News

Understanding the Vital Years for Future Learning

“We all need to work together to unlock the powers of the vital years from 0 to 6. Waiting for our young children to come to school for Grade One at the age of six may be too late!” These were the words of Secretary Teresa Aquino-Oreta, chair of the Philippines Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Council during a policy forum involving education ministers of Southeast Asia late in January this year.

The forum, dubbed “Understanding the Vital Years for Future Learning,” served as an eye-opener in the ever growing need to strengthen policies concerning early childhood education. Conducted during the 45th SEAMEO Council Conference in Cebu, Philippines, the forum zeroed in on the importance of tapping the learning potentials of children in their early years. Likewise, it sought to get commitments from education officials to put premium on their ECCD programs, which receive less than 10% of budget allocation in many countries as studies revealed.

Among those present during the forum were Ministers of Education of SEAMEO member countries, as well as education officials and representatives from SEAMEO associate member countries Australia, Spain, and New Zealand.

Secretary Aquino-Oreta, in her paper, recounted the Philippines’ experiences in adopting ECCD as a national priority. She said the country had a “long journey” towards this direction as efforts to promote children’s welfare and enhance their opportunities began as early as 1974 with the passage of the Child and Youth Welfare Code. The Code led to the creation of the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) whose mandate was later transferred to the Department of Social Welfare.

In 2009, the CWC was transformed into the Early Childhood Care and Development Council through Executive Order No. 778. The ECCD Council is now mandated to “support the implementation of the full range of health, nutrition, early education, and social services programs that provide for the basic holistic needs of young children from birth to age six and to promote their optimum growth and development.”

In the past decades, many ECCD laws and executive orders were promulgated. However, implementing such laws became a challenge; and this was mainly due to lack of available information, if not for the often inaccurate, dated, and limited data that offer little value. The ECCD Council immediately worked on creating a database that will serve as guide for a more efficient and effective implementation of the national policies on ECCD. Aside from this, the Council is also working with ECCD professionals and experts to design a learning framework for early education programs.

The stories shared by Secretary Aquino-Oreta and best practices presented by Dr. Claire McLachan, Associate Professor of Early Years Education in Massey University, New Zealand, served as springboards for discussion on the topic.

The Education Ministers agreed to pursue several courses of action, including the conduct of a regional policy research on ECCD. The Philippine Department of Education, as a proponent of the discussion, committed an initial funding of US$50,000 for the said project.

Source: SEAMEO INNOTECH, January 2010

PNU: Center of Excellence in Teacher Education

At this time of paradigm shifts, when things are in constant flux, where every concerned stakeholder asks, “Where have all the best teachers gone?” PNU stands as a landmark of the Filipino nation’s commitment to quality education: educating and training teachers for a better world.

Since 2001, the title “Center of Excellence in Teacher Education” (COETE) as provided for in RA 7784 has been awarded by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to Philippine Normal University for having maintained a track record in teacher education and demonstrated the highest degree or level of standards along the areas of instruction and research and extension. Its graduates become models of integrity, commitment, and dedication in education. Furthermore, the title reinforces the role of the University as the steward, frontrunner, and pioneer in delivering “efficient, effective, innovative, relevant, functional, and quality programs in teacher education, in-service training of teachers, and researc, and community service” to other teacher education institutions.

As Center of Excellence, PNU is given funding assistance by CHED for student scholarships, faculty development, library and laboratory upgrading, research and extension services, instructional materials development, and networking of existing COEs.

Source: Philippine Normal University

January 5, 2010

Building Communities

Sr. Maria Perpetua Bulawan, DC 
Literacy Worker

What is a good literacy implementer? Is he one who teaches, clothes, and feeds a thousand people? Is he one who brings them to the Lord and guides them through? It is all these and more. At the most fundamental level, the implementer must ensure that the welfare of the people – in all its myriad guises – is given attention.

Sr. Maria Perpetua “Mapet” Bulawan DC, 38, of St. Louise de Marillac College of Sorsogon (SLMCS), Sorsogon City has done just that – and still doing it. She has devoted her life to harnessing the talent and energies of the people in Sorsogon for productive use; and creating a society built on Christian ways. Sorsogon is the second poorest region in the country so her devotion to advance the status of the people is no mean feat.

