Imagine Iligan, the City known for its ” Refreshing Waterfalls” brimming with energy during its inaugural Education Summit. Under the leadership of Mayor Frederick Siao, this landmark gathering brought together over 300 individuals from diverse backgrounds, each with a unique story to share and a dream to nurture.
It was a picture of hope in the meeting of minds and hearts for a better quality of life in this awesome city in Mindanao.
The summit opened with a detailed presentation by Mayor Siao himself. He unveiled the education data of the city. He highlighted key challenges such as the National Achievement Test (NAT) results and the persistent struggle with reading comprehension among students.
As the summit unfolded, the participants confronted the stark realities impacting education in Iligan. Discussions deepened into the challenges students face with NAT scores and the ongoing battle with effective reading strategies. Stories emerged, painting a narrative of hurdles like limited parental involvement, the call for empowering teacher training, poor nutrition among students , lack of school personnel and reading resources.
Murcia sounds like Spanish. Indeed. Murcia is a city in southeastern Spain.
But there is another Murcia, a place brewing with new ideas and warmer smiles of close to 90,000 people, in Negros Occidental.
People gathered for Murcia one fine day. And it was for this important Education Summit which could break or make the future of children in this awesome town in the Visayas.
How can a small municipality like Murcia become so serious about education that it has to make a summit matter for its local governance?
Murcia’s leadership has a vision for a more sustainable knowledge-based future for its citizenry. Mayor Gerry M Rojas saw that only when the quality of its education improves and the standards for such quality are raised will they be able to confront his vision with success.
The Summit was a key response to this vision. Murcia’s community understood the Mayor’s call for dialogue and conversation about what needs to be resolved and the concrete actions to take.
Through the support of Synergeia led by former Governor Rafael ‘Lito’ Coscolluela and joined by former Mayor Alfonso Gamboa, former Vice Mayor Jay Jalandoni, Councilor Fini Jalandoni, and Program Officer Edwin Nacionales, the Summit was held on 21 March 2024 in Bacolod City.
Over 250 participants came to the Summit. There were the local barangay officials of Murcia, the Department of Education officers, health and nutrition staff, child development workers, daycare teachers under the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and members of the Parents-Teachers-Association.
All agreed with Mayor Roxas’ conclusion that based on data from the DepEd, Murcia’s student performance in different levels of reading- Hiligaynon, Filipino, and English/ showed inferior results. The most worrisome results came from secondary-level English, which showed a dismal 11% readiness by the students. Moreover, the poor nutritional status in daycare was also concerning.
Given this situation, it was established that there has to be a better strategy and approach that can hopefully bridge the gaps and achieve more positive outcomes.
Inspired by the dreams of parents for their children to finish their education, the Summit
generated helpful insights and possibilities which Murcia should start doing and build a stronger foundation for its education vision.
It cemented a Covenant of Support amongst the stakeholders of MURCIA to cover for the following concrete actions to be taken by those involved:
The elected officials, composed of Sangguniang Bayan Members, Barangay Captains, and Sangguniang Kabataan committed to passing ordinances to support students’ welfare, such as scholarships for poor but deserving students, barangay nutrition, and assistance for qualified residents to avail of the Tesda scholarship. They also planned to establish Barangay Reading Centers or libraries which will help develop the reading culture in the barangays and also serve as venues for tutorial classes.
The parents’ group puts a premium on teaching the correct values to their children at home. As their children’s first teachers, they committed to providing adequate time and effort to teach good study habits by checking their lessons and homework. They agreed to instill discipline by regulating the use of gadgets that affect the study habits of most children. A mother was so emphatic about the problem of early pregnancy that she proposed that parents should regulate the use of cell phones, TV shows, and other forms of social media that contribute to early pregnancies. Parents, especially mothers, should raise awareness about the negative consequences of early marriage, including the increased risk of early pregnancies.
The teachers’ group appealed for continuous support from the parents and the barangays to ensure children learn better and finish schooling. They shared everyone’s dream of making children learn better with good habits and sound moral values.
The DSWD group assured everyone that they would teach the preschoolers with a “heart.” To be more effective, they appealed to the Mayor to have spacious and child-friendly Daycare Centers.
No doubt, It was absolutely one fine day for Murcia.
