Lawmaker wants more public school teachers trained in SPED

An administration lawmaker has filed a bill seeking to train more teachers in public schools to handle classes exclusively for children with autism and other cognitive problems.

Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo authored House Bill 6201 to institutionalize the proportionate scholarship slots in every legislative district for the training of teachers involved in the field of special education ( SPED).

He said the objective of the bill is to have teacher- scholars who will later cater to children with autism and to form a sizeable community of teacher- scholars who specialize in SPED.

The lawmaker said under the 2012 scholarship program for special education of the Department of Education ( DepEd), only 30 SPED teachers are assigned to handle children with autism spectrum disorder ( ASD) all over the country.

SPED teachers will also handle children with attention deficit hyperactive disorder ( ADHD), attention deficit disorder ( ADD), learning disabilities and dyslexia, a learning disability that impairs a person’s fluency or comprehension accuracy.

“There is no denying that inclusive education means that all learners, including those who are differently abled, should be cared for as well,” Castelo said.

The bill envisions that every legislative district throughout the country be allotted the budget requirements to support special education teachers to pursue further training and education at the Philippine Normal University.

“SPED teachers and centers nationwide form the backbone of educating everyone or at the exclusion of not a single one on account of autism, ASD, or related concerns, for problems like these should not be a deprivation,” Castelo said.

He said DepEd is also a signatory to the United Nations initiated Education for All campaign, which aims to ensure quality basic education accessible to all learners.

“This is quite apart from other education- outreach programs for indigenous peoples, out- of- school children, or learning in difficult circumstances,” Castelo said.