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Kabacan,
North Cotabato, Mindanao, May 1, 2005 - Eleven year
old Norhana Abdulgani's eyes light up as she leafs through the
pages of a story book. She reads the book loudly at first, and
then silently, letting her imagination take over. Silence apparently
means Norhana has gone to a different place-even without leaving
her school in Pikit, North Cotabato. Because, even at this tender
age, this eighth child among nine siblings has lived through sporadic
armed conflicts.
"The
sound of gunshots is nothing new to me. But every time I hear
them, I still fear for my life and for my family," Norhana relates,
with sadness etched on her face. She plans to have a better future.
That is why she tries to do well in school, she says. Norhana
is lucky to be a student of Rajah Muda Elementary School, a Model
of Excellence (MOE) school, because not all public schools have
access to books and other education materials, particularly in
the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and other conflict-
affected areas. To augment school resources, the US Agency for
International Development (USAID), under its Education Awareness
Support Effort (EASE) has been working with community organizations
and the private sector to improve the current state of education
in the region.
Helping
Norhana and other students in Mindanao stay in schools that have
ample school resources, is no longer as daunting a task as it
once appeared.
Michael
Langsdorf, GEM's Deputy Program Manager for Education and Governance,
stressed the need for local communities to harness all available
resources at the recent Culture of Reading Workshop. "We must
take responsibility for improving the quality of education at
the local level. Do not assume that this is someone else's responsibility
because it isn't," Langsdorf told local officials, school heads,
and teacher-librarians present at the workshop.
Primarily
organized to maximize students' reading resources in EASE partner
schools, the activity also aimed to motivate local officials and
business leaders to become active education partners. More than
100 officials, school heads, and teacher-librarians discussed
education and literacy promotion during the assembly.
Sad
state
Because
most schools lack resources to engage, enlighten or entertain
children, Mindanao has the lowest completion rate for elementary
schools, according to Department of Education (DepEd) records
for school year 2001-2002. Pegged at 54 percent, it is almost
ten percentage points lower than Visayas (63.6 %) and Luzon (74%).
For
every 10 enrollees in Grade 1 in Mindanao there are only 3 or
4 survivors who finish high school on schedule. The figure is
more distressing in the ARMM, where only one out of 10 survive
high school in the normal 10 year period.
At
88 percent, Mindanao's simple literacy rate is also the country's
lowest. Among Mindanao regions, ARMM has the poorest literacy
rate at 73.5 percent. One out of five persons in that region cannot
read or write.
Inadequate
public school resources is a perennial problem in the country,
and very evident in public schools, especially in the ARMM and
other conflict- affected areas. Sporadic clashes and inadequate
funding slowed education improvement through the years. But with
USAID and private sector assistance, communities now realize that
every organization must play an active role in ensuring that more
children are equipped with the skills needed for productive lives
and gainful employment.
A
reader in every child
Making
every child a reader, especially in poverty-stricken areas, is
the key to sustainable peace and development. Dr. Isagani Cruz,
Books for Philippine Schools Foundation Incorporated (BPSFI) President
urged workshop participants to "provide books to save children
from poverty."
Giving
children better access to reading materials is also vital to molding
a globally competitive work force. English proficiency is required
by most multinational companies and business outsourcing firms
or call centers, which constitute some of the leading employers
in the Philippines. Thus, the partnership between EASE and BPSFI
to provide at least 400 books to Mindanao schools which are recipient
of EASE Matching Grants, is a welcome move to all the stakeholders.
Up
to 47 EASE partner schools located in Cotabato, Maguindanao, Sarangani
and Sultan Kudarat provinces are entitled to the provision of
these books. More partner schools will be given books within the
year, if their parent-teachers- community associations (PTCAs)
and other private sector "investors" enrich their local schools.
Since
1985, BPSFI has provided over 8 million books and thousands of
other education materials to about 12,000 schools nationwide.
BPSFI is the counterpart of the US-based non governmental organization,
Books for the Barrios.
EASE,
on the other hand, has been working to increase civic awareness
and education challenges in ARMM and other conflict affected areas
in Mindanao. Over 150 schools with at least 120,000 students have
benefited from the program's Matching Grant component, which works
with PTCAs to improve specific programs in selected schools.
Library
Hub
The
drive to make every child a reader is becoming stronger. At present,
the Department of Education (DepEd) is looking for partners to
implement its Library hub project in every school division. Partner
"packages" are available from P50,000 to P5 million. The center
serves as a "wholesale" lender of books for Grades 1 to 6, Marge
Barro, Library Hub Project Manager of DepEd, explains.
Small
school divisions, or those with up to 50 schools will have 25,000
books, while medium divisions with up to 200 schools will be entitled
to 50,000 books. Large divisions, or those with up to 900 schools
will be provided 300,000 books while those with over 900 schools
will be furnished with 400,000 books.
Establishing
a culture of reading
Reading
should not be forced, Dr. Cruz emphasizes. Instead of requiring
students to read, Cruz, who is a Palanca awardee and a former
Education Undersecretary suggests that teachers allot time for
sustained silent reading, or in the case or younger students,
for public readings by the teacher.
"Providing
a book every day to a student enhances reading activities for
entire families. If each of the 500,000 teachers in the country
would do this, then we will be able to dramatically improve literacy,"
Dr. Cruz said.
Conducting
daily lessons in oral language and journal writing, pairing off
slow readers with advanced pupils; instructing pupils to read
aloud, to read for a prize, and organizing a Book Lovers Club
are among the techniques implemented in some MOE schools. Dr.
Cruz urged Mindanao teacher-librarians to duplicate these strategies
to improve literacy.
As
teachers at the workshop nod in approval, the attention shifts
to the thousands of students who will soon benefit from the implementation
of these teaching methods.
For
Norhana and other students, books may serve as portals toward
higher planes of learning. For their impoverished families, books
may serve as instruments to an improved life. And for all of Mindanao,
an educated, literate citizenry will help to promote peace and
development. (Luis Mendoza, Jr., GEM Program)
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