Education Learning Resource Center for children and
youth with special needs.

‘Once enacted, an inter-agency coordinating council shall be created to undertake the following
functions:

+ Develop and set criteria on Individual Educational Programs

+ Implement appropriate and coordinated programs in health and related physiological
and psychological health services, multidisciplinary domains, transportation and
accessibility for children with special needs

+ Initiate change and act as source for information for the benefit of both special needs
and regular students

© Constitute and authorize a multidisciplinary body to conduct an annual audit to
determine the compliance of the centers

«Document, monitor and assess the performance of the centers and their personnel; and

= Coordinate and disseminate information with partner agencies and local government
units.

»?
2019


‘The need for the State to make available inclusive educational services to children and youth
with special needs cannot be overemphasized. We must close this gap by providing them with
appropriate public education and related services according to their needs in order to prepare
them for adult living and community life to make them fully participative members of society.

With the approval of this bill, we can overcome this barrier.

so
ISTINO ‘INNO’ A. DY V


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

4667
HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by Representative FAUSTINO ‘INNO’ A. DY V

——_— eee

AN ACT
INSTITUTING INCLUSIVE EDUCATION AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF
INCLUSIVE EDUCATION LEARNING RESOURCE CENTERS FOR CHILDREN
AND YOUTH WITH SPECIAL NEEDS IN ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIVISIONS,
PROVIDING FOR STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES, AND APPROPRIATING
FUNDS THEREFOR

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

SEC. 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the “Inclusive Education Learning
Resource Center Act of 2019."

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. — \t is hereby declared the policy of the State to protect
and promote the rights of children and youth with special needs to quality education and to
take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to them. The State recognizes their
vital role in society and endeavors to include their needs as an integral part of national
development strategies.

Itis also the policy of the State to fully support their welfare and development, ensure
their full integration in society, as well as facilitate their active participation in the affairs of
the State. Towards this end, and pursuant to the 1987 Constitution specifically: Section 13,
Article Il; Section 13, Article XIII; and Sections 1 and 2, paragraphs 1 and 3, Article XIV,
Articles 3 and 12 of Presidential Decree No. 603-The Child and Youth Welfare Code (1974),
and Sections 12-14 of Republic Act No. 9442—An Act Amending RA 7277, otherwise known as

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the “Magna Carta For Disabled Persons, And For Other Purposes” (2008), UN Convention
on the Rights of the Child (1989), UNESCO Salamanca Statement (1984), UN Convention on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) and Incheon Strategy to Make the Rights Real
for Persons with Disability in Asia and Pacific (2012) and other relevant laws, the State shall
institutionalize an adequate and relevant educational program for every child and youth with
special needs by adopting the policy of inclusive education, the establishment of Inclusive
Education Leaming Resource Centers, and the provision of vital support mechanisms required
to ensure their effectiveness. All children and youth with special needs in any degree of
sensory, physical or intellectual disability or need, shall therefore have the opportunity to be
developed in the most enhancing environment, consistent with the provision of a quality
education that best meets their needs.

SEC. 3. Objectives. - This Act shall pursue the following:

a) Provide children and youth with special needs free and appropriate public education
and related services in accordance with their needs, and in preparation for adult living and
‘community life;

b) Provide children and youth with special needs access to general education curriculum
through the formal systems and alternative delivery services in education;

) Institute Inclusive Education and establish Inclusive Education Learning Resource
Centers for inclusion of children and youth with special needs in the educational mainstream;

d) Ensure that children and youth with special needs fully develop their potentials toward
self: sufficiency and become fully participative members of society;

e) Identify thru a child find system children and youth with special needs ages 3-24 and
infants and toddlers under age 3 in compliance with the Early Years Act of 2013 (RA 10410);

£) Develop, implement, and review Individualized Education Program:

g) Provide parents with information and opportunities to actively participate in the
possible placement options for their children and to enable them to make informed choices and
decisions;

h) Enable and empower parents and family members by training and equipping them with
capabilities to identify, prevent, refer or intervene with regards disorders and disabilities of
their children;

i) Train and equip special education teachers, regular teachers, principals/ administrators,
non-teaching staff of the school, and caregivers a primary source of care, development,
education and advancement of children and youth with special needs;

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j) Increase school retention and cohort survival of children and youth with special needs;
and

k) Create significant and positive changes in community attitudes towards disability and
the need to provide inclusive education and proper care for children and youth with special
needs.

