Sarangani’s education reforms may help Phl’s “reading problem”

MALUNGON, Sarangani (June 1, 2012) – Sarangani’s education reforms could be a remedy to the “reading problem” of the country’s education system, a high-ranking education official said. “In the entire Philippines, reading is a problem. And I was telling Governor Migs Dominguez that programs like this (Sarangani Big Brother) should be replicated across the country,” said Education Undersecretary Rizalino Rivera. Rivera, who was guest speaker at the culmination program of “Sarangani Big Brother (SBB): Reading is Fun!” Wednesday (May 30), said “this is something we can teach to officials and education stakeholders of what can be done.” Sarangani initiated education reforms to improve the quality of education and counter the drop-out rate which has been noted to have caused high poverty incidence. What amazed Rivera was the “spirit of volunteerism” that succeeded SBB to produce over 27,000 students become better readers in a span of five years. “Sarangani Big Brother: Reading is Fun!” was launched in 2008 to aid public elementary schools reduce the number of non-readers and instructional readers by engaging youth volunteers to assist teachers in read-along sessions during a 15-day remedial reading class held every summer. Palawan, Compostela Valley and Cebu have replicated SBB in their provinces beginning this year. Lack of resources, Rivera said, has been only used as an excuse but what Sarangani initiated proves that “it is better to light a candle in the dark that sparks in the darkness.” “All of you here,” Rivera told the 2,000 volunteers, “you are just showing to every Filipino that we can do something positive despite the lack of resources.” He pointed out that reading is “a very important foundational skill.” “With reading we can get the child to master all other skills,” Rivera said. “With reading we can make the child conversant to the rest of the world.” Rivera then cited a study showing “reading” to have a large degree of influence to a child as he grows up. “So kung ano po ang magiging klaseng tao, anong klaseng mamamayan ang ating learners ngayon, we can very much influence by way of reading.” For his part, governor Dominguez said “ang pinakamasarap na feeling ay makakatulong ng isang bata na makabasa.” “Napakasarap ng feeling na kapag tayo’y umuwi sa bahay kahit malayo, magbaklay padulong sa eskwelahan (hiking in going to school), sakay ug habal-habal (riding in a motorcycle), napakaganda ng feeling natin dahil alam natin we have made a difference in the life of a child,” the governor told the volunteers and teachers. In Sarangani, Dominguez said, it has been made a pledge that “as long as there is a single child that is left behind na hindi nakakapag-aral, we will work harder and harder and harder.” The governor likewise told the youth volunteers: “One day you’ll become parents. One day you will see how important it is to have a helping hand and all volunteers of Sarangani lahat pala tayo ay makaka-angat ng isang probinsya, makakagawa ng isang maliwanag na kinabukasan at malaking deperensya sa ating bayan, sa ating probinsya.” “Dahil sa inyong volunteerism sa SBB we can say proudly that the future of our children is in good hands,” Dominguez said. He also reported that recently a group of high school students in Alabel National Science High School won second place in the environment category of the International Sustainable World Energy Engineering Environment Project Olympiad (ISWEEEP) 2012 held on May 2-7 at Houston, Texas. More than 500 students from 68 countries and 44 states participated in ISWEEEP which Dominguez proudly said students from Sarangani bested others from the finest schools in the country, in Asia and in America. For more news and updates, please visit the Province of Sarangani . (Beverly C. Paoyon/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)