Over at the old Bahay ng Pag-asa building in Bokawkan Road, 23 visually impaired children will be coming back to school today, Sunday. 

The Northern Luzon Association for the Blind’s (NLAB) School for the Blind welcomes their old students in their newly renovated home in Cresencia Village.

NLAB president Donna Digna Rosario said they open on Sunday to start familiarizing the children on the layout of the building. “We have to orient them in the new place,” she said.

Last year the NLAB, while still in its old address in Atab, Marcos Highway, housed 39 blind students. However, since the Diocese of Baguio will be putting up a church and a school in the property, NLAB had to move to the old Bahay Pag-asa, a 34-year-old building which used to be a dormitory for the blind.

“But we had to have it renovated, until now we still have a lot of things to prepare but we are ready for the kids who will be arriving soon,” Rosario said.

Of the 39 students last year, 23 signified that they will be coming back.

That leaves around 17 more slots for other visually impaired children this school year. Rosario said they can accommodate more but “the problem is we no longer have the time or the money to go out and look for blind children.”  “We still have slots and everything is for free, they just have to bring the kids,” she added.

She said their clients usually come from the poorest families from the Cordillera, Ilocos and Cagayan regions and even Central Luzon provinces. 

She said the NLAB is a preparatory school for visually impaired children to be integrated into a mainstream school. Last year, 15 of their old students “graduated” or are considered ready to be integrated in mainstream schools.

“We prepare them for inclusive education or mainstreaming. The maximum stay of a child here is three years, but if he or she can already be integrated within a year then we release them,” Rosario said.

She said they have many stories of their former students now doing well in mainstream public and private schools.

The program is meant for a residence school, however, blind children living in the city and whose parents opt to bring them home daily are also allowed. Rosario said the only requirement is for the children to be from 6 to 14 years old and for their parents or family to bring them to NLAB. 

“I hope the readers who have neighbors or who know of children who are blind would relay to them that there is a school ready to welcome them,” Rosario said.