UNICEF Phillipines: Geyah's story

Schools for Asia Philippines

Geyah’s storyMAKING AN IMPACT ON EDUCATION

2 UNICEF Philippines

In the Philippines, elementary school enrollment rates have been stalledfor the better part of two decades at just under 90 per cent—leavingsome 1.3 million children out of school. Those who are in school sufferhigh rates of drop out and repetition. And completion rates continue tohover at 70-73 per cent. This stagnation indicates that, as is common ata particular point in a country’s development, the Philippines hasreached a threshold beyond which further gains in education cannot beachieved simply by repeating or expanding the same tired approaches.Achieving universal primary education will require getting those who arehardest to reach into school, and ensuring that once there, they havethe opportunity to learn and develop to their fullest potential. This willrequire different strategies.UNICEF’s Child Friendly Schools System (CFSS) has already improved

access to and the quality of basic education for millions of childrenworldwide. The CFSS as an approach is now being mainstreamed in thePhilippine school system. Taking the wellbeing of the whole child astheir starting point, Child Friendly Schools address the issues that affecta child’s motivation for coming to school and for staying there. Child-friendly schools are characterized by the following qualities: they aresafe and healthy. They are inclusive and gender-sensitive. They strive tohave adequate resources and competent teachers who use child-centredteaching methods that make learning fun. Child friendly schools provide

MAKING AN IMPACT ON EDUCATION

Del Pilar

Schools for the Philippines Geyah’s story 3

safe water, suitable sanitation facilities and school-based nutritionservices. They also strengthen families and communities by engagingparents, teachers and community members in the effective functioningof the school. In the following pages you will meet Geyah Amore Perez. Geyah is in

the fourth grade at Del Pilar Learning Centre in Magpet, North Cotabatoon the island of Mindanao. Del Pilar is a child friendly elementaryschool, but like thousands of schools in rural parts of the country it alsofaces a specific challenge: the population is too low to warrant thegovernment providing a full complement of six teachers—one for eachgrade. Nationwide this is the reason thousands of children attend schoolsthat don’t go beyond grade three or four and schools where teachersstruggle—often ineffectively—with the demands of teaching multiplegrade levels at the same time without the proper training and non-availability of multi-level materials. In such settings, the CFSSFramework is being enriched by adopting appropriate alternativeeducation models. One such model is IMPACT (Instructional Managementby Parents, Community and Teachers)—which has allowed Del Pilar toturn this challenge into an opportunity. Now students at Del Pilar aregetting the kind of quality education that will allow them to not onlysurvive to the end of elementary school, but to thrive for the rest oftheir lives.


My name is and I am nine years old.I live in Barangay (village) Del Pilar, Magpet, North Cotabato on theisland of Mindanao in the Philippines. My father’s name is Efren. He is alabourer. My mother’s name is Teresita. She takes care of us and she hasa small store. I have two older brothers. Kerwen is 16. He is in the lastyear of high school. Rowen is 14. He is in the third year of high school. I am in the fourth grade at Del Pilar Learning Centre. When I grow up Iwant to be a teacher.


06:08 My mother usually cooks the rice I taketo school, but this morning, since my fatherdoesn’t have any work, he helps.

06:03 My brothers leave early so they canget the free jeepney to school. If theywalked to school it would take more than an hour.


06:11 My father and I eat breakfast together.


06:19 I have a wash...


06:24 ...then get my uniform off the line.


Me in my uniform

My swimsuitMy best dress

My other dresses

06:26 I get dressed...

][

06:28 ...then my mother fixes my hair.

I attended the same elementary school Geyah attends: Del Pilar. After levelsix I went on to complete high school. I really wanted to be a teacher, butmy parents didn’t have the money for me to continue at school. And by thetime I was offered a scholarship a few years later, I was married and had anine-month-old child. My husband only completed level six. His father was killed by the rebels

so he and his older brother stopped school to support the family. Because of our situation my husband and I are very focused on our

children’s education. Most of the families here feel the same way. We knoweducation means opportunities. These days you can’t get a good job without it.

