i REPRESENTATIVES:
Republic of the Philippines HABE ‘

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES RECEIVED
Suezonicty pare:_26 JUL 2018
SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS TIME:, fe

First Regular Session

1969

House Bill No.

BY:

RECISTRATION UNIT
AND INDEX SERVICE

Introduced by Representatives
Estrellita B. Suansing and Horacio P. Suansing, Jr.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

While the State provides for free basic education, there are those that miss out

opportunities to receive these benefits, especially as their needs are not similar with the
average child. According to data from the Department of Education as of late 2012, children
with special needs are estimated to account for 13 percent of the total population of children,
figuring to 5.49 million; 1.27 million are gifted while persons with disability (PWDs) comprise
4.2 million.

‘The proposed measure secks to provide Special Education (SPED) Centers in all

Schools Divisions to provide children with special needs access to basic education and
facilitate their inclusion and integration with mainstream education, and ensure that they fully
develop their potentials towards self-sufficiency and become more effective partners in the
affairs of the country; to equip parents, caregivers, and teachers with the capabilities to
identify, prevent, refer and intervene with the developmental disorders and disabilities of
children; and to create significant and positive changes in community attitudes towards
disability and the need to provide special education and proper care for children with special

‘The bill defines children with special needs as those who are gifted or are fast learners

and those who are disabled, impaired or handicapped and in need of special education as well
as services for rehabilitation.

‘The establishment of a SPED Center in each schools division, especially where none

exists, will ensure nationwide access of the children with special needs to basic education
through the formal system and other alternative delivery services in education and later
facilitate integration with mainstream education.

This bill has been filed during the 16% Congress and approved on Third Reading on

June 10, 2014 and was transmitted to the Senate for its consideration. Due to lack of material
time, however, no further action was taken on it. This bill is filed for the consideration of the
17% Congress.

In view of the foregoing, immediate passage of this bill is earnestly sought.

IG noraciSe Svansine, aR.

2h District, Nueva Ecija

LITA B.
1* District, Nueva Beij


1
2

Nous

©

10
ca
12
13
14
15
16
7
18
19
20

24

22
23

24
25
26
27

Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

1969

House Bill No.

Introduced by Representatives
Estrellita B. Suansing and Horacio P. Suansing, Jr.

AN ACT
ESTABLISHING SPECIAL EDUCATION (SPED) CENTERS FOR CHILDREN WITH
SPECIAL NEEDS IN ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIVISION AND APPROPRIATING
FUNDS THEREFOR

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

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Special
Education (SPED) Centers Act.”

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is hereby declared the policy of the
State to protect and promote the rights of children 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.

It is 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 these ends, and pursuant to the 1987 Constitution
specifically: Section 13, Article II; Section 13, Article XII; and Sections 1 and 2,
paragraphs 1 and 3, Article XIV, Article 3 of Presidential Decree No. 603 (The Child
and Youth Welfare Code); and Sections 12, 13, and 14 of Republic Act No. 7277
(Magna Carta for the Disabled), the State shall institutionalize an adequate and
relevant educational program for every child with special need through the
establishment of SPED Centers and the provision of vital support mechanisms
required to ensure their effectivity. All children 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.

SECTION 3. Objectives. - SPED Centers shall pursue the following:

a. Provide children with special needs access to basic information through
the formal system and other alternative delivery services in education;

b. Facilitate the inclusion and integration of children with special needs
into the mainstream education in accordance with the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the
Pacific;


10
1

12
13
14

15
16
17

18
19
20

21

22
23
24
25
26

27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38

39
40
a4
42
43

c. Develop, implement, and oversee the Individual Education Program;

d. Ensure that children with special needs fully develop their potentials
toward self-sufficiency and become more effective partners in the affairs
of the country;

e. Ensure that children with special needs understand, appreciate and
respect differences amongst groups and members of society, and to
understand the nature of the society in which they live;

f, Identify gifted and talented children from ages three (3) to sixteen (16);;

g. Provide parents with information on the full continuum of SPED services
and possible placement options for their children, and thus enable them
to make informed choices and decisions;

h, Support the role of parents by training and equipping them with
capabilities to identify, prevent, refer or intervene with the developmental
disorders and disabilities of children;

i. Train, equip, and educate teachers and other caregivers as primary
sources of care, development, education and advancement of children;
and

j. Create significant and positive changes in community attitudes towards

disability and the need to provide special education and proper care for
children with special needs.

