MANILA, Sept 21: The National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) has released a set of guidelines for the admission of students with disabilities in higher education and post-secondary institutions. Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) have already adopted the said guidelines as reference.

These guidelines were developed by the NCDA’s sub-committee on education "to fill the information gap that exists among personnel of higher education institutions in the procedural admission of students with disabilities."

They were created in accordance with R.A. 9442 or the Act Amending the Magna Carta to PWDs, which states that educational assistance must be given to people with disabilities in their pursuit for primary, secondary, tertiary, post tertiary, vocational, or technical education by providing scholarships, grants, financial aids, subsidies, and other incentives as long as the said people with disabilities meet the minimum admission requirements of the institution they applied for.

Specifically indicated in the guidelines are students who are deaf or with hearing impairment, students with Learning Disabilities (LD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), students with physical disabilities, and students with visual impairment.

The guidelines for the admission of students with disabilities in higher education and post-secondary institutions are the following:

Deaf students
The deaf and hard of hearing students, including those who passed and qualified in the Accreditation Equivalency Test administered by the Bureau of Alternative Learning System shall be admitted in any higher/post secondary educational institution provided that pass the admission requirements of the school, given reasonable accommodations.

In order to facilitate the learning of the deaf or hard of hearing students, they may need or require sign language interpreters and note takers whom the school can provide or arrange with professionals. It is important that sign language interpreters inside the classroom should be stationed clearly and conveniently visible to the deaf  students.

Student support services such as an office unit in charge of special needs must also be provided or arranged by the school. Other things that the school should provide and ensure are guidance and counseling services; full access, participation and inclusion of students in extra-curricular and socialization activities; facilitate student interaction and networking among the deaf or hard of hearing students and; and facilitate open communication between the teachers and parents.

The school may also provide the following equipment: flashing visual signals as counterpart to audio-related signals, adequate classrooms with "acoustical treatment," a well-lit classroom and facilities for close-caption devices.

Teachers and support providers dealing with the deaf or hard of hearing students should have sufficient orientation of the following: awareness on deaf visual language, culture, and uniqueness; access and equity in the education of deaf and hard of hearing students; and basic sign language.

Students with Learning Disabilities (LD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD)

Learning disabilities may be exhibited through different core cognitive characteristics like problems in word reading, accuracy, and fluency, comprehension, math computation problems, mathematics fact retrieval, procedural skills and problem solving. Students with LDs often require task analytic instruction which is organized, explicit, and provides opportunity for review.

Meanwhile, Autism Spectrum Disorder is a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and non-verbal communication and social interaction, usually evident before age three that adversely affects a child's educational performance. Other characteristics are often associated with movements, resistance to environmental change or in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experience. This discussion is limited to Asperger's Syndrome or High Functioning Autism categories as they are more likely to enter post-secondary education and higher institutions.

On the other hand, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is considered a biologically based, educational disability where there is a problem of sustaining attention, effort and motivation and inhibiting behavior in a consistent manner over time. It is often harder for students with AD/HD to do the same academic work not because they lack the skill but because they lack the structure and exhibit the same social behavior expected of other students.

Students with LD, ASD, and AD/HD, including those who passed and qualified in the Accreditation Equivalency Test administered by the Bureau of
Alternative Learning System shall be admitted in any higher/post secondary educational institution provided that pass the admission requirements of the school, given reasonable accommodations.

Upon passing the admission test, the school/university will require a medical and developmental assessment and clearance from a medical professional and further assessment by the school's licensed guidance counselor and to present a more accurate psycho-education assessment or psychological assessment of the students with learning disabilities from certified psychologist. The school must also organize a conference to be attended by the student with learning disability and his/her advocated to discuss strategies on how to further support the student.

The school will be given reasonable time to offer or to advise the students to avail of the following services wherever available: 1) non-teaching staff such as nurse, certified psychologist, physical therapist, speech pathologist, SPED consultants, medical professional, developmental pediatrician, and licensed guidance counselors; 2) reasonable accommodation in the school library; and, 3) provision of job placement referral services to assist in the vocational exploration and career placement of students with learning disabilities.

Student support services must also be provided by the institution such as guidance and counseling programs; center for students with learning disabilities which would serve as a venue to access and coordinate necessary services such as therapy, tutorial, on-the-job training and medication services; a periodic or annual sensitivity training for all concerned school personnel and students on how to deal with or assist a student with learning disabilities.