—Teresita Perez, Geyah’s mother


06:35 We collect some beansfrom our small garden andwash them. Twice a weekthe students bring in veg-etables and the parents cooklunch for us.

When I was at Del Pilar it was a really different school. It was a three-room bamboo building with a galvanised roof and mud floors. When itrained the classrooms flooded. I started first grade the year the schoolopened in 1981. The teaching was nothing like it is today. It was a verytraditional classroom. The teacher wrote the lesson on the board and wecopied it down. It was boring—especially because the teacher focused somuch on the slow learners. Everyone had to repeat the lesson until theygot it. I remember starting first grade by learning to write our lettersand numbers and by the end of the year we were still doing the samething—over and over.



06:41 I leave for school.


07:02 But today I walk with my friends.

06:50 Most of the time I catch thejeepney with my brothers ratherthan walk to school...


07:10 Before school we take turns sweepingthe classrooms and the school grounds.


07:15 Every morning we have a flag ceremony.


There have been a lot of changes since this school opened here in 1981.At that time it was a multi-grade school—grades one and two in oneclass, grades three and four in another, and grades five and six in athird. With less than 100 students in the entire school there weren’tenough for the govern-ment to provide a teacher for each level. We alsolacked enough books, chairs and classrooms and didn’t have even asingle latrine or any water. In 1997 we told UNICEF about the situation at our school and they

agreed to come and help. By 1998 we had a photocopier, a 100 booklibrary, school furniture, playground equipment and three newclassrooms—each with its own sink and toilet. UNICEF had also trainedus in how to effectively teach children in a multi-grade setting. By 2001our teachers were winning regional and national awards for excellence inmulti-grade teaching and by 2005 students from teacher training collegeswere coming to observe us at work. In 2008 UNICEF trained us in the system we use today: IMPACT. We now

have 129 students, and instead of two levels per classroom, there are six.And yet our teachers and our students are happier than ever. We havemany visitors. They all want to know our magic ingredient: what it isthat makes our students such happy, successful, self-confident and self-directed learners.

—Juliet Aquino, Teacher in charge, Del Pilar Learning Centre

WELCOME TO DEL PILAR LEARNING CENTRE


07:20 We sing the Philippines national anthem, recite the pledge to our country and sing theCotabato Hymn. Then, the head teacher, Mrs Aquino, tells us what is going to happen today.


07:30 The older students take attendance as we enter the classroom.


“Under the IMPACT system all of the students in each classroom -- from grade one throughsix -- are a ‘family,’” explains Mr. Flores. “Del Pilar has two families, Diamond and Pearl.Students in a ‘family’ are grouped by neighbourhood, and include brothers and sisters, relatives,friends and neighbours. ‘Family’ members help one another learn, both in and out of school.Living near one another means they can easily help one another with their studies.”


MEET MY TEACHER, MR. EDGAR

When I first started working here I found it quite challenging to managetwo grade levels in a multi-grade classroom. I never thought I would bemanaging six grade levels in one classroom—and finding it easier. If I was trying to manage such a large class—there are about ten

students at each grade level—by teaching everyone on my own, it wouldbe very difficult. But IMPACT is a very different way of teaching. Underthis system my role is to facilitate learning by training the students todo the teaching. Here’s how it works: I train learners in levels four, five and six act as

‘programmed teachers’ (PT) who teach levels one, two and three—levelsix teaches level one; level five teaches level three and level four teacheslevel two.The students in grades four through six also take turns being ‘peer

group leaders’ (PGLs), leading the instruction of particular lessons fortheir grade level peers. The PTs and PGLs teach a set lesson for 30minutes then use the second 30 minutes of the lesson for enrichmentactivities and/or for helping the slower learners in the group. As the Instructional Supervisor my role is to ensure that everything

stays on track. If I see a PT or PGL is having trouble or a slow learnerwho still doesn’t understand the lesson, I step in to help—even if just togive more ideas to make the lesson clear. My goal is to make sure that bythe end of that session all of the students in each level have masteredtheir particular lesson.