She was rewarded a Special Recognition by the Literacy Coordinating Council (LCC) for her exemplary performance as a literacy worker of the Louise de Marillac Foundation, Inc. Community Extension Services (LMFI-CES), while her “Education for Life Program” got top honors during the 2008 LCC Recognition Day in Teachers Camp, Baguio City in September of this year. In 2005, her program “Literacy Intensification and Values Education” also got third place in the LCC Awards. Literacy has been her covenant – and she has never failed. 

Tell us your secret, Sr. Mapet. The nun is on a roll.

The Education for Life Program

“There is no secret,” says Sr. Mapet while seated on a chair wearing a veil over her habit. “We just realigned the Foundation’s programs and services to the UN Development Goals and responded to the people through alleviation of poverty and hunger, access to primary education, ministry to migrants and persons with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), environmental sustainability, and many more,” she rattles in a voice that is heartbreakingly soft and measured. 

SLMCS in Sorsogon City has been among the forefront institutions responding to the call of government in the eradication of illiteracy since the 1980s. In 1989, the then Bureau of Nonformal Education (NFE) now Bureau of Alternative Learning System (BALS), asked SLMCS to be the service provider for the Literacy Service Contracting Scheme in Sorsogon. 

Certainly, Sr. Mapet would not disappoint anyone. She is famously accessible and has taken her crusade for functional literacy classes to 15 learning groups in Sorsogon West, Sorsogon East, and Bacon District every year. Along with the sessions are bible sharing activities either in the barangay hall, Day Care Center, chapel, classroom, or even in an unfinished house. Word of each small success spread from town to town and gradually, she won the support of many. Indeed, it is hard to exaggerate the impact of the community service done by Sr. Mapet, but from among her learners, a number have become domestic helpers abroad; others have become officers of the kapilya pastoral council, and a few turned into barangay health workers. 

The learners are recruited house to house with the assistance of the barangay kagawad and other elders in the community. “I interview them to identify their needs. Ang mga learners mismo ang pinapipili ko ng schedule at lugar ng learning sessions,” she says. 

This is one of the most challenging aspects of the Program: to maintain the learners after a calamity. “Naku! Ang hirap lalo na nung tinamaan sila ng super typhoons Milenyo at Reming. Syempre inuuna nila ang pagpapatayo ng bahay nila at sa ikabubuhay nila bago nila harapin ang learning sessions,” she says with a sigh. 

Yes, life for Sr. Mapet could have been easier if she had not chosen to take on the burden of joining the Sisters of Marillac. But she did. Hence as a nun, she also mobilizes donation brigades and extends relief assistance to the often typhoon-visited Bicol and other areas. Her dedication spills over to her role of extending assistance in the housing construction of disaster victims; providing stress debriefing and home visits. In fact, LCC Secretariat Head Dr. Norma Salcedo says of Sr. Mapet: “She’s not a talker. She’s a doer.” 

Gliding from one mission to another, and loving every minute of  it, Sr. Mapet’s jail apostolate is equally impressive. She does spiritual formation, gift giving, and socialization to the inmates of Sorsogon. 

She has also devoted her life assisting out-of-school youth and adults to formal secondary and tertiary schools through the Balik Eskwela Program. The Study Help and the Marillac Grantees Student Assistance Program help finance the needs of students. 

In this interview, she recounts with all humility that the Education for Life’s Adopt-a-School Program established in 2005 has also helped hundreds of undernourished kids. The program caters annually to 120 malnourished elementary pupils of Bitan-o Elementary School, Sorsogon West district, and this program is bound to go a long way more. This is her great hope. 

“We strive to help bring the world a little closer to the ideal,” she says. The Foundation also hired two experts from the Benguet State University to teach the community farming techniques and high value crop production. “Now the community raises its own carrots, strawberry, sayote, sweet peas, and yacoon,” Sr. Mapet smiles as she clasps her hands. 