SEC. 4. Definition of Terms. — As used in this Act:

(a) Basic education refers to meeting the basic leaning needs which provide the
foundation on which subsequent learning can be based. It encompasses kindergarten,
elementary and secondary education as well as alternative learning systems for out-of-
school learners and those with special needs;

(b) Children and youth with special needs refer to children and youth who are gifted or
talented, or with neuropsychological retardation, learning disabilities, emotional or
behavioral disorders, speech and language disorders, hearing impairments, visual
impairments, autism, physical or health disabilities, deaf-blindness and multiple
handicapping conditions and are in need of special education as well as services for
rehabilitation. They differ from the average children in neuropsychological
characteristics, sensory abilities, neuromuscular or physical characteristics, and social
attributes to such an extent that the use of modified school practices or special education
services are required to develop them to maximum capability. They may be classified
as children with exceptionalities such as the following:

1. Autism - those with developmental disabilities marked by disturbance
in development, language and relationship with persons, activities and
objects and which may coexist with intellectual disability and epilepsy.
Children afflicted with this disorder have perceptual, cognitive,
communication and social difficulties that change over time;

2. Behavioral Disturbance - those who cannot adjust to the socially-
accepted norms of behavior and consequently disrupt their academic
progress, the learning efforts of their classmates, and their interpersonal
relations;

3. Gifted or talented - those who are capable of superior performance
including those with demonstrated achievement or potential ability in
one or more of the following areas: general intellectual ability, specific

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academic aptitude, creative or productive thinking ability, leadership
ability, ability in the visual or performing arts, and psychomotor ability;
or, those individuals who consistently manifest the following cluster of
traits: above average ability (including intelligence), high creativity

(implies the developmental appreciation of innovative ideas) and high
task commitment (related to a high degree of motivation); and those who
by reason thereof, require services or activities not ordinarily provided
by a school;

. Deaf - those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. Deaf persons are those
whose hearing is non-functional for ordinary purposes in life; the hard-
ofthearing have a defective sense of hearing but are still functional with
or without a hearing aid;

. Learning disabilities - those, although normal in sensory, emotional and
intellectual abilities, have a condition that causes
impedimenvimpairment in perception, comprehension, listening,
thinking, reading, writing, spelling or arithmetic;

. Multiple disabilities - those with more than one disability such as the
deaf-blindness (concomitant hearing and visual impairments) or those
diagnosed with autism and intellectual disability; mental retardation-
orthopedic impairment;

Deaf blindness - concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the
combination of which results in severe communication and other
development and education needs that cannot be served in programs
solely for the blind and deaf.

. Neuropsychological retardation/ intellectual disability - those who have
substantial limitation in present functioning characterized by significant
sub-average intellectual functioning co-existing with other limitations in
two or more of the following applicable adaptive skill areas:
communication, self-care, home living, social skills, community use,
self-direction, health and safety, functional academics, leisure and work;

. Orthopedic/physical disabilities - those who have impairments caused
by any of the following: a) congenital anomaly (e.g. clubfoot, spinal
cord injury, etc.); b) disease (e.g. poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis, etc.);
and c) impairments from other causes (e.g. gerbera palsy, amputations,

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and fractures, etc.). The impairment permanently or temporarily
interferes with the normal functions of the joints, muscles or limbs;

10. Special health problems - those who have health conditions that tend to
keep them out-of-school, or those with chronic and/or debilitating
illnesses such as cardiac disease, asthma, diabetes, tuberculosis and
other respiratory ailments, carcenonza, epilepsy, and malnutrition;

11. Speech impairment and delays - those who have difficulty in expressing
or articulating words in a manner understandable by others;

12. Visual impairment - those who are blind or have low vision. Persons
are blind if they have visual capacity of 20/200 or less in the better eye
after maximum correction. Low vision persons retain relatively low
degree of vision and can read only enlarged print or regular print under
special conditions;

(c) Handicap refers to a disadvantage of an individual, resulting from an impairment or a
disability that limits or prevents the function or activity that is considered normal, given
the age and gender of the individual;

(a) Impairment refers to any loss, diminution or aberration of psychological, physiological
or anatomical structure or function;

() Individualized Education Program (IEP) refers to the systematic, purposive and
developmental educational programming of curricular and instructional priorities and
contents designed to meet a leamer’s special needs and aimed at ensuring mastery
learning of target skills and behaviors; including periodic monitoring of child's progress
and age- appropriate transition plan relating to training, employment, and independent
living beginning at age 16 or earlier as determined by the IEP team;

(f) Learning differences refer to any of the following:

1. a physical or mental or sensory and intellectual impairment that substantially
limits one or more psychological, physiological, anatomical, sensory or intellectual
function of an individual;

2. arecord of such an impairment; or,

3. being regarded as having such an impairment;

(g) Private sector participation refers to all forms of indispensable, substantial and
meaningful participation of private individuals, partnerships, groups or entities,
community-based organizations or non-governmental organizations, in the delivery of
educational and rehabilitative services for children with special needs;

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(h) Special Education refers to the customized instructional program/service designed to
meet the unique needs of individual children and youth with special needs, which may
necessitate use of supplementary aids and services and teaching strategies in
classroom and non- academic settings, and includes instructions on physical and
vocational education and travel training. Special education addresses significant
physical, sensory, neuropsychological, cognitive or behavioral characteristics that may
necessitate the use of specialized materials, equipment, services and/or teaching
strategies. It is geared towards the integration of children with special needs into the
education mainstream;

a

Inclusive Education means providing to all students, including those with significant
disabilities, equitable opportunities to receive effective educational services, with the
needed supplementary aids and support services, in age-appropriate classrooms in their
neighborhood schools, in order to prepare students productive lives as full members of
society (National Center on Educational Restructuring and Inclusion, 1995). It requires
that schools educate children and youth with special needs predominantly in general
education classroom. Removal of children and youth with special needs from the
regular educational environment, like special class or separate schooling, occurs only
when education in regular classes even with the use of supplementary aids and services
cannot be made satisfactorily due to the nature of the special needs.

@

Inclusive Education Learning Resource Center is a resource hub that provide
students, teachers, school personnel and other education stakeholders of children and
youth with special needs appropriate instructional learning materials, tools, devices,
gadgets, equipment to facilitate and enhance learning; assessment tools and
instruments to evaluate developmental domains and specific areas of concern
necessary in determining appropriate services and placement decisions;

«k

Special instructional materials refer to textbooks in Braille, large type or any other
medium or apparatus, that convey information to a student or otherwise contributes to
the learning process;

()_ Universal Design for Learning is a framework that provides educators with a structure
to meet the wide range of diversity among learners by providing flexibility in the ways
information is presented and by reducing barriers in instruction, providing appropriate
accommodations and supports. The three principles of UDL are access, assessment,
and engagement (Higher Equal Opportunity Act, 2008).


SEC. 5. Establishment of Inclusive Education Learning Resource Centers for Children and
Youth with Special Needs in all Public Schools Divisions. - An Inclusive Education Learning
Resource Center for children and youth with special needs shall be established in all public
schools divisions nationwide where there are no existing Inclusive Education Learning
Resource Center. Existing Inclusive Education Learning Resource Centers shall continue to
function and additional ones shall be established when the need arises due to increased number
of enrollees, upon recommendation of the Schools Division Superintendent and approval of
the Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd).

All Inclusive Education Leaming Resource Centers will comply with the requirements
of the Universal Design Principle.

SEC. 6. Functions of an Inclusive Education Learning Resource Center. — The Inclusive
Education Learning Resource Center shall function as a resource center that shall assist in
promoting inclusive education to capacitate regular schools to effectively handle the needs of
children and youth with disability. It shall:

(a) Support children and youth with special needs so they could be integrated/included in
regular classes;

(b) Conduct assessment of children and youth with special needs to
evaluate developmental domains and specific areas of concern and determine appropriate
services and placement options;

(c) Conduct school- based training of children and youth with special needs;

(d) Undertake case management and coordination of services;

() Provide training to regular teachers, administrators, non-teaching personnel and parents
‘on inclusive education;

(f) Produce appropriate teaching materials for children and youth with special needs;

(g) Implement the programs of the Inclusive Education Learning Resource Center such as
the Individualized Education Program and other alternative educational programs; and

(h) Provide auxiliary aids and services or services that are basically non-educational, but
which enhance the education process of the child and youth with special needs. These services
include:

1. language and speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical and physiotherapy,
among other modes of therapy;
2. quality interpretations or other effective methods of delivering materials;


3. quality reading, taped tests or other effective methods of delivering materials to
individuals with visual impairments;

4. acquisition or modification of equipment or devices;

5. appropriate classroom accommodation; and,

6. other similar services and actions or all types of aids and services that facilitate the
learning process of children and youth with special needs; and

7. assist, facilitate, monitor the transfer or admission of qualified children and youth

with special needs to post- secondary or tertiary education institutions.

