“Teacher Nefer! Tingnan mo,” said Jaycee, while showing his robot to me with a big smile. This was last school year (2024-2025) when I saw him doing the task with grade three pupils. Jaycee was in the fourth grade. Despite this, his teacher allowed him to join the class because he showed interest in socializing with other students. The grade three pupils enjoyed building robots with him, too.

Jaycee was clinically diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), and he is one of the students in our department under inclusive education.
This ignited the desire of teachers, staff, and other stakeholders in the WU-P Elementary Department to be equipped and knowledgeable in terms of catering to students with so-called “disabilities.”

Seminars and meetings were conducted to address the prevailing concerns about the inclusivity of students with special needs.
The recent seminar sponsored by Rex Education on July 19, 2025, via Zoom on Inclusive Teaching: Harnessing UDL and Differentiated Instruction for Diverse Learners was attended by the faculty of our department.

Dr. Zhanina U. Custodio, an Associate Professor and Faculty of Education & Information Sciences at Philippine Normal University (PNU), was the resource speaker of the seminar.

Dr. Custodio discussed the rudiments of handling diverse learners through Inclusive Teaching and providing instructions that cater to the capabilities and address the needs of such learners.

During the seminar, Dr. Custodio shared news about Alex, the mother of a five-year-old child with speech delay, who experienced discrimination in a private school. “I anticipated that he would have a hard time because it’s his first time in a regular school, but it still hurt to see him excluded,” Alex said to philstar.com.

Although the Landmark Law for children with “disabilities” was mandated in 2022, schools both in private and public were observed not imposing their rules and regulations. The Republic Act 11650, or the Inclusive Education Act, was signed into law in March 2022. It mandated all cities and municipalities to establish an Inclusive Learning Resource Center (ILRC) – a physical or virtual one-stop shop providing teaching and learning support to students with disabilities while providing free therapy services.
In line with this, barriers were mentioned by Dr. Custodio to the full implementation of ILRC. These challenges were: lack of trained teachers and support staff; gaps in resources and assistive technologies; inflexible curriculum and assessment practices; and societal attitude and stigma towards LWDs (Learners with Disabilities).
Every child has the right to quality education—regardless of ability or condition. Yet, there are still cases in the Philippines where children with special needs are denied admission to schools, especially public ones, simply because they haven’t undergone therapy or lack a formal diagnosis. This kind of exclusion may not only be unfair but also unlawful.

“By adjusting [to the] learners’ needs…interventions should be the heart of every teacher,” said Dr. Custodio. “Akala natin minsan inclusive education na, pero hindi pa pala,” she added, reminding the teachers where Inclusive Teaching means to provide modified instructions for the LWDs separate from the required instructions of the curriculum in regular classes.

Related laws to Inclusive Education were discussed thoroughly during the seminar. That included the Republic Act No. 7277, or the Magna Carta for Persons with Disabilities, which stipulated that no person with a disability should be denied access to education. Section 12 specifically protected the right of children with disabilities to be accepted into schools. Refusing them on the basis of therapy status, without even assessing their individual needs, could be considered discrimination. Similarly, Republic Act No. 10533, the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, emphasized inclusive education and mandated that all learners, including those with special needs, must be given equal learning opportunities.

The Department of Education also issued policies that support this advocacy. Orders such as DepEd Order No. 72, s. 2009 and DepEd Order No. 21, s. 2019 stressed the importance of inclusive classrooms and prohibited schools from turning away learners with disabilities simply because of a lack of therapy or documents.

With the Support for the Handicapped and Their Rehabilitation through Education (SHARE), a program first introduced by WUP in 1983, the Preschool and Elementary School would continue to lead in fostering and cultivating inclusivity in WUP and the larger community.

Disclaimer:
The face of the student in the photo has been intentionally blurred in adherence to Wesleyan University-Philippines’ compliance with the Data Privacy Act of 2012. This measure is taken to protect personal information and uphold the privacy rights of our learners.

Article and photo by NEFERTINA MARI AMPARO S. DELA REA