“Let’s Volt In!”

Voltes V, the beloved anime hit, carries an unforgettable theme song that has seen countless renditions. Composers have translated it from the original Japanese version into English, Filipino, and many other languages. Over time, people have adapted the song’s lyrics to fit various occasions. During elections, candidates have transformed them into campaign jingles; some have even employed the tune to endorse different brands and advocacies.

Seizing the song’s resurgence, thanks to the revival of the cartoon series on TV, the municipality of Taraka in Lanao Del Sur has embraced it and turned it into their campaign jingle for Solid Waste Management. During the workshop on Solid Waste Management facilitated by Synergeia Foundation, a member of the Waste Management Team delighted the 205 participants by serenading them with a few lines from their campaign jingle.

The workshop’s primary objective was to foster unity within the Taraka community and develop specific plans to maintain a “Clean and Green” environment. In his opening address, Mayor Odin Sumagayan emphasized the crucial role of environmental preservation for the present and future generations. He underscored how climate change and improper waste disposal had ravaged the various barangays, with frequent flooding plaguing the municipality as water from the uplands cascades into this coastal town in Lanao Del Sur.

The participants openly acknowledged their shortcomings in waste disposal, with several students lamenting the lack of proper waste segregation at the household level. They shared how waste segregation is commonly practiced at school but rarely implemented in their homes. Moreover, some attendees expressed dismay at community members who carelessly discard plastics and baby diapers into the Taraka River.

The gathering shed light on the community’s mounting challenges posed by climate change and offered practical suggestions to minimize waste through recycling and proper waste segregation.

During her closing remarks, Vice-Mayor Nashiba Sumagayan acknowledged the formidable challenge for the entire community. She stressed that cleaning up the environment is not an overnight task; it demands every member’s collective efforts to make Taraka a clean and green place.

With such a significant challenge on the horizon, the need for unity, cooperation, and collective action becomes all the more apparent. Indeed there is a need for the people of Taraka to come together, come forward,  and “volt in” to tackle the task.

HIghlights of the 2022 Washington Sycip National Education Summit

Peace-Building Together With The Asatidz

When Jalalodden Panganting was a grade 6 student, he became a volunteer Madrasah teacher. As a young lad, he would often admire his teachers’ commitment. He

marveled at their dedication despite the meager financial support the community gives them. Today, 14 years after, Jalal is a full-pledged Madrasah teacher under the Department of Education. However, despite his status as an ISAL teacher, Jajal admits that he still needs a lot of training to develop his teaching skills. Moreover, he laments that many Madrasah teachers find it hard to prepare proper lesson plans and deliver lessons effectively.

For the past several months, Jalal , together with 50 other Madaris teachers from Piagapo , attend the monthly meetings organized by Synergeia Foundation to harness the skills of the teachers. Together with the other ustadz, he highly appreciates the sessions designed to build their pedagogical skills. 

The work with the teachers is part of Synergeia’s program to prevent the rise of violent extremism in the region. In recent years, the Madrasah schools of our Muslim brothers and sisters have been under scrutiny. In the aftermath of the Marawi Siege in 2017, reports showed that the extremists used the Madrasah schools as recruitment grounds. Teachers have debunked the claim. Instead, they have demonstrated that Muslim schools are havens for peace and non-violence.

Ustadz Jabolais Adunar, another teacher from Piagapo, shares that many of the Madrasah teachers are motivated to teach because they want to see the children grow up to become peace-builders in the future. Having seen and experienced the effects of conflict, Ustadz Jabolias only hopes that the younger generation will genuinely live out the true meaning of Islam – peace. 

To help build the skills of the teachers, Synergeia has produced a manual entitled ‘A treasury of Lessons for Madaris.’ The manual promotes teaching the nine crucial values related to peace. These values are: Appreciation for Allah’s Creation, Cleanliness, Responsibility, Self-Discipline, Industry, Honesty and Trust, Humility, Kindness and Compassion, Love for Peace, Tolerance, and Unity. Every meeting, a group of teachers prepare their chosen topic and present a lesson demonstration using the points and activities offered in the manual. A critiquing process follows the demonstration, wherein the other participants comment on the strengths and weaknesses of the lesson presented. Afterward, a Synergeia staff also explains how teachers can use the activities in the manual to teach

the class properly.

Madrasah schools are divided into the traditional madrasah, and the DEPED recognized schools. The former is akin to the Sunday Schools we find in Christian Churches. These traditional schools are open two to three days a week. The community’s children go to them to learn Arabic and deepen their knowledge of the Islamic religion. The latter, on the other hand, are similar to the private-schools. They teach the entire K-12 curriculum with the added Arabic Language and Islamic Values. 

While the teachers in the DEPED accredited schools are all professional teachers, those in the traditional Madrasah schools are community volunteers. Most do not have an education degree, while others wait to be hired within the public school system. 

Traditional Madrasah schools get strong financial support from the community. The community sustains the school’s operations thru weekly and monthly donations. School administrators divide the contributions for the allowance of the teachers and the

supplies needed by the school. The asatidz and ustadz in Piagapo are lucky since the LGU also financially supports some Madrasah teachers of the municipality.

Currently 117 recognized Madrasah schools implement the Standard Madrasah Curriculum in BARMM. The BARMM government, thru the Ministry of Basic, Technical and Higher Education (MBTHE), recognizes the importance of the Madrasah school in the

academic and moral formation of Muslim children. In recent months, financial subsidies to support public and private Madaris across the region have continued to pour. These subsidies are essential for the upkeep of the Madrasah schools in the area. Many private and traditional Madrasah centers often find themselves sitting in dilapidated buildings needing many repairs. Teachers

would also require better materials and capability-building sessions to improve their skills.

Given all these concerns and needs of the Madaris schools, Teacher Jalal and his companions are more than grateful for the training they receive every month from Synergeia Foundation.

He says, “Sa ngayon nagpapasalamat kami sa Synergeia, kasi malaki ang improvement na natutunan namin sa inyo. Unang-una po ay natutunan naming paano kami mag-lesson plan. Nadagdagan ang kaalaman naming sa lesson plan. At dahil dun, mas na-enganyo kami magturo ng mga bata.”

But Jalal does not only keep the skills he has learned in the meetings to himself. Together with a group of other teachers, he goes around three other Madrasah

schools every Thursday and shares the ideas and strategies he learned from the monthly meetings. His group has taught 40 other teachers about developing proper lesson plans. He also discusses each unit of the manual with them.

Indeed, Jalal has gone a long way. The former Grade 6 volunteer has come full circle; from teaching his companions in school, he is now a guide to his fellow madrasah teachers.