In the secondary level, appropriate Special Education (SpEd) programs and services are provided for learners with disabilities. These programs and services refer to academic interventions, curriculum adaptations, learning resource support, career and guidance counseling programs, and transition programs focusing on technical-vocational competencies and/or special interest skills development. To address the learners’ health and medical conditions, schools’ referral system to medical and allied medical-service providers is an essential part of SpEd services. This will only be possible through strong school-community collaboration and partnerships with parents and families, local government units, and nongovernment agencies and civic organizations.
Proper assessment and identification of strengths, difficulties and interests are essential in planning for the appropriate transition program and Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for learners with disabilities. The guidance and counseling program gives direction and support to learners in preparation for adulthood, identification and accomplishment of goals in the IEP, and learners’ transition to school-work, home, or community life.
To ensure that learners have access to the K to 12 basic education program, curriculum contextualization, adaptations, and modifications are made depending on the learner’s abilities and needs. This is possible when time allotment for learning areas and subjects in junior and senior high school are adjusted and/or extended. Another example is the Adaptive Physical Education (PE), wherein PE teachers modify and prepare activities to include learners with disabilities. Learners with disabilities also access the curriculum when they are provided with and supported by learning resources and assistive devices and technologies. These include sign language interpreters, materials in Braille, wheelchairs, and hardware and software systems, among others.
On the other hand, the transition program prepares learners to successfully move forward from home to school, class to class, and/or from school to another school for higher education or middle-level skills development. The program may also help learners transition to employment and entrepreneurship. For more information, please refer to the policy on learners with disabilities.
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