insistent on seeing and interviewing applicants face-to-face, which is burdensome and prejudicial against persons with disabilities and the members of the LGBTQIA+ community. As another CSO participant attests, an employer still discriminates against employing a trans woman because she looks and dresses as a woman despite being assigned as male at birth. Furthermore, as another CSO participant observes, when persons with intellectual impairment are employed, it is usually out of pity and not because of their qualification or competence. At times, they are trained by their parents or family members who also start a business to allow them to work. Even individuals with autism who have graduated from high school or even college have a hard time looking for a job because employers assess if their degree matches the needs of the employment or if they match with open employment. Teachers, school administrators, and principals Lack of teachers for learners with disabilities 147. There are not enough teachers to attend to learners with disabilities. Based on the DepEd data for SY 2016-2017, there were only 284 teachers who had to attend to as many as 40,348 learners with disabilities, specifically those with difficulty remembering, concentrating, paying attention, and understanding based on manifestation.185 Due to the lack of teachers to attend to students with different disabilities and needs, some combine them all in one class despite each having different learning objectives and goals, or they are mainstreamed with other learners. Youth Unavailability of modules in accessible formats 148. 185 Learners with disabilities had limited access to learning materials, technology, and other devices. Most of the materials in the modules were picture copies or screenshots, which were not accessible to students with visual impairment. Added to this, some lacked the know-how to use technology, and others could not be assisted by their parents or by the teachers who failed to respond to the students’ messages, leaving their needs and concerns unattended. Others had gadgets that were incompatible with educational applications or computer software and learning platforms, such as Google Classrooms and Henyo, and other students had no gadgets or the necessary devices. While the braille keyboard was accessible, only a few knew how to use it. These issues were compounded by the general concerns of the rest of the students on the lack of stable internet connection and costly load credits for mobile phones. National Council on Disability Affairs, Disability Data, supra note 24. 55

Select target paragraph3