ILOILO City – To address persistent gaps in functional literacy across the province, the Schools Division of Iloilo is rolling out a grassroots-driven education initiative that enlists entire barangays to help residents – young and old – become fully literate and numerate.
Dubbed “Kasimaryo Ko, Tudlo-an Ko” (My Neighbor, I Will Mentor), the program is a community-powered movement aimed at equipping out-of-school youth and adults aged 19 to 65 with the skills to read, comprehend, and function effectively in daily life.
“The project was conceptualized based on the urgency of the need because it’s the talk of the town, including the vision of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Education Secretary Sonny Angara to improve the performance of our learners and consequently our community along literacy and numeracy,” said Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Ernesto Servillon Jr.
Despite the 2024 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS) showing that 88.6 percent of Ilonggos aged five and above are basically literate, only 68.4 percent of those aged 10 to 64 are considered functionally literate — able to apply reading, writing, and numeracy skills in real-life situations.
Servillon emphasized that actual assessments conducted by the Department of Education (DepEd) using validated tools show learner performance at around 93 percent, prompting a need to bridge the remaining gap through expanded, localized efforts.
Under the new initiative, barangay officials will help identify residents needing literacy support, while Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) members will be trained as volunteer tutors. School heads will deploy teachers to lead learning sessions, initially scheduled twice a month on weekends.
“The initiative will be led by school heads and teachers because efforts should be simultaneous, or else we could not feel the effects and impacts in relation to the provincial situation of Iloilo,” Servillon explained.
Sessions are expected to begin by August or September. The goal: achieve a functional literacy rate province-wide, with sustained implementation until every willing learner gains the necessary skills.
“Almost all our teachers are trained on reading remediation activities because we had school reading activity last summer. For now, we are preparing here at the division office,” he added.
The Association of Barangay Captains has already moved to institutionalize the program by passing an ordinance integrating it into their annual investment plans — an early sign of strong LGU support./PN
