ILOILO City – The Department of Education (DepEd) in Western Visayas admitted that one of the concerns during the return of face-to-face classes in the region is the low basic literacy among early grade students.
Basic literacy skills include reading, writing, numeracy, and simple comprehension.
“Even without the pandemic, struggling ang mga kabataan natin. Kung namomroblema kami na walang pandemic, how much more that they were out sa classrooms,” said DepEd-6 regional director, Dr. Ramir B. Uytico.
Uytico admitted that the regional office also received feedbacks about pupils who do not know how to read.
Thus, Uytico said, the regional office is focusing on its Basic Education Learning and Recovery Continuity Plan (BELRCP).
Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, teachers and students, with the help of parents and guardians, observed two school years of distant and blended learning.
Full in-person classes only returned late this year.
“We included ‘recovery’ in our plan because of learning losses na dapat i-recover,” said Uytico.
Under the BELRCP, the regional office crafted its Regional Education Development Plan, same with school divisions with their Division Education Development Plan and the principals that must also have their School Improvement Plan.
Uytico said one of the requirements for each school is to have their respective reading program.
DepEd-6 is also partnering with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for the ABC+: Advance Basic Education in the Philippines program.
The program, which is being implemented by RTI International and The Asia Foundation, aims to ensure that evidence-based solutions for improved early literacy and numeracy instruction can be adopted and sustained by the Philippine education system.
In Region 6, five local government units are beneficiaries of the program and these include Roxas City, Iloilo City and Escalante City in Negros Occidental.
Moreover, Uytico announced that by early next year, DepEd-6 will be holding a Literacy and Numeracy Summit wherein all school divisions across the region will participate.
Those who have not started yet will present their numeracy and literacy programs while those who have took off already will give updates. For those who already carried out their plans and did very well will share their best practices.
“It will be a gathering of literacy enthusiasts then I will request our superintendents to be reactors, to discuss how to level up their numeracy and literacy. Walang katapusan ang mga guro natin maghanap ng mga opportunities para makahanap ng pamamaraan like ‘yung innovation showdown natin headed by the Policy Planning and Research Division natin,” Uytico stressed.
The regional director also cited DepEd-6’s educational innovation showdown – his brainchild project – which recognizes the unique innovative interventions and strategies of the teachers on delivering services to their learners especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Para sa amin, indi lang ang i-address ‘yung reading ability ng mga bata. Maraming dapat gawin,” he added.
Meanwhile, according to Dr. Elena Gonzaga, chief of the Curriculum and Learning Management Division of DepEd-6, the regional office doesn’t have the exact number of non-numeric and non-reader students but they empower the schools to assist or conduct diagnostic test using the teachers’ made test as to the reading and numeracy capacity of the learners.
“We empower the teachers to make their town tools kasi when we deal of K to 3, iba-iba ang language because of mother tongue,” she added./PN