SEC. 7. Staffing and Responsibilities. ~ In addition to teachers with special training to handle
children and youth with special needs, each Inclusive Education Learning Resource Center
shall have a Supervisor, an Administrative Core and Placement Committee. Mobile Special
Education (SPED) teachers and the Mobile Multi-Specialist Inclusive Education Division
‘Support Team who will serve as human resource complement.

(a) Supervisor - The Supervisor shall:

i. _ head the Inclusive Education Learning Resource Center;
ii, administer and supervise the Inclusive Learning Resource Center Program;
iii, oversee the other components of the Inclusive Education Learning Resource
Learning Resource Center Program;
iv. monitor, supervise and provide technical assistance, training, and enhancement
programs of the Inclusive Educational Learning Resource Center personnel;

(6) Administrative Core and Placement Committee - The Placement Committee shall, in
consultation with and active participation of parents, and developmental pediatrician among
others, ensure that students with disabilities are educated by appropriate qualified personnel as
close as possible to their homes and alongside their age-appropriate peer groups. It is also
tasked to develop and maintain a data bank on special education in respective jurisdiction. This
Committee shall be composed of

(1) any one (1) of the following: developmental pediatrician, neurological psychiatrist,
educational psychologist, guidance counselor or psychometrician

(2) one (1) physical therapist;

(3) one (1) occupational therapist;

(4) one (1) speech and language therapist/speech correction teacher;

(5) one (1) reading specialist;

(6) sign language specialist; and


(7) the Inclusive Education Learning Resource Center Supervisor.

(©) Mobile SPED Teachers - Mobile SPED teachers shall be appointed whenever
necessary. Their principal task is CHILD-YOUTH FIND (find and identify children
and youth with special needs unable to attend formal schooling due to accessibility and
mobility limitations) and determine appropriate learning modalities using the program
and services of the Inclusive Education Learning Resource Center. They shall share
responsibility for program planning and scheduling, and assist isolated or remote
schools with specialized equipment, individual programs, curriculum adjustment,
teaching aids and building modifications. The Alternative Learning System (ALS) shall
be an integral component of the Inclusive Education Learning Resource Center.

(a) Mobile Multi-Specialist Inclusive Education Division Support Team - DepEd shall
outfit each school division with a Mobile Multi- Specialist Inclusive Education Division
Support Team comprised of a SPED Education Supervisor, Occupational Therapist, Physical
Therapist, Speech Therapist/Pathologist, Sign Language Specialist, Guidance and Counseling
Specialist, Developmental Pediatrician, Educational Psychologist, Materials Production
Specialist and other specialists deemed necessary. They will serve as consultants and will be
drawn from professional organizations based in the region or nearby region where the division
is based.

SEC. 8. Remuneration and Benefits for Inclusive Education Learning Resource Center
Personnel, — The salary grades of SPED teachers and the Supervisor managing the Inclusive
Education Learning Resource Centers shall be in accordance with the Revised Compensation
and Classification System and other Civil Service Rules and Regulations.

The DepEd shall enhance the right of the teachers/instructors to professional
advancement and ensure that the Inclusive Education Learning Resource Centers shall attract
the best available teaching staff and talents through adequate remuneration, scholarship and
training grants, teacher exchange programs, incentives and allowances and other means of
securing their job satisfaction and fulfillment as well as their long and stable tenure in their
respective posts. A similar program shall be designed for support personnel to include
interpreters, psychologists, social workers involved in the education and rehabilitation of
children and youth with special needs, teachers, and other personnel of Inclusive Education
Learning Resource Center.


‘The DepEd, in coordination with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), shall
identify at least one (1) leading institution or university in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao whose
faculty is considered or regarded as highly competent in the area of special and inclusive
education and where a uniform or standardized curriculum for any post-graduate education
program shall be designed to benefit SPED teachers and other personnel of Inclusive Education
Leaming Resource Centers. The manner of selection of such institution shall be provided under

the rules and regulations to be formulated to implement the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 9, In-Service Training of Teachers, Administrators, and Non-Teaching Personnel. —
(a) To build a culture for Inclusive Education, DepEd shall offer basic and advanced seminars
on disability awareness and inclusive education for the following education stakeholders:
principals and administrators, regular teacher's, non-teaching staff and personnel.

(b) Specialist teachers for children and youth with specials needs will be provided
opportunities for annual upgrading in their area of specializations like interventions for

learning, sign language fluency and other topics deemed necessary by DepEd.

