Senator Win Gatchalian has raised concerns over a shortage of more than 7,000 special needs education (SNED) teachers in public schools nationwide.

During an oversight review of Republic Act No. 11650, also known as Instituting a Policy of Inclusion and Services for Learners with Disabilities in Support of Inclusive Education Act, Gatchalian noted a shortfall of 7,651 SNED teachers based on public school enrollment for School Year (SY) 2023-2024. 

Currently, there are only 5,147 SNED teachers, while 323,344 learners with disabilities, aged two to 17, are enrolled.

“One of the challenges in implementing inclusive education is the supply of qualified teachers. The intention is to address the supply issues in terms of teachers with knowledge in special needs education,” the lawmaker from Valenzuela.

He called on the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to work together to raise the number of qualified SNED teachers.

Republic Act No. 11650 mandates inclusive education in all public and private schools, ensuring learners with disabilities have equal access to quality education. It also requires schools to admit all students, regardless of diability.

The law aims to train teachers and school personnel in the care, development, and education of learners with disabilities. DepEd is tasked with collaborating with CHED to update teacher training programs to include inclusive education courses in elementary and secondary education programs.

It also establishes a scholarship program for in-service teachers to pursue master’s degrees in special needs education or related fields. Scholarship receipients will be required to serve within DepEd.

“The reason why we wanted to come up with a scholarship program is precisely to address the shortfall, because moving forward, as we encourage more parents to send their children to school and as we implement the Child-Find System, we will see an uptick in enrollment and we have to make sure that we have teachers who are trained in special needs education,” said Gatchalian.IMT