Maganda ang panahon. Nakaratıng ang team ng Synergeia sa Valenzuela City ng mas maaga sa inaasahan.
Doon ay makikiugnay kamı sa mga Nanay at Tatay, sa isang Parenting Camp workshop, na nagnanais na matuto sa karanasan ng kapwa nilang magulang tungkol sa pagpapalaki ng anak.
Bahagi ito ng malaking programa ng lokal na pamahalaan ng Valenzuela, na pinamumunuan ni Mayor Wes Gatchalian, para sa paghahanda sa mga magulang sa mga bagay at hamon ng pagiging mabuti’t responsableng Nanay at Tatay.
Sa damı ng dumalo, isa lang ang napatunayan ng mga magulang ng Valenzuela. Ito ay iyong pagtanggap nila na mahirap ang maging magulang sa panahong kasalukuyan at handa silang iangat ang kanilang kakayahan na magampanan ang kanılang mga tungkulin at obligasyon sa mga anak.
Sari-sari ang kuwento tungkol sa mga relasyon nila sa kanılang mga anak na nasa elementarya at yung iba’y nasa high school na. Iba-iba raw ang paguugali. Iba-iba rin ang gusto. Kaya ang kuwento nila ay may bitbit na kasiyahan. At may kalakip din na luha’t kalungkutan.
Sa pangkalahatan, ang mga Nanay at Tatay sa workshop ay nagkaisa na sa mithiiin nila na magkaroon ng tahimik, maşaya, walang poot o galit at puno ng malasakit sa loob ng tahanan, dapat sundin nila ang mga “best practices” na naibahagi ng marami at ang napatunayang mga magandang epekto nito sa pamilya at sa pagiging mabuting magulang, tulad ng:
1. SAKSI – Saksi ka dapat sa paglaki ng iyong anak. Habang lumalaki ang anak, magbabago talaga ang kanyang paguugali lalo na’t kung mapapabarkada Ito sa hindi tamang grupo. Mahalaga ang iyong presensya sa lahat ng nagaganap sa pagtanda ng anak.
2. TIWALA – Positibo ang epekto ng pakikipagusap sa anak at pakikinig sa kanılang mga naiisip, nararamdaman o kahıt anong bagay. Lalo na sa pagtindi ng kalaban natin sa teknolohiya, cell phone o internet na isang balakid sa pakikipagusap ng maayos. Sa magandang komunikasyon, may mabubuong tiwala sa İsa’t isa kaya kung may problema o kailangan ang anak, ang magulang ang uunahing puntahan.
3. VALUES- Mahalaga na malinaw ang values na gustong ipatupad sa isang pamilya katulad ng respeto, disiplina, integridad, honesty, pagmamahal, takot sa Diyos at iba pa. Kung naiintindihan ito ng anak, maiiwasan ang awayan sa kung ano ang tama o mali at magagampanan ng anak ang inaasahan sa kanya.
4. EMPATHY – Ang pagbibigay ng totoong malasakit sa anak ay nasusukat sa kung paano ilalagay ng magulang ang sarılı sa kalagayan ng anak at intindihin ang nararanasan ng anak sa perspektibo nito. Kalimitan kaşı pinipilit ng magulang kung ano lang ang sa tingin nito ay tama at nalilimutan ang punto de vista ng anak. Kaya kung walang empathy, lalayo na lang ang anak sa magulang at pupunta na lang sa mga taong mas makakaintindi sa kanila.
5. ROLE MODEL- Kung ano ang tinuturo sa anak, yan ang dapat na pinapakita ng magulang. Ika nga, “practice what you preach”. Walang pinakamainam na role models kundi ang mga magulang na tinitingala ng anak sa araw-araw.
Natapos ang workshop na may paalala sa lahat ng Nanay at Tatay.
Una, there is joy in parenting. Mahirap na maşaya ika nga. Kailangan lang ng pagtiyatiyaga, pagpupursige at maraming dasal.
At pangalawa, there is hope for a better future for families. Walang imposible. Lahat may paraan. Pagtibayin ang tiwala sa sarling kakayahan bilang magulang. Walang sukuan. Kasi minsan lang kitang iibigin, Nanay at Tatay! At ang minsan na yan ay magpakailanman.
