ENHANCING LITERACY IN THE COMMUNITY

THROUGH READ ALOUD SESSIONS

Barangay Monbon, Irosin, Sorsogon

It is never too early to start a child's education

Preschool education has traditionally been the
parents' responsibility However, economic
difficulties have forced both father and mother to
seek employment or engage in income generating
activities outside the home, thereby effectively
preventing them from being the first teachers of their
children. In many poor families, the children suffer
not only from their parents' absence but also from
the limited education of both father and mother. In
these cases, the barangay is asked to stand in place
of parents

Context

Barangay Monbon is one of the twenty-eight (28) barangays of the Municipality of Irosin in
the province of Sorsogon-the southernmost province of Luzon Island. It is 643 kilometers south
of Manila.

Barangay Monbon is located north of the poblacion and has the third largest population
among all the barangays in the town with 3,390 people distributed among 692 households. The
barangay has been a multiple winner in the Irosin Inter-Barangay Environmental Development
Program (IIEDP). In 1994, the barangay won in the municipality's Clean and Green contest. It ran
away with the first prize again in 1997 for building a barangay hall and detachments for the
tanods (civilian peacekeeping volunteers). The tanods manned vehicular traffic along the national
highway during school days.
 The barangay captain at that time was famous for mobilizing so-called drunkards and idlers
to guard the trashcans that the barangay placed in choice locations. Every other Sunday of the
month, the barangay held a komun or cooperative work to clean up public places.

The Project

The need for a literacy development program originated from the installation of a
Community Based Information System (CBIS) that determined what Minimum Basic Needs
(MBN) the residents had difficulty meeting. Regular monitoring and subsequent literacy mapping
showed that Monbon was one of the barangays in Irosin that had low levels of literacy. From
these was born the Barangay Literacy Enhancement Program (BLEP) in 2001. Barangay
Monbon was one of the pilot barangays for both government and non-government's community-
based formal and non-formal education and literacy programs.

The BLEP had an initial 515 pre-school and 626 school children as targets. Of the 1,141
children, one hundred seventynine (179) preschoolers and one hundred sixty-two (162) school-
age children suffered from varying degrees of malnutrition. One hundred twenty children (120)
enrolled initially in the five (5) day care centers in the barangay.

Targeting of Recipients The project conducted a survey to target the recipients of the
project.

Community Assemblies To ensure ownership by the community, assemblies were held.

Feeding Sessions The project had a feeding component to reduce malnutrition, enhance
brain development and facilitate learning.
 Care Givers Classes Care givers, volunteer teachers, and facilitators were trained on how
to take care of the children.

Read Aloud Sessions The project introduced a new process of developing the pre-school
literacy called the Read Aloud Sessions. These were components of the Bagong Kulturang Pinoy
(New Filipino Culture) curriculum.

Monitoring and Evaluation Sessions Project implementation and results were tracked
through monitoring and evaluation sessions.

Establishment of a Barangay Reading Center. The project also established a Barangay

Reading Center that benefited elementary and high school students.

Results

Since it started in 2001, around sixty-eight (68) preschoolers have finished the Read Aloud
Sessions.

The feeding sessions have helped ease nutritional deficiencies among selected pre-school
and in-school children.

The provision of day care services has given mothers time to engage in income generating
activities.

Provision of pre-school education has allowed Monbon's children to begin their education
early and have eased the parents' concern on where to send their children for pre-schooling.

BARANGAY AND OVERSEAS SCHOLAR

Barangay Palaca, Miag-ao, Iloilo

Overseas Filipinos can help in a number of ways. In this case, the barangay tapped the
assistance of its native sons and daughters who had migrated and done well in the United States
to finance the education of poorer children in their homeland

Context

Barangay Palaca is one of the 119 barangays of the Municipality of Miag-ao, Province of
Iloilo. It is located three (3) kilometers south of the poblacion of Miag-ao and forty-five (45)
kilometers from Iloilo City. The national highway going from Iloilo City to the south of Iloilo
province and to the towns of the neighboring province of Antique traverses the village. Palaca is
one of the thirty-five (35) lowland barangays of Miag-ao. It has a land area of 256,186 hectares. It
is a coastal village. It has a population of 2,001 belonging to 358 households. Many of its
inhabitants are engaged in farming. Others are into dressmaking, fish vending, carpentry, fishing,
and salt making. Ten percent (10%) of the population are overseas contract workers.