Sr. Mapet’s indefatigability is beyond compare. There is something in her that is devoid of the trappings of bigness and grandeur. There is something about real greatness and selflessness when you see her. She continues, “we also reach out to the spiritual formation of the elderly in barangays Tugod, Cambulaga, Sampaloc, Talisay, Bulabog, and San Juan Roro in Sorsogon. This is in preparation especially for their next life.” 

After a perfectly timed pause, I suddenly interrupt her, “have you had boyfriends?” She answers, “Yes, but Iam happier with the Lord.” I laughed after that and Sr. Mapet sneaks into a girly giggle. I realized that beneath that gentle mien of a nun is a warm person with a sense of humor, even-in-your-face wacky. 

educNEWS
Volume II No. 13
September 2008

Out of School Children and Youth in our Midst

Chat with the children selling plastic in the market or linger with players in the neighborhood’s basketball court, chances are you’ll bump into children and youth who should be in school but are not. Similarly, chances are they are smart, sweet, and carefree as any Filipino child or youth but had to drop out because they could not afford the daily expenses related to schooling like baon, transportation, projects, and contributions. Many of them would also narrate that learning in school for them have become both difficult and boring.

The stereotypical portrayal of out-of-school youth as decadent, troubled, and lazy has become passé. In fact, being out of school has become a phenomenon in the Philippines so much so that it is a reality lived by almost 1/3 of our school-age children and youth — they number 5.8 million in 2004. The Department of Education (DepEd) reported that in school year 2007-2008, only 84.44% of children ages 6-11 years old had been enrolled and for secondary level, only 61.91% of youth ages 12-15 had enrolled. Even more unfortunate, one out of three of these students end up dropping out of school.

The incidence of out-of-school youth is felt nationwide and even worse in other regions. In Central Mindanao, the situation is almost twice as severe compared to what’s happening at the national level. The Education Watch done by Education Network (E-Net Philippines) together with the Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE) in 2008, reports that 44% percent of school-age children and youth are missing out on education due to poverty and sporadic disruption of classes due to conflicts.

E-Net Philippines, a civil society network of more than 150 organizations nationwide has been calling for government’s urgent actions on this problem since 2000. The DepEd has implemented the Accreditation and Equivalency (A&E) — a modular approach to elementary and high school learning implemented by the Bureau of Alternative Learning System (BALS) that allow children and youth to continue education through self-learning and group learning outside school. It also initiated Project REACH in 2008 in an effort to reach out to those girls and boys needing education in remote areas.

However, these programs are marginalized in the DepEd as they receive a miniscule budget compared to the overall DepEd funds. In 2009, the budget for A&E did not even reach 1% of the DepEd budget and only P800 has been the allotted  for every learner. Such underinvestment and slow moves to improve the quality of these programs put to question the seriousness of the DepEd and government in general in addressing the growing number of those who are out of school.

To fill in the gap, many non-government and self-help organizations have started their own A&E programs to give poor Filipinos a second chance in education. Leah Felipe, a fourth year drop-out from Rizal High School Annex is one of the successful graduates of the A&E implemented by the Kilusan at Ugnayan ng Maralitang Pasigueño (KUMPAS). In 2004, Leah was forced to drop out because of pregnancy. When KUMPAS offered her the opportunity to continue her education, she joined one of the learning groups in 2007, took the DepEd administered A&E test in the same year, passed the test, and got her diploma in 2008. Now, Leah works in a gasoline station, with an income to feed her three children. More importantly, Leah said that the A&E helped her discover the self-confidence in overcoming challenges in her life.

E-Net Philippines believes that the A&E can be adapted to the different contexts of the Filipino learners. In the armed conflict areas, the network has worked closely with the Local Government Unit in Datu Paglas, Paglas, Tulunan, and Columbio in implementing the Learning-Livelihood System (LLS) which integrates enterprise development and livelihood skills with the DepEd’s A&E modules. But these LGUs, being in poor municipalities do not have enough funds to implement the LLS on a large scale. This is true with all the other NGOs and community organizations who are struggling to keep their A&E and functional literacy programs if it were not for the volunteerism of the community facilitators and parents.