—Edgar Flores, Instructional Supervisor, Del Pilar Learning Centre

The Department of Education (DepED)

estimates that there are about 3,800

incomplete elementary schools in the

country, meaning they only offer grades

one through three or one through four.

Most are in areas with small popula-

tions. The DepED has responded to

problems of access and quality by

addressing the backlog in classrooms

and teachers and investing in teacher

training to enhance their subject area

competence. However, in particularly

disadvantaged settings or with certain

groups, such measures may not be the

only answer. The CFSS-IMPACT model,

which trains teachers to enrich multi-

grade teaching, promotes children’s

participation and supports the develop-

ment and reproduction of instruction

modules, is a proven, cost-effective

alternative for delivering quality educa-

tion to these vulnerable populations. One

teacher is able to handle as many as 120

learners and it costs just 150,000 pesos

(US $3500) per school to put IMPACT into

place—much less than building more

classrooms and hiring more teachers in

order to offer complete grade levels.

How does UNICEF help?


07:56 Our programmed teacher is from grade six. She teaches Filipino to grade four for an hour.

At first when we started this new system there was apprehension on the part of the parents because thechildren were teaching the class. We met with them and talked about how IMPACT works and its benefits. Itdidn’t take long to convince them. Under IMPACT their children are learning the skills they need to be leaders. Children who are shy become

talkative and responsible and they learn to manage a group. And all of the students are interested inparticipating. They look forward to taking their turn as a programmed teacher or a peer group leader. Theslow learners also stay involved: where they might be ashamed to ask the teacher a question, they will moreeasily ask it of someone who is nearer their own age. And boys also do better under IMPACT because itencourages them to be more active and involved. Looking back, our previous approach to multi-grade education was largely about ways to manage children.

IMPACT is a means for transforming them.—Juliet Aquino, Teacher in Charge, Del Pilar Learning Centre


Then she goes back to the grade six part of the room to study with others in her own grade.

In the Philippines, from pre-primary through secondary school—boys are at a disadvantage when it comes to schooling. Almost

sixty per cent of out of school children of primary age are boys—the majority of which are poor and live in rural areas. Most cite

“lack of interest in schooling” and/or the need to work to augment family income as their main reasons for dropping out. Those

who remain in school are far more likely to be absent, have disciplinary problems, and repeat grades than girls.

The conventional classroom experience with its focus on passive learning is a key factor in boys’ poor performance. Boys, who

tend to prefer active approaches to learning, are likely to be less engaged and focused in classrooms where learning activities are

largely centered on individual in-seat drills. The IMPACT model, with small group sizes and emphasis on participation and peer

education has been shown to work well for both girls and boys. Test scores on the National Achievement Test for both boys and

girls attending Del Pilar have risen from 60 per cent to 80 percent under the CFSS-IMPACT system. Among the notable transfor-

mations observed in the children is their drive to become independent learners. Those who are called upon to teach the younger

children are able to hone their communication and leadership skills and they become more responsible for their learning.



09:32 Break time! Every day the parents make and sellsnacks. The money they earn helps support the school.


09:40 My friends and I like to play on the see saw.


10:46 Today I am the grade four peer group leader for our reading comprehension lesson.


10:54 When Mr. Flores sees that some of the boys are not paying attention he comes and works with us. He never gets mad at anyone he just finds a way to get them to join in.

When I am teaching I ask questions and have the others raise theirhands. After they raise their hands I have them answer and then I writewhat they said on the board. In my group the girls behave better thanthe boys. When the boys are misbehaving I have them answer questionsrepeatedly until such time as they listen and behave. I learned this fromMr. Edgar. It works.

—Geyah


TEACHING AND LEARNING MATERIALS: THE MODULES

Before IMPACT the most difficult thing for me was writing my lessonplans. It used to take me six hours every day and then I would needmore time to make instructional materials to support the lesson. Underthis system my load is lighter. The lessons are locked in and the‘instructional materials’ are included in the booklet. I still make somecharts and graphs for grades one through three, but even so I haveplenty of time to prepare my lessons and still handle my class very well.

