In the 2013 - 2014 school year, there are nearly 24 million children in the Philippines school system. According to the Philippine Department of Education, there were an estimated 5.4 million Filipino Children with Special Needs (CSN) as of 2010, representing a mixture of students who are blind, deaf, mute, and with conditions like autism.
"These children with specific needs merit different kinds of approaches to their education. But that does not mean they should be left segregated and isolated - all the more, in fact, they should be included in the coverage of our educational bureaucracy." emphasized Senator " Edgardo J. Angara, who recently sponsored the Special Education Act (SBN 3002).
Separate reports released by the Philippine National Statistics Office and the Asian Development Bank in 2005 say the average educational attainment of Children with Special Needs (CSNs) is low with only a third of the respondents having reached high school level. And, only a little over half (54%) of that figure have completed at least high school.