SEC. 10. Authority of the Secretary of Education to Give Grants to, or Enter into
Cooperative Arrangements for the Creation of Inclusive Education Resource Centers. ~The
Secretary of Education is hereby authorized to give grants to, or enter into cooperative
arrangements or contracts with public or private non-profit agencies, institutions or
organizations for the establishment or creation of Inclusive Education Learning Resource
Centers or implementation of programs such as the following:

(a) Technical assistance to Inclusive Education Learning Resource Center teachers who
are preparing to serve or are serving children and youth with special needs for inclusion
and mainstreaming;

(b) Training of professionals or related services personnel including all regular teachers;

(c) Replication of successful innovative approaches in providing educational or related
services to children and youth with special need;

(d) Facilitation of parental involvement in the education of their children and youth with
special needs;

(©) Diagnosis and educational evaluation of children and youth with special needs;

(®) Consultative, counseling and training services for the families of children and youth
with special needs; and,

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(g) Familiarization of the municipality or city being served by an Inclusive Education
Learning Resource Center with the problems and potentialities of such children and
youth.

SEC. 11. Creation of an Inclusive Education Program Office at Depend Central Office. -
DepEd shall set-up a new Inclusive ED Program Office that will focus on policy formulation
and program development for children and youth with special needs. The Office is primarily
tasked with the formulation and administration of policies and developmentally-suited
programs primarily to achieve functional literacy of the children and youth with special needs
to facilitate inclusion in society. The full continuum of educational services shall be made
available by the Office to children and youth with special needs below school age through
regular home visits, consultations, day care activities and other programs.

The Inclusive ED Program Office will be under the DepEd Undersecretary for
Programs and Projects and will be headed by a director and assisted by division chiefs for the
(1) Children and Youth with Disability Division and (2) Gifted and Talented Children and
Youth Division. The Division Chiefs will assist in the formulation, implementation,
monitoring, and evaluation of policies, programs and services for children and youth with
special needs.

SEC. 12. Continuing Research to Identify Needs of Children and Youth with Special
‘Needs/Disability. - The DepEd, by itself or in coordination with organizations or institutions,
shall undertake continuing research to identify and design programs that shall meet the full
range of needs of children and youth with specials needs: Provided, That such continuing
research shall also be used to develop instructional techniques for use by the Inclusive
Education Learning Resource Centers towards improving the children’s and youth acquisition
of skills necessary for their transition to independent living, vocational training or competitive
development: Provided, further, That such continuing research shall be used by the DepEd in
designing a physical education and therapeutic recreation program to be used by the Centers to
increase the potential of the children and youth for community participation.

SEC. 13. Student Assistance. — The DepEd shall provide financial assistance to marginalized

or disadvantaged children and youth with special needs at the elementary and secondary levels

which may come in the form of scholarship grants; allowances for transportation, food,

lodging, and books; student loan programs; artistic and cultural tours; training programs;
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subsidies for educational assessment and diagnosis; and other incentives. These include those
who lack access to rehabilitative services and educational opportunities due to being poor, as
defined in R.A. No. 8425 otherwise known as the Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act,
been have abandoned, are ill, or are neglected.

Marginalized or disadvantaged children and youth with special needs coming from
indigenous communities shall be given priority in the grant of assistance.

Special equipment like wheelchairs, crutches, special toilet and hygiene requirements,
hearing aids, eyeglasses, learning devices, and other assistive devises required by the students
to optimize education and participation in the educational process shall also be provided for
free or at discounted rates to deserving students, and at very affordable rates, in general,
through a reasonable funding scheme that shall be designed by the DepEd.

SEC. 14. Recreational and Artistic Opportunities. — The DepEd shall institute opportunities
for safe and wholesome individual as well as interactive group recreation and social activities;
optimal use of their leisure hours; and advancement of their physical, mental, social and
cultural development.

SEC. 15. Special Instructional Materials. — Publishers shall grant the DepEd the authority to
transcribe adopted instructional materials into accessible format, without penalty or payment
of royalty in accordance with R.A. No. 8293 otherwise known as the Intellectual Property Code
of the Philippines. Further, publishers of newly adopted materials shall provide, not later than
the second working day after the adoption of textbook titles by the DepEd, the digital copy as
specified by the DepEd for the purpose of producing accessible versions of the textbooks for
students with reading disabilities. The accessible versions may be produced by the DepEd or
by non- profit accessible book producers. which may be copied and distributed upon request,
to a Schools Division for instructional purposes.

Copies of these instructional materials shall be furnished without cost to either the
children and youth with special needs or the teacher who is handling their instruction.

