If Only Hands could Hear and See
Felicia Joy F. Polecios | Patay Ligaya
Throughout history, sign language and braille reading plays a huge role for Deaf and blind people, yet it was still an understudied matter and outdated in the modern era.
In the Philippines, it was only 2018 when Filipino Sign Language (FSL) was recognized by the law as the national sign language for the Filipino Deaf. On the other hand, the systematic literature for the blinds remains untackled in the country, even though there was a bill in 2010 that states the consideration for braille literacy.
Learning the language of Deaf and literature of the blind is truly fascinating; ‘astonishing’ was not enough to describe the beauty of waving the hands to form an expression, and the creativity beyond the raised dots being traced by fingers to discover a story.
Having the proficiency to communicate with those people relies on their gestures is a fair advantage for those who are accustomed to spoken words, and are living with encompassion as breaking the barriers between the Hearing and Deaf.
Meanwhile, being able to author and publish books with raised dots is such an honor; bringing the realms of literature to the blind people so they could catch up with the tales of the ancient, contemporary, and ahead of the times.
Hence, it was a single thread of why persons with no disabilities should learn this too. However, this just made it confusing as to why the Department of Education hasn’t considered this yet.
The Philippine education system was a brick of implausibilities.
Well, Special Education might be a thing in the Philippines, being established to guide children with special needs to achieve their dreams, were not capable of catering students, nor effective enough at all.
With 13,408 schools having Special Education Programs, according to the latest article of Philippines News Agency in 2022, learners with special needs demand a higher number of enrollees — showing that almost 38,000 dropped from school years 2021 to 2022.
“No one shall be left behind” — No matter how cliche it may sound, this phrase was a facade in a fraudulent and unfair system. Aside from being overlooked, the Philippine education curriculum was not rational at all.
Recalling the momentum last August 2023, the Department of Education (DepEd) announced the removal of mother tongue from the subject as per the implementation of MATATAG K to 10 curriculum to be piloted starting from school years 2024 to 2025.
As it was planned to be replaced by a transdisciplinary curriculum SiKaP, a combination of social studies, art, and PE subjects — believing it would harness the knowledge of children in schools.
Given the secretary itself was greedy to allot a budget for the betterment of the learning system, the Philippine education curriculum is a torment to Filipino students; worse, it was being an unreachable standard, particularly for students with special needs.
The invisible line keeps separating the children — ordinary and special ones — as they were supposed to understand the imperfections of the world without inhumanity and discrimination.
The quality of learning for the sake of inclusivity might be an illusion.
Felicia Joy Polecios is the Online Content Manager of Pacesetter for A.Y. 2023–2024. She is a fourth-year journalism student from the College of Arts and Letters who covers topics related to arts, films, entertainments, and social diversity.