Education is a basic right of every Filipino and the DepEd has to take on the leadership and main responsibility in addressing the education of those who are in school and NOT in school. The DepEd said that one way of addressing the drop-out is to improve the public education system. While this is true, E-Net Philippines also believes that those who are NOT in school deserve the same attention. The expansion of relevant and quality education programs for children, youth and even adults should start NOW!

Source: E-Net Philippines

Literacy at work at SIL

Literacy continues to be a part of the work of the Summer Institute of Linguistics internationally and in the Philippines. SIL is pleased to be involved in literacy activities which touch the lives of adults, young people and children. Although the Philippines has a basic literacy rate of more than 88.5%, pockets of illiteracy remain. According to the Department of Education, there are more than one million pre-literates in the country and more than six million people are deemed to be functionally illiterate. Many of these are found among the indigenous cultural communities where SIL works in association with the Philippines Department of Education.

The languages spoken by a number of these communities have had no written tradition. Initial work involves linguistic research which leads to the development of an appropriate orthography for the language – an alphabet which is easily read and affords the student opportunity to use the skills they have learned in reading in the vernacular to transition to reading in other Philippine languages. SIL endeavors to serve these communities through literacy education – tailoring such education to the felt needs of the people using a learner centered, bottom-up approach. Our desire is that, beginning from initial literacy, the learner will develop a desire to maintain their reading and writing skills and that these will provide the basis for continuing education, benefiting the individual, the community in which he lives, and his nation. Learning is a lifelong process and some of the basic tools are reading, writing, and numeracy.

  • MALEI (Matigsalug Literacy Education Incorporated) oversees the on-going development of literacy and education among the Matigsalug Manobo of Davao del Norte and Bukidnon. SIL members helped facilitate the formation of this people’s organization. MALEI aims to include community education as part of their on-going programs for out-of-school youth and adults. Typically, this would include sessions on topics such as budgeting, leadership training and agricultural matters.
  • Under the umbrella of OMALRACDI (Obo Manobo Active Language Resource and Community Development Inc.), various activities take place in partnership with SIL. These include the promotion of literacy through equipping Manobos to become literacy teachers and supervisors. To date, more than eight Literacy Teacher Institutes have been held in Manobo communities, taught by Manobos. OMALRACDI also facilitates health care education programs through primary health care classes taught by a Manobo midwife.
  • Among the Tagakaulo Kalagan speakers of Sarangani Province and Davao del Sur in association with the Department of Education Bureaus of Elementary Education and Alternative Learning Systems. Beginning in the barangay of Lutay, an area which formerly has had neither formal school for children nor non-formal classes for adults, a program for children has begun where basic reading and writing lesson materials are constructed first in the mother tongue of the students, bridging into Filipino and English. SIL members are very active in this area and the program is spreading to a number of Tagakaulo speaking areas.

Source: SIL Philippines

Exchange Visit to the Philippines

Officials of the Ministry of Education (MoE) of Nepal met with the head of the Literacy Coordinating Council Secretariat (LCC) in their visit to the Philippines recently. The visit is in line with Nepal MoE’s School Sector Reform Plan 2009-2015 which aims to improve equity and access, quality and relevance, and effeciency and effectiveness of education focusing at the school and community levels.

The Nepal Education Ministry officials were particularly interested to learn  how the Philippines has implemented decentralization in education, capacity development at the local level, and planning and resource mobilization at school and community levels.

After giving a short background about LCC as a policy-making body on literacy endeavors, its secretariat head Dr. Norma Salcedo acquainted the officials on the various literacy programs the LCC assists and some strategies the Council employs to enhance  literacy advocacy nationwide. She also gave information on the literacy rate of Filipinos, including other literacy programs the government promotes to improve the quality of education in the country that would eventually gain benefit for the Filipinos – children.youth, and adults alike.

