SABAY, Screening using AI-Based Assistance for Young Children, is a first-line AI screening tool for learning difficulties and communication disorders for Grade 2 learners. It is designed to support early referral and follow-up, not to replace teachers, health professionals, or formal assessment. Its public value is helping schools identify learners who may need support earlier, while keeping human review at the center of decisions involving children.
SABAY supports EDCOM II reform themes on inclusion, learner support, and early intervention. It aligns with Q-BEDP priorities for inclusive education and learner well-being, and with Philippine Development Plan goals on health, education, and human capital development.
The ECAIR team works closely with BLD-SID as the project's primary process owner and office partner, with health and special needs education (SNEd) professionals and DepEd leadership involved in validation and review. ECAIR's role is to build and validate the screening workflow, support the dashboard, and formalize governance controls before any wider use.
Currently, the SABAY team has finished developing the pilot prototype for NCR, where the AI system has been validated by several medical, allied health, and SNEd specialists. The team is currently planning a soft deployment within NCR and expanded data collection phase outside of NCR, to improve the generalizability of the system, especially outside NCR.