SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian pressed for a more aggressive and efficient implementation of the Child Find System to identify, locate, and evaluate learners with disabilities who have no access to basic education services.

The child find system is part of the comprehensive program of the Department of Education to enable more children with special needs to receive education. Under the program, teachers visit identified children with special needs to convince the parents to enroll them in the Special Education centers or schools.

Gatchalian said that even before the Covid19 pandemic, learners with disabilities had struggled to be part of the general education system.

The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation estimated that there are more than 5 million children living with disabilities but only about 439,700 were enrolled in DepEd schools for School Year 2019-2020.

Based on Save the Children’s Rapid Survey on the Situation of Children with Disabilities in the Context of Covid19 conducted in May 2020, 48 percent of 4,066 participants said they could not access education services because of quarantine measures.

Gatchalian said that in Senate Bill 1907 or the proposed Instituting Services for Learners with Disabilities in Support of Inclusive Education Act, the proposed Inclusive Learning Resource Center of Learners with Disabilities will implement the CFS.

“Sa pamamagitan ng inclusive education, matutulungan natin ang mga mag-aaral na may kapansanan na makatanggap ng dekalidad na edukasyon at sapat na mga serbisyo. Sa panahong itinataguyod natin ang new o better normal, walang mag-aaral ang dapat mapag-iiwanan dahil sa kanilang kapansanan,” the chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture said.

Under the measure, at least one ILRC will be established and maintained in every city and municipality.

These ILRCs will offer services such as linguistic solutions for deaf learners’ concerns, speech-language pathology and audiology services, physical and occupational therapy, counseling and rehabilitation, and medical and transportation services, among others.