The exchange, though short, proved meaningful to Nepal MoE officials. As they believe regional and international experience on educational reform provides immense opportunity for their country to learn from different sources and to adopt strategies in the course of their reform initiatives, they consider the Philippines as one that has a wide range of lessons and best examples in education reform initiaitves which could be instrumental for their senior management to learn from.

The Nepal Education Ministry delegates also met with other officials of the Department of Education including the Bureau of Secondary Education, National Educational Testing and Research Center, and Teacher Education Council.

By Analiza S. Dy
May 27, 2010

PGMA signs RA 7165 as amended

Republic Act 7165 as amended has been signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on May 27, 2010. The amended act, now known as Republic Act No. 10122, is titled as“An act strengthening the Literacy Coordinating Council by amending Republic Act 7165, otherwise known as  an ‘Act  creating the Literacy Coordinating Council, defining its powers and functions, appropriating funds therfor and for other purposes.’“

QUEZON CITY, Sept 29 (PIA) – The Literacy Coordinating Council (LCC), chaired by Department of Education (DepEd) aAs it is the policy of the State to “give the highest priority to the adoption of measures for the universalization of literacy” and with the Literacy Coordinating Council (LCC) as the “overall advisory and coordinating body providing policy and program directions for all literacy endeavors in the country,” RA 10122 provides for an expanded powers and functions of the Council. Among others, “to engage the sevices, expertise and resources including, but not limited to, cooperation, assistance and support of appropriate government agencies or NGOs involved in literacy;” and to “formulate measures on the monitoring and evaluation of the literacy situation in the country, including the establishment and maintenance of a national databank and information exchange and dissemination system to support literacy efforts at the national and local levels.nd in cooperation and coordination with other Government Organizations, Local Government Units, Private Organizations and Non-Government Organizations, will hold the National Literacy Conference on Sept. 30 to Oct. 2, 2015, at the DepEd ECHOTECH Center, Cebu City. DepEd Secretary Armin A. Luistro, FSC, will give keynote address in the opening program of the conference, which is centered on the theme, “Educational Justice and New Literacies.”

Llikewise, the RA provides for “equal opportunity for duly designated representatives to vote and participate in any deliberation during meetings of the Council” and  the creation of a permanent Secreatriat workforce to support the Counci.

The provisions in the amended law is attuned to the current changes and developments in Philippine society and the world specifically in the area of literacy. It  gives the Council an unfolding and widened opportunity  to actively involve a greater segment of government and civil society in the campaign for the promotion of literacy for all Filipinos.

DepEd incorporates media literacy in school subjects

THE Department of Education (DepEd) is set to include media literacy education in the country’s basic education curriculum starting this school year. “We believe that our young learners need to be protected from adverse media which they encounter every day while in the process of acquiring information and entertainment,” said DepEd Secretary Mona Valisno.

To prepare for the integration, DepEd has created the Media Literacy Task Force (MLTF) which was given the green light to develop a National Media Literacy Education (NMLE) curriculum that would help children understand and handle media.

“Our children need help in developing their skill to distinguish good news from bad news and good programs from bad ones,” explained Valisno.

She said recent studies of the Cartoon Network New Generations Philippines (2009), the 2008 AC Nielsen kid study, and the 2002 PCTVF Media Violence Study showed that 26 percent of Filipino children go online every day.

Likewise, a 2008 study conducted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) showed that excessive exposure to television is one of the leading causes of physical weakness, stress, poor appetite, aggression, and violent behavior among children.

These prompted the DepEd National Council for Children’s Television, Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, and Smart Communications to launch the Bantay TV campaign.

The campaign involves the monitoring of television programs especially those that are shown between 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., the time when majority of children can watch TV shows.

It is aimed at reducing by 20 percent the incidence of vulgarity, discrimination, sex, and violence in TV.

The NMLE is set to be integrated in the Basic Education Curriculum under Social Studies for the elementary level; and under English, Communication Arts, and Values subjects for the high school.

Valisno said teachers, school administrators, and peer educators will soon undergo trainings in preparation for the integration. Media learning resources will also be developed for the use in public schools.

