Inclusive Education Practices for Physically Disabled Learners in Northern Samar Elementary Schools, Philippines

Abstract

Inclusive education is an avenue of putting diverse learners in one classroom to learn alongside and nurture each other’s uniqueness for self-growth and development. This study determined the extent of support for physically disabled learners in selected elementary schools in the Central Area of the Division of Northern Samar, Philippines. Specifically, it examined the profiles of teachers and school heads in terms of educational attainment, specialisation, length of service, and training attended related to inclusive education, and teachers’ number of learners handled with physical disabilities. The study employed a descriptive-correlational design. The population of this study was taken from all elementary school teachers and school heads of the five (5) Central Schools and one (1) non-central school identified in the central area of Northern Samar who experienced handling learners with physical disabilities. Data were collected using validated modified questionnaires and analysed using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. Findings revealed that support for physically disabled learners was found to be limited across all domains, particularly, availability and adequacy of resources, training and preparedness of teachers, and institutional and administrative support. It was found out that most schools lacked assistive devices, accessible infrastructure, and specialised learning materials. Additionally, a significant number of teachers with no formal training in inclusive education, and administrative support structures were perceived as inadequate. For instance, 84 or 57.50% of the teachers have no training at all. Moreover, there were 22 or 15.10% of the teachers have attended training for more than thirty-two (32) hours, 20 or 13.70% were able to attend 9 to 24 hours of training, 13 or 8.90% of teachers were able to attend 8 hours and below, and 7 or 4.8% of the were able to attend 25 to 32 hours of training related to inclusive education. These gaps highlight the need for targeted interventions to improve resource provision, capacity building, and policy implementation to ensure equitable and inclusive education for all learners. The study recommended that the Department of Education – Northern Samar Division should conduct inclusive education training and workshops to enhance teachers' and school heads’ knowledge and skills in addressing learners with physical disabilities.