QUEZON CITY,
PHILIPPINES – February 6,
2017. For the first time, educators, legislators, service providers, support
groups/associations, international organizations, disabled people
organizations, international and local students and parents will gather together
at the SMX Convention Center Manila on February 22-24, 2017 to set the
cornerstone for building an intentional and proactive community for inclusive
education. The theme of this event is I Am You – Opening Minds, Opening Hearts:
Putting Values into Action.
Given the broad scope of
inclusive education that encompasses people with disabilities, indigenous
people, Muslims and other marginalized communities, most of the topics and
discussion at this February Summit will focus on people with disabilities. The
end goal is to build on this Summit, the beginning of a series of conferences,
the greater essence of inclusive education – education for all.
Vice President Leni
Robredo will grace the event in providing welcome remarks together with
Australian Ambassador Amanda Gorely, UNICEF Country Representative Lotta
Sylwander and SM Supermalls President Anna Maria Garcia. Senator Bam Aquino and
Congressman Alfred Vargas are expected to present the joint bill to serve the
people with disabilities worked on by the organizing committee spearheaded by
the Fully Abled Nation. They will be joined by Engineer Bien Mateo of SM Cares,
Rhodora Palomar-Fresnedi of Unilab Foundation, Carmen Reyes-Zubiaga of the
National Council on Disability Affairs and Atty. Adel Tamano to share their
programs and messages of inspiration.Renowned international
experts in inclusive education are expected to provide the keynotes at the
Summit, namely Professor Tony Booth from the University of Cambridge,
celebrated author of the Index for Inclusion (translated into 40
languages), and David Hoff of the Boston
based Institute for Community Inclusion.
We also have
extraordinary people sharing their overcoming-disability-to succeed success
stories - Sarah Jane Dela
Rosa, a 22 year old student with cerebral palsy fully included in a regular
class; Erick Marco Ramos, the first
blind person to qualify for the Global Undergraduate Exchange Program administered
by the US Fulbright Commission and currently a faculty member at Philippine
Normal University; Dr. Rex Bernardo from
the University of Sydney, currently a professor of Mabini Colleges; and Joy
Garcia, Chief Executive Officer of Tahanan ng Walang Hagdan. Finally, Mr. Tony
Llanes, the blind founder of ATRIEV (Adaptive Technology for the Rehabilitation,
Integration and Empowerment of Visually Impaired) will be demonstrating digital
resources for the blind.
Schools, both public and
private, parents, service providers and support groups will share best
practices/perspectives on how inclusion works for their children. They will
also be joined by highly respected developmental and behavioral pediatricians
namely Dr. Francis Dimalanta and Dr. Stella Manalo and the Harvard graduates
from the International Education Policy program.
One of the program
highlights will include the showing of the powerfully moving documentary
“Yakap”, which follows the lives of three families of children with special
needs, produced by Dolores Cheng of the Center of Possibilities. Along with this is the exhibition of
#DrawDisability, a global art campaign launched by the United Nations Secretary
General’s Global Education First Initiative (GEFI), in partnership with the
Global Observatory for Inclusion (GLOBI) and the United Nations Global
Education First Initiative Youth Advocacy Group (GEFI-YAG).
The Summit aims to call for a unified
response – #YesToInclusion and to spearhead a movement that will advocate for
the right of the individual with a
disability to be educated along with his/her peers in the regular classroom.
For registrations to the summit and
corporate sponsorships, please visit www.theteachersgallery.com, www.iamyouinclusion.net or contact Mai Roble at
0977-8095110 or 0998-554-8522 or 02-352-2675.
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