Source: Sunstar Manila, May 16, 2010

DepEd: Opening of classes smooth, orderly

MANILA, Philippines – The opening of classes for more than 21 million public school students and more than 3.26 million private school students in the pre-school, elementary and high school levels went “very smoothly,” Education Secretary Mona Valisno declared yesterday.

While there were the usual problems of crowded classrooms in some schools, particularly in urban areas, Valisno said public schools welcomed incoming Grade 1 pupils and high school freshmen as well as students returning after the summer break.

“We’ve had a very smooth opening of classes in our public schools, even in Metro Manila,” Valisno told a press briefing during the Oplan Balik Eskwela campaign at the Department of Education (DepEd) central office in Pasig City yesterday.

Valisno said DepEd is still confident that the quality of education was not compromised, notwithstanding the resource shortages in public schools.

“Even if our classrooms are packed, we are finding ways to get them all in and make sure they get taught and learn,” she said.

Valisno said DepEd is delivering 5.73 million textbooks this school year as it targets to achieve a 1:1 student to textbook ratio.

This is expected to enhance education efficiency in public schools. Public schools already have 86.2 million textbooks on inventory, she said.

There are presently more than 45,000 public elementary and high schools in the country. The number of pre-schools is placed at 15,841.

Valisno also explained that to bring public school education standards to 21st century level, the government has so far put up computer laboratories in 5,409 public high schools out of a total of 6,650 public high schools. Moreover, high schools with Internet connection total 3,820 while Internet connection for the remaining 2,830 public high schools is being procured.

Valisno though admitted that problems would still crop up despite efforts to address the concerns on the lack of schoolrooms, textbooks, availability of teachers, and the issue of no collection of school fees.

“We want to assure the public that these concerns are already being resolved… and our continuing coordination with the national agencies, local governments units, grassroots and private organizations as well as barangay officials,” Valisno said.

While agreeing with DepEd that the first day of the school year went smoothly in public schools, Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) party list Rep. Antonio Tinio said that learning conditions remain far from ideal for the more than 21 million public pre-school, elementary and high schools.

“It’s always orderly (opening). But the conditions are far from ideal. The nine years of GMA (President Arroyo) have really been bad for education, the conditions went from bad to worse,” Tinio said.

The opening of classes in several regions of the country, on the other hand, has been postponed indefinitely.

In some far-flung villages of Sumisip in Basilan, the opening of classes was postponed due to ongoing military operations against the Abu Sayyaf bandits.

DepEd officials in Batangas also ordered the postponement of classes in Pulo Elementary School in Talisay and Kalawit Elementary School in Balete. Both schools are located in Volcano Island near the crater of Taal Volcano. Edmon Pampulan, officer in charge of Pulo Elementary School, said they were advised to postpone the opening of classes while alert level 2 remains hoisted over the area.

The Philippine Star, June 16, 2010 
By Rainier Allan Ronda with Roel Pareño, Arnell Ozaeta, Alexis Romero

Gearing up Internet Literacy and Access for Students

Gearing up Internet Literacy and Access for Students (GILAS) is a multi-sectoral initiative that is composed mainly of corporations and concerned nonprofit institutions that realize the need to invest in bridging the digital divide among the nation’s public high school students.

Filipino students learn under the most difficult of circumstances. The Philippine government budget for education is not enough to provide for adequate educational facilities and other learning resources. This is why only a handful of Filipino students are given the privilege of a college education, as only a small minority are able to afford one.

Meanwhile, the Internet is becoming increasingly important in our day-to-day activities, as it opens doors to a wealth of information and resources. Access to information has become a basic necessity, not a luxury. Companies have raised the bar for new hires, requiring proof of Internet literacy as part of the minimum qualifications. Sadly, the Philippine government remains heavily burdened by the task of improving on even more basic resource shortages in the educational system.

Today, public high school students hardly have any access to computers in their schools, thus suffering the risk of being ill equipped in a world that is gradually becoming more digital. The future of the nation lies in its ability to harness the potentials of its youth.

GILAS aims to provide Internet access to all public secondary school students in the Philippines, thus giving them an opportunity to a brighter future.