SECTION 4. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act:

a. Basic Education refers to meeting the basic learning 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 with special needs refer to children 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;


Rune

warnan

10
a
12
13
14
15

16
17
18
19

20
2a
22
23

24
25
26

27
28
29
30
31
32
33

34
35
36

37
38
39
40
41

42
43
44

2) Behavior problems - 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 (1) or more of the following areas: general intellectual ability, specific
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;

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

5) Learning disabilities — those, although normal in sensory,
emotional and intellectual abilities, have a condition that causes
impediment/impairment in perception, comprehension, _ listening,
thinking, reading, writing, spelling or arithmetic;

6) Multiple disabilities - those with more than one (1) disability such
as the deaf-blind or those diagnosed with autism and intellectual
disability;

7) Neuropsychological retardation/ intellectual disability - those who
have substantial limitation in present functioning characterized by
significant sub-average intellectual functioning coexisting with other
limitations in two (2) 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;

8) Orthopedic/physical disabilities - those whose impairment
permanently or temporarily cause difficulty in mobility and all activities
of daily life;

9) 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;

10)Speech impairment and delays - those who have difficulty in
expressing or articulating words in a manner understandable to others;
and


waune

10

1
12
13
14

15

16
7
18

19

20

21
22
23
24
25

26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33

34
35
36

37
38
39
40
41
42
43

11) Visual impairment - those who are blind or have low vision.
Persons are blind of 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;

d. Impairment refers to any loss, diminution or aberration of psychological,
physiological or anatomical structure or function;

e. Individual Education Program refers to the systemic, purposive and
developmental educational programming of curricular and instructional
priorities and contents designed to meet a learner's special needs and
aimed at ensuring mastery learning of target skills and behaviors;

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) A record 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
nongovernmental organizations, in the delivery of educational and
rehabilitative services for children with special needs;

h, Special education refers to the customized instructional program service
designed to meet the unique needs of individual learners who differ from
societal or community standards of normalcy because of differences due
to 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
mainstream education; and

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

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

5


Ne

aunw

x

10

1
12
13

14
15

16
17
18

19
20

21
22

23
24

25

26

27
28
29

30
31
32

33
34
35
36

37

38

All SPED Centers and facilities shall be compliant with the requirements of
Batas Pambansa Blg. 344 or the Accessibility Law.

SECTION 6. Functions of a SPED Center. - The SPED Center shall
function as a resource center that shall assist in promoting inclusive education as to
capacitate regular schools to effectively handle the needs of children with special
needs. It shall:

a. Support children with special needs so that they could be
integrated /included in regular schools;

b. Conduct school-based training of children with special needs;
c, Produce appropriate teaching materials for children with special needs;

d. Conduct assessment of children with special needs to evaluate
developmental domains and specific areas of concern and determine
grade placement;

¢. Implement the programs of the SPED Centers such as the Alternative
Educational Program and the Early Intervention Program;

f. Provide auxiliary aids and services, or services that are basically
noneducational, but which enhance the education process of the child
with special needs. These services include:

1) Language and speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical
and physiotherapy, among other modes of therapy;

2) Qualified interpretations or other effective methods of delivering
materials;

3) Qualified 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;

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

7) Assist, facilitate and monitor the transfer or admission of
qualified children with disabilities to post-secondary or tertiary
education institutions.

SECTION 7. Staffing and Responsibilities. - In addition to teachers with
special training to handle children with special needs, each SPED Center shall have a
Program Director, an Administrative Core and Placement Committee and itinerant
SPED teachers as manpower complement:

a. Program Director ~ The Program Director shall:

1) Head the SPED Center;


10
cu
12
13
14
15

16
17
18

19

20

21
22

23

24

25
26
27
28
29
30
31

32
33
34
35

36
37
38
39
40

2) Administer and supervise the SPED Center programs;
3) Oversee the other components of the special education program;

4) Monitor, supervise and provide technical assistance, training
and enhancement programs to SPED personnel;

5) Issue procedures for referrals and placement;
6) Form and supervise the placement committee; and
7) Resolve disagreements on placement and services.

b. 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 with their age-appropriate peer
groups. It is also tasked to develop and maintain a databank on special
education in its respective jurisdiction. This Committee shall be
composed of:

1) Any one (1) of the following: Developmental Pediatrician,
Neurological Psychiatrist, Educational Psychologist 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; and
6) The SPED Center Program Director.

c. Itinerant SPED Teachers ~ Itinerant SPED teachers shall be appointed
whenever necessary. 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. They shall likewise reach out
to children with special needs who have accessibility and mobility
limitations.

SECTION 8. Remuneration and Benefits for SPED Center Personnel. - The
salary grades of SPED teachers and Program Directors managing the SPED Centers
shall be in accordance with the Revised Compensation and Position 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 SPED 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

7


en

warvaurn

10

12
13
14
15
16

7

18
19
20

2a
22

23
24

25

26
27

28
29

30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39

40
41
42
43

their respective posts. A similar program shall be designed for support personnel to
include interpreters, psychologists and social workers involved in the education and
rehabilitation of children with special needs.

The DepED 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 education and where a uniform or standardized
curriculum for any postgraduate education program shall be designed to benefit SPED
teachers and other personnel of SPED 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.