The Project

The Constitution directs the State to provide for universal and free public elementary
education to all Filipino children. Even then, large numbers of children who are prepared to enter
school delay or forego formal schooling altogether because their families cannot afford to pay for
non-tuition expenses, which is often higher than the cost of tuition.

In the Miag-ao West Central Elementary School at Barangay Tabunacan, only sixty percent
(60%) of children that were prepared to begin their elementary schooling actually enrolled. The
forty percent (40%) who could not were left to stay at home and wait until their family could afford
to do so or wandered on the street begging and vending. The parents of these children
frequented the Palaca barangay hall seeking help for their out-ofschool children.

The barangay decided to seek the help of Mr. Arnold and Rebecca Nite of Cupertino,
California. Mr. Nite was a native of Barangay Palaca. Mr. Nite agreed to fund the schooling of all
school children in Barangay Palaca entering elementary school in the year 2000.

The Sanggunian Barangay (Barangay Council) then met with the parents of the children to
explain to them the details of the scheme and to seek their cooperation to ensure that their
children regularly attended school.

Finally, the Sanggunian Barangay met with the principal of the Miag-ao West Central
Elementary School to iron out the details. It was agreed that the Sanggunian Barangay as the
trustee of The Arnold & Rebecca Nite Scholarship Grant would handle all the expenses of the
children while the parents would shoulder the cost of special projects.

A year later, the Sanggunian Barangay of Palaca decided to extend the scholarship
program to elementary graduates. It drew up plans to send fifteen (15) children into high school.
However, the cost was too high for the barangay. The barangay council approached another
native son living in San Francisco, California, Mr. Ricardo Morada, and his wife, Ms. Lolita
Morada for help.

The couple agreed to fund the education of an initial batch of thirty (30) high school
freshmen at the Palaca-Damilisan National High School and promised to continue supporting
them through high school provided that the scholars maintained an above average grade. The
couple also committed to funding the education of thirty (30) new freshmen every year at the
same high school.

Mr. and Mrs. Morada also committed to send three (3) graduating high school students
from the Palaca-Damilisan National High School to the Southern Iloilo Polytechnic College.

Results

Mr. Arnold and Rebecca Nite funded the education of 286 school children.

Mr. and Mrs. Morada sponsored the education of thirty (30) high school students and three
(3) college students.

The barangay funded the education of eleven (11) more bringing the total number of
scholars to 330.

EDUCATING THE YOUTH AND THE BARANGAY

THROUGH THE DRAMATIC ARTS
Barangay Bulac, Sta. Maria, Bulacan

There are many ways to inform, educate, awaken, and enlighten than the usual lecture or
public announcement. People retain the message better when all their five senses are engaged
Even better if they are enjoying themselves Young people have been the target of all kinds of
education from adults In this barangay, the roles have been reversed

Context

Barangay Bulac is one of the 24 barangays of Sta. Maria, Bulacan. It is located about
seven (7) kilometers from the Sta. Maria town proper. As of 2000, it had a population of 5,143
distributed into 1,112 households.
 The Project

The Sanggunian Kabataan (Youth Council) of Bulac called itself the SK Kapatid or the
Kabataang Paglilingkod ang Hatid (Youth Rendering Service). Kapatid expressed the ideals that
the 5K wanted to the Bulac youth-responsible and oriented to serving their fellow citizens.

SK Kapatid is also the name of the youth council's official newspaper, which it started
publishing in 1996. The SK Kapatid was not the usual youth newspaper. Like any newspaper, it
had its share of news on youth activities and community affairs in Bulac and announcements of
events. But it was also a promoter of environmental and social consciousness among the youth
and a medium for communicating their unique perspective on issues affecting the barangay and
the larger community.

The SK Kapatid did not limit itself to the printed media for its advocacy and value formation.
It ventured into the dramatic arts to entertain, educate, and inform. SK Kapatid established
BULAGA or the Bulac Artists' Guild that produced plays and performances that educate people
on the local culture and on the burning issues of the day.