—Edgar Flores, Instructional Supervisor, Del Pilar Learning Centre

Teachers and heads of other schools are always coming and asking me ifthey can copy the modules. I say no. Our students are doing well not justbecause of the modules. IMPACT is a whole system. You have to betrained in how to use it if you want to get the results.

—Juliet Aquino, Teacher in Charge, Del Pilar Learning Centre

Despite the Philippines’ policy that the textbook to student ratio should be one to one,

in practice there can be as many as five children sharing a single textbook. The CFSS-

IMPACT system uses modules based on the national curriculum that make this one to

one ratio possible. The modules are inexpensive and comprehensive. They are specifically

designed to enable the teachers and children to engage in various teaching-learning

activities including child-to child teaching, peer learning among children in the upper

grades, and the traditional teacher-led learning process. These approaches reduce the

burden of work for teachers while at the same time enhancing the active participation

of children in multi-grade classrooms.



IMPACT stands for Instructional Management by Parents, Community and Teachers. This means learningdoesn’t only take place in the classroom, it takes place everywhere because the whole community is involvedin our students’ learning process.

—Norma Tangara, Head of the PTA (above left)


We have a saying: the school is the window into the barangay. That’swhy beautifying the school has always been a top priority. Of courseparents want to send their children to an attractive school, but moreimportant, it sends an important message: we have unity. Thecommunity and the school work together.It wasn’t always this way. At one point the school almost closed due to

low enrollment and it had very few resources. Can you believe someparents even used to send chairs for their children to sit on in class?When UNICEF came in 1997 with all the new facilities we understood thatthe parents needed to help. The students had been taking care of thegrounds, and that was taking time away from their studies. We decidedto hold a school picnic where everyone would help to build a fencearound the school. That was the catalyst we needed. Soon the parentsrealised that the teachers were really pushed as well, so they startedassisting in the classrooms and helping with cooking and discipline.Eventually we formed six groups of parents. Every day one groupvolunteers at the school, assisting the teachers with the various schoolactivities.Now this service has become a fellowship. The partnership between the

school and the community has improved the situation for education, forour children and for our community. It is clear to us that even incommunities like ours where there is great poverty, resources are not asimportant as unity and working together.

—Norma Tangara, Head of the PTA

COMMUNITY: A KEY TO OUR SUCCESS

Learning does not begin when children

walk through the school doors nor does

it end when they leave for the day.

UNICEF’s Child Friendly Schools System

recognizes that children bring to school

their family and community beliefs,

practices, knowledge, expectations and

behaviours. Similarly, when they return

from school, they bring back to their

homes and communities new forms of

knowledge, practices, behaviours,

attitudes and skills. Linking schools and

communities is not only good

pedagogic practice, it facilitates the

enhanced functioning of the school. In a

Child Friendly School parents and other

stakeholders work together to make

school policy, to manage the school and

to develop and protect learners.



11:01 My mother and the other parents work together to make our lunch.

My children went to this school and now my three grandchildren are here. Even though I’m old and tired I want to be here because I enjoy it. I’ll still be here even when my grandchildren are not. I’m on alifetime contract.

—Felicidad Ordanizo (right page) who in 1981 donated the land on which the school is built


11:45 We bring rice from home and the parents give us the cooked vegetables for our lunch.


11:53 I wash my hands in the classroom and then eat my lunch.

In the Philippines more than a third of the public schools do not have adequate water and

sanitation facilities. Lack of water for hygiene, unsafe water supplies and poor sanitation

contribute to high prevalence rates of diarrhoeal disease and other health issues that

cause children to miss school. Part of being a Child Friendly School is having adequate

sanitation and hygiene facilities. Students are also trained to use them and to keep them

clean. Del Pilar Learning Centre is a model in this as well: each of its three main

classrooms is equipped with its own ‘comfort room’ (toilet) and sink..



12:34 Every day after lunch we have half an hour for ‘drop everything and read.’ SometimesI like to read books by myself, other times I help others from my ‘family’ with their reading.

