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Imagine
trying to create and administer a national program of any kind in a country
that consists of 7100 islands scattered over 2000 kilometers from north
to south and 1000 kilometers from east to west. Add 70 million people,
and over 100 ethnic groups, and the logistics of such a task are almost
unthinkable. Despite these obstacles, the Philippines Department of Education
has been able to reach into the farthest corners of every inhabited island,
and to set up school programs in virtually every community. The result
is an enrollment rate of ninety six percent of all elementary-aged children.
This is an accomplishment that the Philippines, in our estimation, can
be justly proud of.
There is one important group of children,
though, who have yet to be fully included. Scattered throughout the islands
of the Philippines are 40,000 visually impaired children. In 1991, only
300 of these children were enrolled in school, an enrollment rate of less
than one percent.
Recognizing that new strategies were
needed to increase the enrollment of blind children, the Dept. of Education
met with representatives from Christoffel Blindenmission (an international
NGO), Resources for the Blind (a national NGO), and the Philippine Normal
University, (a teacher training college), to discuss ways that they could
work together meet the educational needs of these children.
We concluded that most of the facilities
to make enrollment possible for these children was already in place. By
making use of existing resources,these children could be provided an education
with very little extra expense or added burden.
There is certainly no need to create
a separate school system for these children. There are already more than
400,000 public school teachers in the Philippines, providing education
in more than 40,000 public schools. Every morning, 16 million sighted
children head off to a nearby public school where they can avail of their
free education. These sighted children are learning to read and write.
They are studying history, language, geography, civics, art, math, and
music. They are involved in sports, in academic competitions, in social
activities, and in community affairs. All of this was already solidly
in place and working very well, but in most cases, blind children were
being excluded.
The solution seemed simple. We only need
to give the blind children access to the existing school system. Let them
use the same buildings, the same teachers, the same school desks, and
the same curriculum as their sighted peers are using. Let them join their
brothers and sisters in going to school every morning. Almost everything
that they need to get an education was already in place and working well.
With a few simple modifications, the blind child could easily join their
sighted classmates.
Unfortunately, it was not so simple. When
the local schools were asked if they would accept blind children into
the regular classroom, their answer was predictable. They were horrified
and almost recoiled at the very idea of having a blind student join their
class. Some teachers even threatened to quit teaching if a blind child
was put in their class. School administrators and teachers were almost
always initially resistant to the concept of including blind children
in the regular classroom.
So, our first and foremost task became both
persuading and preparing teachers and administrators to accept blind children
into their schools. If we could accomplish that, we could open schools
for thousands of blind children around the country.
Making inclusion possible
There were three components to the strategy
for accomplishing inclusion. The first strategy was to provide a short
three day orientation course for administrators. This course introduces
the administrators to special education and explains how integration can
be successful in their schools. Its main purpose is to simply allay their
fears about having blind children in their schools.
The second strategy has been to offer summer
training courses for teachers in how to include blind children into the
regular classroom. These are graduate level, accredited courses, conducted
over three summers, and offered on a scholarship basis. By the end of
the first summer, the teachers immediately begin enrolling blind children
in their schools. Along with their other responsibilities, they serve
as a resource teacher, both for the blind student and for the regular
teacher, to make inclusion successful. They also become the advocate for
the blind student, to help overcome resistance to inclusion in school
activities. The third component has been to assure the schools that the
needed special equipment and materials for reading and writing will be
made available to their blind students.
Our experience over the last eleven years
has shown that when these three components are in place, blind students
are quickly and easily included in local schools. The only direct cost
to us has been to provide the scholarships for the training courses and
to help provide the special equipment and materials. We feel that these
inclusive programs are not only the best hope for blind children in the
Philippines, but they are the only hope for enrolling the thousands of
children yet to be reached.
Training the teachers
A key element in the strategy was the training
of the local class teachers. The aim was to give regular school teachers
enough of the basic skills to begin immediately enrolling blind students
intotheir classes.
