STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION FOR LEARNERS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS IN THE 1st CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF QUEZON: BASIS FOR A PROPOSED ENHANCEMENT OF THE INCLUSION PROGRAM

Inclusive education is a process of strengthening the capacity of the education system to reach out to all learners and can thus be understood as a key strategy to achieve Education for All. DepEd Order No. 72 s. 2009 of the Department of Education (2009) stated that special education in the Philippines has only served 2% of the targeted 2.2 million children with disabilities in the country who live without access to a basic human right: the right to education. The Division of Quezon has implemented inclusive education in order to address barriers to learning in the education system. This paper aimed to investigate the status of the implementation of the inclusive program; determined the quality of transition of education system from the traditional to inclusion; and investigated the factors affecting the implementation process. To achieve the purpose of the study, quantitative descriptive – survey design was used. The respondents were 56 receiving teachers in the first congressional district of Quezon who were chosen through multistage sampling. The findings revealed that the implementation status of inclusive education was generally good. Teachers are reluctant on the inclusion of inclusive education. Factors that hinder the implementation are geographical factors and socio-cultural factors. It is therefore recommended that the Department of Education should provide education and related services that are designed to meet the pupils’ needs.