SECTION 9. Authority of the Secretary of Education to Give Grants to,
or Enter Into Cooperative Arrangements for the Creation of SPED Centers. - The
Secretary of Education is hereby authorized to give grants to, or enter into cooperative
arrangements or contracts with public or private nonprofit agencies, institutions or
organizations for the establishment or creation of SPED Centers or the
implementation of programs such as the following:

a. Techinical assistance to SPED Centers;

b. Training of professionals or related services personnel including all
regular teachers who are preparing to serve or are serving children with
special needs for inclusion and mainstreaming;

¢. Replication of successful innovative approaches in providing educational
or related services to children with special needs;

d. Facilitation of parental involvement in the education of their children
with special needs;

e. Diagnosis and educational evaluation of children with special needs;

f. Consultative, counseling and training services for the families of children
with special needs; and

g. Familiarization of the municipality or city being served by a SPED Center
with the problems and potentialities of such children.

SECTION 10. Continuing Research to Identify the Needs of Children
With Special Needs. - 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 with special needs: Provided, That such
continuing research shall also be used to develop instructional techniques for use by
the SPED Centers towards improving the children’s 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
SPED Centers to increase the potential of the children for community participation.

SECTION 11. Student Assistance. - The DepED shall provide financial
assistance to the marginalized or disadvantaged children 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;

8


wens

o

10
1
12
13

14
15
16

17
18

19

20

2a
22
23
24
25
26
27
28

29
30

31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39

41
42
43

artistic and cultural tours; training programs; subsidies; and other incentives. These
include those who lack access to rehabilitative services and educational opportunities
due to being poor, as defined in Republic Act No. 8425, otherwise known as the
“Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act”, have been abandoned, are ill, or are
neglected.

Marginalized or disadvantaged children 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 and such other assistive devices required by
the students to optimize education and participation in the education process shall
also be provided for free or at discounted rate to deserving students, and at very
affordable rates, in general, through a reasonable funding scheme that shall be
designed by the DepED.

SECTION 12. Recreational and Artistic Opportunities. - The DepED shall
institute a program for children with special needs that will afford them full
opportunities for:

a. Safe and wholesome individual as well as interactive group recreation
and social activities;

b. Optimal use of their leisure hours; and
c. Advancement of their physical, mental, social and cultural development.

SECTION 13. Special Instructional Material. - Publishers shall grant the
DepED the authority to transcribe adopted instructional materials into Braille, large
type and audio-tape, without penalty or payment of royalty in accordance with
Republic Act No. 8293, otherwise known as the “Intellectual Property Code of the
Philippines”. Further, a publisher of a newly adopted instructional material shall
provide, not later than the second working day after the adoption of a textbook title by
the DepED, the computerized files as specified by the DepED 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 with special needs or the teacher who is handling their instruction.

SECTION 14. Incentives for Private Sector Participation. ~ Partnership
between the government and private institutions catering to the needs of children with
special needs shall be encouraged. All revenues generated by the SPED Center in
public elementary and secondary schools, owned, operated and controlled by the
DepED shall be exempt from income tax. Any donation, contribution, bequest and
grant which may be made to the SPED 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
Republic Act 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,


warnauaw

10
ce
12

13
14
15
16
7
18
19

20
21

22
23
24
25

26
27
28
29
30

31
32
33
34
35

36
37
38
39
40
4
42
43

historical or cultural purposes, in accordance with the provisions of the Tariff and
Customs Code, as amended.

SECTION 15. Establishment of Specialized Day Care Centers. - Day care
centers especially 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 SPED Centers, or in other Centers that shall be created by the DepED with
the support of the local government unit (LGU) in the area. As far as practicable, the
use of existing day care centers and facilities shall be maximized.

SECTION 16. 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.

SECTION 17. Parent, Sibling and Caregiver Education. - A formal training
and counseling program shall be developed through joint efforts of the DepED, the
DSWD and the LGUs to equip parents, siblings and caregivers of children 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
develop the potentials of children with special needs.

SECTION 18. Local Government Unit Participation. - The LGUs may make
use of their SPED 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 a day care center pursuant
to Section 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 for SPED programs and equipment,
among others; and

¢. Provision of counterpart funds for nutritional programs and the training
and seminars of parents and teachers, nutritional programs for children
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).

SECTION 19. Public Information, Education and Communication. ~ A
nationwide information dissemination campaign on the prevention, early identification
and the strategic intervention programs for children with special needs shall be
intensified. This shall be the joint responsibility of the Philippine Information Agency
(PIA), the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) and the DepED. Likewise, the
DepED, in collaboration with the DOH and the Department of Labor and Employment
(DOLE), shall disseminate materials and information concerning effective practices in
working with, training and educating children with special needs.

10


warvaus

10
1
12

13
14
15

16
7

18

SECTION 20. Appropriations. - The Secretary of the DepED shall
immediately include in the Department's program the implementation of this Act, the
funding of which shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SECTION 21. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The DepED, in
coordination with the DSWD, the Department of Interior and Local Government
(DILG), the DOH, the DOF, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the CWC and the
National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), shall promulgate and issue the
necessary guidelines for the creation and operation of SPED Centers within sixty (60)
days after the effectivity of this Act.

SECTION 22. Separability Clause. - If, for any reason, a provision or part
hereof is declared invalid or unconstitutional, other provisions not affected thereby
shall remain in full force and effect.

SECTION 23. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules
and regulations contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby
repealed or modified accordingly.

SECTION 24. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,

1