100 Pre-schools—all in a year’s work

IT SEEMED so ambitious when Pinky Aquino Abellada mentioned last year that the goal of the foundation she would be involved in was to build 100 pre-schools during President Noynoy Aquino’s first year in office. But true enough,  AGAPP Foundation lived up to its boast of a hundred pre-schools from July 2010 to mid-June 2011, with the 100th built in Limay, Bataan.

The focus on pre-schools clearly emanates from two items (yes, ambitious but feasible with a lot of determination and grit) on the 10-point Basic Reform Agenda of the Aquino administration: First, universal pre-schooling for all: “All public school children (and all public schools) will have a full year of pre-schooling as their introduction to formal schooling by 2016.” Second, the critical “Every Child a Reader” program: “By the end of my administration, every child must be a reader by Grade 1.” Grade 3 used to be the old cutoff, but with the introduction of the mandatory pre-school level starting in school year 2011-2012, Grade 1 is now the target.

The acronym AGAPP stands for Aklat, Gabay at Aruga Tungo sa Pag-angat at Pag-asa (books, teacher training, feeding, livelihood and parenting support programs towards a better quality of life and hope) and the first phase has been the construction of Silid Pangarap classrooms, all brightly colored with a library corner of carefully selected books for K-3 readers, learning materials and toys and school supplies.

After a year, AGAPP says it has accomplished the Aklat and Gabay parts of its name, with the books and the teacher training. It now looks forward to finishing the rest of the acronym as it embarks on feeding, livelihood and parenting support programs. Well-known child development educator Feny de los Angeles Bautista (remember the very successful “Batibot”  TV series that she developed the curriculum for?) led the book selection and the teacher training. Also in sight for Year 2 are 150 more pre-school classrooms.

That AGAPP is devoted exclusively to pre-schools is a welcome development as it acknowledges the importance of preparing children better for the rigors of formal schooling. (That is also the reason why Sa Aklat Sisikat Foundation has initiated Kinder College, a teacher training program for pre-school teachers.) It is a tremendous boost to the public school educational system (and DepEd’s lamentably limited resources) when a nongovernment organization tailors its program for a specific target grade level and in a sense “adopts” it by concentrating all its efforts on supporting, strengthening and enhancing  the grade level curriculum. The partnerships and programs that come to mind are McDonald’s Bright Minds Read for Grade 1, Union Bank’s Developmental Reading Program Integrated with Values and Good  Citizenship for Grade 2, Sa Aklat Sisikat Reading Program for Grade 4, and DepEd’s Library Hubs for all grade levels. These programs were all developed with the promotion of literacy in mind, all underscoring the fact that reading is at the heart of all learning. (And if we still have any doubts on that at this point, we are in serious trouble.)

Even while an assessment of the program is being discussed, Pinky is encouraged by reports that in Tuguegarao, some children switched from the private kinder classes they were enrolling in to Silid Pangarap classrooms because of the obvious difference in quality. The pre-school enrollment has also gone up between 30 and 60 percent in these Silid Pangarap classrooms, which have become “tourist” attractions to visitors and townsfolks alike. But again, why should something that should be a basic right of children be considered  such a novelty? Oh, for the day when such innovations become ordinary and commonplace and a way of life.

In Abuyog, Leyte, a DepEd staffer on the cusp of retirement was moved to tears at the mere sight of the children’s attractive classroom, saying that she never imagined she would see one in her lifetime.

AGAPP is in partnership with the DepEd, DSWD and the local government units, aware that such a collaboration is needed for any such endeavor. It aims to develop performance tracking systems that will look at retention rates, dropout rates, developmental skills, teaching skills—a complex area altogether. It is hoped that AGAPP will build the necessary systems to institutionalize these pre-school classrooms so that they are maintained and sustained beyond P-Noy’s term. (For more information on the project, visit www.agapp.com.ph.)

It cannot be denied that Pinky’s lineage and present political connections, despite her downplaying them in typical self-effacing Cory Aquino fashion, have made it much easier for AGAPP to draw public attention and donors.  But who is to complain?  What I am pleased about is that she is at the very least using her status as the President’s sister to draw attention to pre-school education.

How can this fledgling DepEd program not benefit from any attention? Finally, pre-school education will become widely accessible, and not just to children from privileged families.

Neni Sta. Romana Cruz (nenisrc@gmail.com) is a member of the Philippine Board on Books for Young People, the Eggie Apostol Foundation, and a trustee of Sa Aklat Sisikat Foundation.