A Voice for Deaf Children: The role of PTAs, DPOs and professionals with disabilities in inclusive education in the Philippines

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

In developing countries like the Philippines, the underrepresentation of Deaf children in education policy and programs is exacerbated by the limited capacity of the communities and institutions that support them. Less than one child in ten children with disabilities is enrolled in formal education, which is a results of a multitude of factors. Many parents or primary caregivers are unaware of available education options for their children. The education system is still building its capacity to understand and meet the needs of children with disabilities, which is evident in inadequately trained teachers and ill-equipped facilities. With hardly any school-based research and no learning assessments adapted for student with disabilities, there is a large gap in improvement in curriculum and teaching for students with disabilities, and more specifically students who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Demand for quality education for children with disabilities is diminished by the low awareness of parents or caregivers of their rights, coupled by their own lack of ability to communicate with and understand the needs of the children. Disabled Persons Organizations (DPOs) are unevenly present in communities, and in many cases, fragmented, reducing their capability for effective collective action. Persons with disabilities in education professions are a nascent phenomenon and often, must compete with professionals without disabilities.
This panel will present the case of a program, USAID Gabay (Guide): Strengthening Inclusive Education for Blind/Deaf Children in the Philippines project, implemented by Resources for the Blind, Inc. (RBI) in three project sites. The USAID Gabay project seeks to improve education and literacy outcomes by improving access to quality education for learners with visual and hearing impairments to contribute to the attainment of the goals of USAID/Philippines’ Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) and the Partnership for Growth with Equity (PFGE) framework and to promote broad-based and inclusive economic growth in the Philippines. The project is utilizing a composite strategy of technical and rights-based approaches to influence education policy at local levels in favor of children with disabilities.

The panel will discuss: how the technical capacity of the public-school divisions was improved with evidence-based programs, including integrating educators with disabilities in teaching and producing learning materials; how the organization of parent-teacher associations (PTAs), specifically for parents, caregivers, and teachers of students with disabilities, increased the demand for quality education; and how, with established foundations for sustainability, a Disabled Persons Organization (DPO) successfully secured resources from a local government to annually support a program for educating children with disabilities.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Chair

• Aimee Reeves, School-To-School International

Individual Presentations

• Emergent roles of Deaf professionals in assessment, teaching, and learning materials production - Melyssa Sibal, School-to-School International

• Local Community Collaborations For Improvement of Inclusive Education - Yolanda Quijano, Resources for the Blind, Inc.

• Special Needs Education policies and programs - Arminia Odang Mojica, Resources for the Blind, Inc.