RA 11106: The Filipino Sign Language Act

Section 4. Filipino Sign Language in Education.—

  1. Medium of Instruction and Curriculum. – The Department of Education (DepEd), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and all other national and local government agencies involved in the education of the deaf, are tasked to henceforth use, and coordinate with each other on the use of FSL, as the medium of instruction in deaf education. The FSL shall also be taught as a separate subject in the curriculum for deaf learners. The reading and writing of Filipino, as the national language, other Philippine languages, and English shall also be taught to deaf learners.

  2. Deaf Teachers. – To promote the licensing and mobilization of deaf teachers in formal education as well as alternative learning systems, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) together with teacher education programs nationwide are directed to employ alternative assessment procedures as affirmative action measures which shall consider the conditions, abilities, and social barriers of the deaf teachers. These procedures shall be language-appropriate and culture-fair to deaf education graduates.

  3. FSL in Teacher Education Programs. – In the context of inclusive education and Universal Design, the learning of FSL shall be a curricular or co-curricular offering in teacher education programs as deemed appropriate.

  4. Training and Evaluation Programs. – All national and local government agencies and centers providing education to deaf students are hereby tasked to undertake regular pre-/in-service training and evaluation of their teachers. These shall be designed and taught in partnership with the representatives of the Filipino deaf community.

The University of the Philippines (UP), together with the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF), professional sign linguistics and linguistics researchers, in collaboration with the CHED and the DepEd, and the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Council, shall develop guidelines for the development of training materials in the education of the deaf for use by all state universities and colleges (SUCs), as well as their teachers and staff.