The first course was implemented in 1992
with twenty scholars/teachers participating. On completion of the course,
all twenty immediately begin enrolling blind students in their respective
schools. The following summer these teachers were invited back forasecond
summer of training, and following that year they wereinvited back for
a third and final summer of training. Eachsummer a new batch of teachers
also was invited to begin,resulting now in three batches of teachers being
trained simultaneously each summer.
We realized, of course, that the teachers
hardly had even the barest minimum of training needed. Our premise was,
however, that it was better for the children to be in school, even with
a minimally trained teacher, than to spend another year sitting alone
at home. We would continue to provide additional training to the teacher
for as long as necessary, but we felt the children couldn't wait any longer
to enroll.
This summer training course has been offeredevery
summer since1992, with more than 300teachers from each of the 76 provinces
of the Pilippines undergoing the training. These teachers have in turn
enrolled approximately 1500 blind children into programs in regular school.
Now approximately 100 new children are enrolled as a result of the programme
each year.
We feel these training programs are an essential
part of the efforts to increase the enrollment of blind children in the
Philippines. In the last two years, the same model has been used to initiate
similar courses at two regional universities - one in the central Philippines
city of Cebu, with the help of Foundation Dark and Light, and one in the
southern island of Mindanao, with the help of Hildesheimer Blindenmission.
Participants from these regional courses are now building the enrollment
of blind children in their regions. We hope to continue duplicating this
model in other regions of the Philippines.
We will list below twelve components of this training
program that we feel have contributed to its success in the Philippines.
1. The Training Venue. Developing the course at
a state university has two important advantages. First, the course is
an accreditedcourse, providing graduate level units in Special Education.
Completing the training can lead to extra benefits to the teachers, in
the way of promotions and salary increases. Secondly, we realize that
courses started at government institutions, while sometimes difficult
to initiate, are likewise not easily discontinued.
2. Scholarships. Historically there had not been
enough interest in special education to persuade more than a few teachers
to undergo training at their own expense. By providing a scholarship,
(which includes the tuition, travel expenses, and a small stipend), teachers
who might not otherwise have considered special education are willing
to take the training. It requires a one-time expense for us in getting
the special education programs started, but the teachers are at all times
salaried by the Dept. of Education.
3. School Administrator's Support. One requirement before the teacher
is accepted for training is a written agreement from their school administrators
that the teacher will be released from their other responsibilities, at
least part time, in order to set up their program for blind students.
This is especially important in the Philippines, where there is a chronic
shortage of teachers and of classroom space. Without this agreement, there
is little hope of the program's survival.
4. Teacher Contract. In exchange for the scholarship,
the teacher must agree to servethe visually impaired students for at least
three years for each year of training. If the teacher does not make the
necessary effort to enroll visually impaired teachers, they are required
to refund the cost of the training.
5. Target Schools. Because blindness is a relatively
low incidence disability, we try to target central schools in population
centers. There are usually enough blind children in the population centers
to start a program. For this reason, we try to avoid training teachers
from remote, small villages, where there may only be one blind child in
the community. In such a case, if the family of the blind child happens
to transfer to another location, then teacher is unable to make any use
of her training.
6. Teacher Qualifications. Other than the standard qualifications
for scholarships, we also insist that the teacher has already identified
at least three, school-aged blind children in her community before she
comes for training. If a secondary level teacher is applying for the scholarship,
there must already be an elementary level program for blind children established
in her community that can promote students into her secondary level program.
7. Training Schedule. The course is conducted during
the summer school break so that more teachers can easily participate and
so that a more intensive training schedule can be maintained.
8. Course Content. The first year of the course
focuses primarily on the basic skills that the teacher will immediately
need, such as braille reading and writing, abacus, and O&M, along
with teaching techniques and strategies. We want to give the teacher enough
of the basic skills and the confidence to begin her program for blind
students. During the second and third year more time can be allotted for
theories and philosophies of special education.
