Invigorated school heads and principals concluded their first School Governance Workshop entitled ‘Changing the Lives of Children” on Nov. 18-19, armed with simple yet systematic approaches to address major problems involving children’s education.

Using a problem tree analysis, school heads fleshed out the root causes of low participation and achievement rates in their elementary schools.  They then prioritized the challenges that they have to address based on what is frequent, important, and feasible.  The priorities were translated into goals and strategies.

Congresswoman Leni Robredo provided inspiration as she shared “Jesse’s List”, i.e. the principles that Secretary, and Synergeia Trustee, Jesse   Robredo lived by.  The tenet that spoke to school heads the most was “Simple is beautiful.”

A principal from Malolos, Bulacan proudly said that the training “recharged” her as she felt the full support of Synergia mentors and facilitators. She said that the workshop was “one of kind and not as heavy” in helping them develop analytical and planning skills. They went through exercises to develop listening skills, participatory management, and consensus building.

The Central Luzon Cluster were composed of about 140 school heads from Balanga (Bataan), Bongabong (Oriental Mindoro), Malolos (Bulacan), Mamburao (Occidental Mindoro), Obando (Bulacan), and Padre Garcia (Batangas).  As a follow through, Principals will submit their school improvement chart on December 15, 2013.  They will propose learning programs that Local School Boards, Synergeia, and USAID can support through the Education Governance Effectiveness (EdGE) program).