To:   Undersecretaries
Assistant Secretaries
Bureau Directors
Regional Directors
Schools Superintendents

1.   Pursuant to the State policy of providing equal access to quality education among the Filipino children with disabilities, a program for their wholistic development has been formulated and is currently being implemented. Inclusive Education, which is a system of learning and skills development aimed to expose them to similar methodology and quality of education as their non-handicapped counterparts is likewise pursued. The integrated approached assures both the handicapped and non-handicapped elementary and secondary school students equal access to the needed exposures and experiences that will eventually result to the mutually beneficial acceptance of each other.

2.   To maximize access to learning among the visually impaired students, the same textbooks and reading requirements given to the regular students must be available to them. These textbooks and other materials must be transcribed in Braille for the blind students and produced in large print for the students with low vision.

3.   In this connection, principals of schools with Special Education program, upon recommendation of the SPED teachers are urged to submit a comprehensive list of textbooks and other reading materials for all grade and year levels that need to be transcribed in Braille or produced in large print for their visually impaired students to the Division Supervisor In-charge of SPED for consolidation using the inclosed form. The data must be forwarded to the Division Office not later than February 26, 1999 and to the Regional Office on March 31, 1999. Submission of requests must be done prior to the actual enrolment of the visually impaired students in the next grade/year level scheduled in June.

4.   Regional requests for textbooks must be forwarded to the Special Education Division, Bureau of Elementary Education, Department of Education, Culture and Sports, UL Complex, Pasig City on April 30, 1999.

5.   Immediate dissemination of and compliance with this Order is desired.