MANILA, Philippines ? The government has been neglecting the educational needs of special children, as shown by the lack of facilities and programs available to them in the public school system, a party-list lawmaker said.

To correct the situation, Kabataan Representative Raymond Palatino has filed a bill mandating the government to provide free appropriate public education for children and youth with special needs, including the mentally and physically challenged, the hearing and visually impaired, and the gifted and talented.

Palatino, in the explanatory note to the measure, said children with special needs were entitled to participate in and make contributions to society and a proper education was vital to help them accomplish this.

?As such, it is the obligation of the state to ensure the equality of their access to social services and life-improvement opportunities, their full participation in decisions concerning their welfare, and the eventual possibility of their economic self-sufficiency. One important way to guarantee these rights and privileges is through education?specifically special education.?

Lack of support from gov?t

Palatino said a United Nations study showed there was hardly any support from the Philippine government for the training of teachers of special needs children, or even to put up diagnostic centers for them.

School administrators were indifferent to programs for youth with special needs, he said.

Special education (Sped) schools in the country, on the other hand, have problems with low enrollment and staffing, he added.

Under Palatino?s bill, P600 million a year for five consecutive years would be allocated for a Sped program.

The measure would create a Bureau of Special Education under the Department of Education that would formulate a curriculum, do research, and come up with programs to help special needs children achieve functional literacy and be integrated into society.

The bill mandates the establishment of at least one Sped center in each school division, with three Sped centers set up in bigger divisions.

Integration, assessment

The centers, to be staffed by trained teachers, would help the special needs students get integrated into regular schools, produce teaching materials for them, and assess their condition.

The government would be required to provide free formal training and counseling for parents, siblings, and caregivers of the special children.

The bureau would provide wheelchairs, crutches, and other special equipment for physically disabled students, and give financial assistance other than tuition, such as for food and transportation.

As for local government units, they would be required to provide buildings for the Sped centers if no school facilities are available. They would also provide counterpart funds for the training of parents and teachers.