A blog that tackles issues on basic education (in the Philippines and the United States) including early childhood education, the teaching profession, math and science education, medium of instruction, poverty, and the role of research and higher education.
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What Needs to Be Done: Address the Needs of Children
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No curricular reform would work without addressing first the basic needs of school children. When kids have to climb cliffs and cross a river using a bamboo raft, their safety needs to be addressed first. A video showing what some Filipino children have to do just to attend school has been loaded on YouTube by Kyle Jennermann more than a year ago. The video has been viewed more than a hundred thousand times. Finally, the Philippines government has taken the right step in improving basic education by providing a safe bridge for school children to cross in Barangay Lingating in Baungon, Bukidnon.
The new bridge was formally opened two days before this past Christmas. Among the first to cross is Bukidnon's representative Maria Lourdes Acosta-Alba.
Kyle Jennerman did note on his Facebook page that the Department of Public Works and Highways paid attention to the video he posted. He shared a message he received a couple of months after he made that video:
"Result of the investigation revealed that an estimated 50 elementary school children and high school students from sition Kitara, Brgy. Lingating, Baungon, Bukidnon are going to and from Barangays Bayanga and Mambuaya Elementary School/High School, Cagayan de Oro City everyday just to be in school. The use of two (2) bamboo rafts is the only mode transportation in crossing the river, and they still have to climb the vertical bank of the river to reach their homes. This is the unchanging situation the people are embracing daily that puts so much risk in their lives.
To address this concern... (***removed names) suggested that they include in their local infrastructure project (LIP) the following: 1. Construction of 160 l.m. Hanging Bridge and Access Road, Brgy. Bayanga, Cagayan de Oro City to Sitio Kitara, Brgy. Lingating, Baungon, Bukidnon. 2. Construction of 124 l.m. Hanging Bridge and Access Road, Brgy. Mambuaya, Cagayan de Oro City to Sitio Macabundol, Brgy. Danatag, Baungon, Bukidnon. 3. Construction of 124 l.m. Hanging Bridge and Access Road, Zone 5 Sitio Aura Brgy. Mambuaya to Sitio Guimara, Brgy. Langawon, Baungon, Bukidnon.
The project shall be implemented and completed in 2016 so that school kids will no longer take the risks in climbing the vertical bank of the river accident can be avoided. Thank you. DPWH
From the time the above message was received, it took more than a year to finish the bridge. Still, seeing this bridge brings hope that someday the Philippine government will soon prioritize what basic education really needs.
MGA TANONG AT SAGOT HINGGIL SA Kto12 PROGRAM NG GOBYERNO NG PILIPINAS Posted on May 28, 2012 by David Michael San Juan MGA TANONG AT SAGOT HINGGIL SA Kto12 PROGRAM NG GOBYERNO NG PILIPINAS (Paunawa: Simpleng lenggwahe ang ginamit sa artikulong ito upang madaling maintindihan ng mayorya.) For the full English version please visit http://www.scribd.com/david_juan_1/d/70033985-San-Juan-David-Michael-Full-Paper-Kto12 TANONG: ANO ANG KTO12 PROGRAM? SAGOT: Ang Kto12 Program ng gobyerno ng Pilipinas ay tumutukoy sa pagkakaroon ng mandatory o required na kindergarten at karagdagang 2 taon sa dating 10-year Basic Education Cycle. Kung noon, pagkatapos ng anim na taon sa elementarya at apat na taon sa hayskul (kabuuang 10 taon) ay maaari nang makapagkolehiyo ang mga estudyante. Sa ilalim ng Kto12, bago makapagkolehiyo, kailangan pa nilang dumaan sa karagdagang 2 taon pagkatapos ng apat na taong hayskul. Sa bagong sistema, tinatawag na senior high school o junior
With the new K to 12 curriculum in the Philippines, various tracks are now offered in the last two years of basic education. The various options available obviously make it possible for students to find themselves later unprepared for the courses they decide to take in college. A student, for instance, who finishes the accounting business management (ABM) strand in the senior high school academic track, is now required to take additional courses if the student chooses to enroll in a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) major in college. These additional courses which are now called "bridging programs" are either taken during the first year of college or over several weeks in the summer before college starts. Above copied from Coldwater High School Early College Program There are bridging programs in the United States, but these are different from the ones that are now appearing in colleges in the Philippines. In Coldwater High School in Michigan, fo
Hapag ng Pag-asa, Painting by Joey A. Velasco The following is an article written by Fr. James B. Reuter, S.J., originally published on the Philippine Star . HAPAG NG PAG-ASA. By Fr. James B. Reuter, S.J. The Philippine Star 04/21/2007 At the entrance of the Major Seminary of the University of Santo Tomas , in Manila , you will see a painting. It is the "Last Supper" of Joey A. Velasco. It portrays poor children from Metro Manila, all between the ages of 4 and 14, at the Last Supper with Christ Our Lord. He has called it "Hapag ng Pag-asa", the table of hope. To start with, it is not really a table. It is a big delivery box, knocked apart and nailed together again as a table. Joey Velasco himself has said: "This painting reveals a story of greater hunger than a plate of rice could satisfy. What these children are starved for is love." Realizing that his little models were real persons, he investigated the life of each of them, and wrote
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