General education teachers should have necessary exposure and training provided by professional organizations and established institutions with courses in special education for specific learning challenges under his/her care. They should also have an open and positive attitude towards students with LDs; have initiative to design and apply curricular approaches and strategies that would facilitate the education of students with LDs; willingly engage in the process of working with students with LDs and; able to provide strategies for both education and behavior purposes.
Persons with other types of mental impairments such as those with down syndrome shall also be admitted to the post-secondary or higher education institution he/she deemed fit to study, given reasonable accommodations.

Students with physical disabilities
School authorities must properly address architectural barriers within the campus to accommodate students with physical disabilities. Batas Pambansa Blg. 344 also known as the Accesibility Law, require that all establishments be made accessible to enhance mobility of persons with disabilities.

Students with physical disabilities, including those who passed and qualified in the Accreditation Equivalency Test administered by the Bureau of Alternative Learning System shall be admitted in any higher/post secondary educational institution provided that pass the admission requirements of the school, given reasonable accommodations.

The school should also establish a Disability Services Unit within the Office of Student Affairs to provide access to all available programs and services in school; initiate and institutionalize a referral program to address their special needs; conduct special programs to encourage students to participate in various school activities, be duly recognized and awarded and; conduct special training for counselor on guidance and counseling of persons with disabilities in coordination with the school's guidance center.
Teachers should have an on orientation on accessibility and other policies affecting person with disabilities and sensitivity training in providing assistance.

Students with visual disabilities
Visually impaired students, including those who passed and qualified in the Accreditation Equivalency Test administered by the Bureau of Alternative Learning System of the Department of Education shall be admitted in any higher or post-secondary educational institution in accordance with the general admission requirements of the school given reasonable accommodation such as the administration of test in Braille format or in oral-type.

In order to facilitate the learning of students with visual impairments, they may have qualified readers to go with them in school upon arrangement with the teacher and other concerned school personnel. They may also bring with them other educational assistive devices such Braille N Speak, recorder/player, and laptops.

Students with visual impairments may prefer or require other educational materials such as books and other references in tape, CD or Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) format. Production and availability of these materials can be arranged in advance through the National Library (Library for the Blind division) based in Manila and through other non-government organizations like the Resources for the Blind and other affiliates.

Given reasonable accommodations, students with visual impairments can do adaptations to fulfill the requirements of the prescribed curriculum for every course. Teachers are encouraged to be more descriptive in delivering lessons for every subject such as visual aids for the seeing, tactile aids that could be touched and audio books to enhance learning of visually impaired students. Physical Education subjects in every curriculum may be modified to enable visually impaired students to comply with the requirements.
Post-secondary admissions

For post-secondary admission of PWDs, "students with physical abilities or have special needs should be accepted in any course or qualifications preferred by the applicants. The acceptance shall be made only after clear assessment and concurrence by all parties concern on the potential and peculiar problems that may be encountered by the student in fulfilling the demand and rigor during the actual learning process."
Each training institution should establish a committee to review and deliberate applicants based on their skills, knowledge, expertise, and technical skills. The Recognition of Prior Learning is an assessment process which gives accreditation or recognition of a person's technical skills and knowledge acquired through exposure to relevant work experience related to the course being applied.

All post-secondary TVET courses should adopt the Competency-Based Training (CBT) mode. The CBT offers a clearly defined set of competencies that should be acquired by the learner. It provides a built-in flexibility to respond on the capacity and learning need of its student or trainee.
Increasing number of students with disabilities

Despite the increasing students with disabilities, still very few are able to go to college. The Department of Education's reports show that 156,270 children with special needs enrolled for school year 2004-2005. Meanwhile, CHED also reported that a total of 352 PWDs nationwide have availed of the Private Education Student Financial Assistance (PESFA) for the school year 2006-2007 to pursue tertiary education.

According to R.A. 7277 or the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons, the state shall provide the disabled persons with adequate access to quality education and enough opportunities to develop their skills. "It shall be unlawful for any learning institutions to deny a disabled person admission to any course it offers by reason of handicap or disability."

Likewise, CHED has also released memorandum order 23 to urge higher educational institutions to admit learners with special needs, to include special education (SPED) programs for teacher training institutions, and to provide or modify facilities and equipment to ensure quality education for students with disabilities.

NCDA reiterates that "the issue of persons with disabilities getting an education is not only a matter of [their admission to schools] but more importantly, it is all about the lifelong educational experience of the person in school."(PND/ASB-PIA-PND)


Source: http://www.pia.gov.ph