9. Monitoring Visits. Visits by regional and national
level Special Education supervisors to the teacher's school often are
an important part in helping the teacher to begin her program for blind
children. The teacher needs to know that there is someone she can turn
to for help in overcoming obstacles to her program, and also, that someone
is expecting her to have a successful program.
10. Non-performing Teachers. Generally, teachers
fail to start programs for one of two reasons. The first is a lack of
initiative on the teacher's part to locate and enroll blind students.
In this case, we work with the teacher to try to get the program started.
If necessary, we may try to bring administrative pressure to bear to get
the program started. There comes a point though, after two or three years
of effort, where it is best just to cut our losses and recruit a new teacher
for training. The second reason teachers will fail to start a program
is due to a lack of administrator support or enthusiasm for the program.
In recent years we have discovered that a three day orientation in special
education for school administrators will almost always win their support
for the program.
11. Incentives. If, after the first summer, the
teacher is successful in setting up a program for blind students, she
is invited back for a second and third summer of training. After the three
summers, teachers with good performance are provided with a scholarship
to complete their Master's Degree in Special Education, which will lead
to further promotions and salary increases. We feel it is important that
the teachers know that special education is not a dead end career path.
12. Instilling Professional Pride. It is important
for the teacher to know that she is part of a much bigger national, and
even international, effort to provide education for the visually impaired.
This is an important role of ICEVI. At the national level, we present
Outstanding Teacher awards every two years to as many outstanding teachers
as we can. In addition, we help host a National Congress of Teachers of
the Visually Impaired, with presentations from both national and international
experts in special education for the visually impaired. These help to
instill a sense of pride and professionalism necessary to keep up teacher
morale and to keep them committed to the program.
How do blind children fare under teachers trained in
this way?
From a strictly academic point of view,
it is our observation that residential schools for the blind, on average,
will do a better job of teaching braille reading and writing. But in the
Philippines, residential schools for 40,000 blind children are not a realistic
option. Even if they were an option though, there are still several other
important advantages of inclusion that we believe outweigh the possible
academic advantages of residential schools for the blind.
First, the child is able to live at home,
with his family, while attending school. Especially for younger children,
we feel that the family is important for the normal development of the
child. If the child has the security and love of a family, a slight delay
in braille reading speed will not keep him from succeeding.
Secondly, an inclusive program is better,
by its very nature, at teaching the skills needed for successful integration
into a sighted world as adults. In a residential school for the blind,
everything the child needs is generally provided. In an inclusive program,
the child is required to be a little more responsible for their own needs.
This skill will serve them well as adults. Even if a blind child does
not excel academically, we feel that almost without exception, it will
be better for a blind child to be in school with his peers than to be
left at home alone. Even with teachers who are only minimally trained,
the child has a far better chance of normal development by attending school
than they would have by being left alone at home, isolated and unattended.
Our experience, though, has shown that once
blind children are allowed to enroll in school as integrated students,
and once they discover that they can not only learn, but achieve, and
even excel, most of them will more than meet the requirements for promotion
and graduation.
What of the long term for the program?
One major benefit of the program is that
many of the teachers trained by this method have gone on to become full-time
Special Education teachers and in many cases they are instrumental in
setting up Special Education Centers catering for all disabilities at
their schools. Conversely a major threat to the program is the heavy recruitment
of these teachers to work overseas. This year the program has lost four
excellent teachers to recruiting agencies who are placing Special Education
teachers in the United States. With salaries on offer that are 20 to 30
times greater than the salary for teachers offered by the Philippine Government
there is very little than can be done to persuade these teachers to stay.
This is a challenge we need to address immediately in order to preserve
the gains we have made.
Another side effect is that as the training
program evolves we are seeing more of our trained teachers promoted into
administrative positions. However we have never really considered this
a threat. In fact we wish all school administrators had a special education
background. Even if we have to train new teachers, we can always accomplish
more in schools with administrators who have some knowledge or experience
in special education.
Our eventual goal is help universities throughout
the Philippines to develop and offer courses in special education, and
for teachers to enroll in these courses at their own expense. At that
point, I think our work will be finished. |