Manila: The education department is pushing for the establishment of a government body that will address the concerns of a significant 13 per cent of the Filipino child population with special needs.

To be named the Bureau of Special Education, the proposed body aims to ensure that the Filipino children with learning disabilities and/or are physically impaired, will be able to get support from the government, Department of Educations (DepEd) Secretary Jesli Lapuz said.

Lapuz said that while the government currently have programmes for children with special needs, only two per cent of them are receiving state support. He said the Philippines had lagged behind in providing welfare and recognising the rights of children with special needs.

He added that in some countries, children with special needs are given 100 per cent support.

Because of this, he said, the establishment of the Bureau of Special Education has become imperative. "We believe that the creation of a specific unit that will take care of the unique needs of special children is urgent," he stressed.

He said that the state should not only provide support for children with special needs, but also provide them with necessary preparation that will enable them to sustain themselves in the future when they are already adults.

Lapuz said has asked the presidential palace to certify as "urgent" proposed laws pending at the Senate and at the House of Representatives, which aims to address concerns of children with special needs.

Senate Bill 2020 and its counterpart in the lower chamber, House Bill 6740, call for the establishment of special needs centres in each of the country's 17 regions.

Children with special needs are those who are autistic, mentally retarded, visually impaired, hearing impaired, orthopaedically or physically handicapped, learning disabled, speech defective, children with behaviour problems, and those children who encounter health problems under the formal educational system.

Government estimates have placed the number of Filipino children with special needs at more than 5.49 million or 13 per cent of the country's total child population.

The bill provides for a P600 million (Dh48.45 million) annual budget for five years for the special education programme.