SEC. 16. Incentives for Private Sector Participation. — Partnership between the government

and private institutions catering to the needs of children and youth with special needs be

encouraged. All revenues generated by the Inclusive Education Learning Resource Center in

public elementary and high school, owned, operated and controlled by the DepEd shall be

exempt from income tax. Any donation, contribution, bequest and grant which may be made
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to the Inclusive Education Learning Resource Center shall be exempt from donor's tax and the
same shall be considered as allowable deduction from the gross income in the computation of
the income tax of the donor in accordance with the provisions of R.A. No. 8424 otherwise
known as the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended: Provided, That such
donations shall not be disposed of, transferred or sold. Economic, technical and cultural books
and publications shall be imported duty-free upon certification by the DepEd that such
imported books and publications are for economic, technical, vocational, scientific,
philosophical, historical or cultural purposes, in accordance with the provisions of the Customs
Modernization and Tariff Act.

SEC. 17. Integration/Inclusion of Children with Disability in Child Development/ Day Care
Centers. — Child Development/Day Care Centers specially designed for pre-school children
and their parents, where early identification of disabilities and special needs and introductory
educational and intervention programs will be administered, shall also be established near or
within existing Inclusive Education Learning Resource Centers, or in other Centers that shall
be supported by the DepEd with the support of the Early Childhood Care and Development
(ECCD) Council, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Local
Government Unit (LGU) in the area. As far as practicable, the use of existing day care centers
and facilities shall be maximized.

SEC. 18. Nutritional Programs. — The National Nutrition Council (NNC) shall determine and
prescribe appropriate nutritional programs for children with special needs for implementation

by the Department of Health (DOH) and the DepEd.

SEC. 19. Parent, Sibling, and Caregiver Education. — A formal trai

g and counseling
program shall be developed through joint efforts of DepEd, DSWD, LGUs, Early Childhood
Care and Development (ECCD) Council, and Disabled People's Organizations (DPOs), Non-
government organizations (NGOs), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to equip parents,
siblings, and caregivers of children and youth with special needs with a working knowledge of
special education, an understanding of the psychology of children with special needs, and the
awareness of their crucial role as educators so that they, in turn, can maximize their knowledge
and skills to fully participate in developing the potentials of children and youth with special
needs. Parents should also be appraised of procedural safeguards to protect the educational

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rights of children and their parents, and processes to resolve disputes and complaints related to
the education of children and youth with special needs.

SEC. 20. Local Government Unit Participation. - The LGUs shall use their Special Education
Fund for the following:

(a) Provision of sites, buildings or centers where there are no existing school facilities that
may be used for the special education of children with special needs, as well as the
establishment of day care pursuant to Sec. 15 hereof;

(b) Identification, coordination and the tapping of public or private volunteers and private
organizations, national or international, for information dissemination campaigns,
funding programs and other projects to augment the funding of Inclusive Education
programs and equipment, among others; and,

(©) Provision of counterpart funds for nutritional programs, educational assessment
program of children and youth with special needs in their respective localities that
would be initiated by the DepEd, in coordination with the Department of Budget and
Management (DBM) and the Department of Finance (DOF).

SEC. 21. Public Information, Education and Communication. — A nationwide information
dissemination campaign on the prevention, early identification and the strategic intervention
programs for children and youth with special needs shall be intensified. This shall be the joint
responsibility of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), Council for the Welfare of Children
(CWC) and DepEd. Likewise, the DepEd, in collaboration with DOH, DOLE, LGUs shall
disseminate materials and information concerning effective practices in working with, training

and educating children with special needs.

SEC. 22. Appropriations. - The Secretary of the DepEd shall immediately include in the
DepEd program the implementation of this Act, the funding of which shall be included in the
annual General Appropriations Act. Separate appropriation will be provided for children and
youth with disabilities and talented or gifted children and youth.

SEC. 23. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — The DepEd, in coordination with the
DSWD, Department of the Interior and Local Government, DOH, DOF, Bureau of Internal

Revenue, and CWC shall promulgate and issue the necessary guidelines for the creation and

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operation of Inclusive Education Learning Resource Centers within sixty (60) days after the
effectivity of this Act.

SEC. 24. Separability Clause. — If for any reason, a provision or part hereof is declared invalid,
other provisions not affected thereby shall remain in full force and effect.

SEC. 25. Repealing Clause. — All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations
contrary or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified

accordingly.

SEC. 26. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the
Official Gazette or in any two (2) newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines.

Approved,

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