UNICEF’s 100 book library is a literacy program that provides underprivileged public

schools and communities with a carefully selected mix of story books and reference

materials, as well as educational toys, puzzles and games. The books help children fall in

love with reading, learn new things and enhance literacy.



13:43 In livelihood education we learn about hygiene, make crafts, cook, sew, do embroidery and raise animals.


14:17 Because this is nutrition month we’re learning about growing and eating good food. Weare growing vegetables in the school garden that the parents can use in the school lunch.


16:03 School finishes with an assembly at the end of the day.


13:23 Tomorrow I am going to teach my group another lesson. Every day after school Mr. Edgar works with the students who will be PGLs and PTs the next day. We study

the lesson and he helps us as we practice teaching it to the others.


13:23 My Mother works in her shop which is just outside our front door. The money she earnshelps pay for my brothers’ school fees, uniforms, transport, school supplies--and hair gel.

My husband makes about 700 pesos (US $16.80) a week as a labourer. I make about 200-300 (US $4.80-$7.20) a week in my shop. Elementaryschool is free and the materials and PTA fees are not high. But for my sonsthe high school fees alone are 1020 (US $25.50) pesos per child per year.Then we have to pay for uniforms and school bags, snacks, and supplies. The other day my younger son, Rowan, said to me that he knows we don’t

have much money and if we need him to he will give up going on to collegeso his older brother can continue his education. It almost broke my heart. Iwas so touched by the gesture, but I told him ‘No. All of you are going to college. We will find a way.’


06:28 I help my mom clean the house and wash the dishes.


I am always happy to help at the school. Del Pilar provides our childrenwith quality education. In other schools there are children in grades fiveand six who can’t even read. Not in Del Pilar. All of the children whograduate from our school go on to do really well in high school—like mytwo sons, they are always the honors students. I hope that in the futureother children in poor communities like this one have the opportunity toget this kind of education so they too have the chance for a better life.


13:23 My brothers come home fromschool. My brother Rowan tells meI am lucky I still go to Del Pilar. He says it was more interestingthan high school. He misses being a programmed teacher.


13:23 We do our homework. If I need help I always ask Rowan. He is really good at math andhe’s really good at explaining things to me. He wants to be an accountant or a teacher.

All children, regardless of their means or where theylive, deserve the opportunity to attend a completeelementary school close to home that provides them

quality education.

UNICEF is working with the government, localauthorities and NGOs to provide the Philippines’

most vulnerable—poor children living in rural areas—with Child Friendly Schools that give them

the opportunity for a better life.


To fund all of its work UNICEF relies entirely on voluntary donations from individuals,

governments, institutions and corporations. We receive no money from the UN budget.

UNICEF’s goal is to make a difference for all children, everywhere, all the time.

ABOUT UNICEF

All children have rights that guarantee them what they need to survive,grow, participate and fulfill their potential. Yet every day these rights aredenied. Millions of children die from preventable diseases. Millions moredon’t go to school, or don’t have food, shelter and clean water. Childrensuffer from violence, abuse and discrimination. This is wrong. UNICEF works globally to transform children’s lives by protecting and

promoting their rights. Their fight for child survival and development takesplace every day in remote villages and in bustling cities, in peaceful areasand in regions destroyed by war, in places reachable by train or car and interrain passable only by camel or donkey. Their achievements are won school by school, child by child, vaccine by

vaccine, mosquito net by mosquito net. It is a struggle in which success ismeasured by what doesn't happen—by what is prevented.UNICEF will continue this fight—to make the difference for all children,

everywhere, all the time.

Following the success of Schools for Africa, in January 2012

UNICEF launched the Schools for Asia initiative:

www.supportunicef.org/schoolsforasia

Photography, writing and design: Kelley Lynch

UNICEF Philippines

31st Floor

Yuchengco Tower, RCBC Plaza

6819 Ayala Avenue

1200 Makati City

PHILIPPINES

Tel : + (632) 901-0166

Fax: + (632) 729-4524

www.unicef.org/philippines

UNICEF Phillipines: Geyah's story

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