Walking the talk manifests how one can be brave and be vulnerable to achieve what is least expected and yet the most powerful and empowering.
Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. of the Province of Iloilo is exactly that in the way he dared greatly to allow the Province to step out of its comfort zone and embraced the challenges of taking control of the education of its children through the Proof of Concept or the POC initiative.
He gives his final word on how the Province of Iloilo, through this partnership with Synergeia, can show it is ready to unlock its potential, brave the monsters and win in this battle for learning and excellence.
Walking the talk manifests how one can be brave and be vulnerable to achieve what is least expected and yet the most powerful and empowering.
Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. of the Province of Iloilo is exactly that in the way he dared greatly to allow the Province to step out of its comfort zone and embraced the challenges of taking control of the education of its children through the Proof of Concept or the POC initiative.
He gives his final word on how the Province of Iloilo, through this partnership with Synergeia, can show it is ready to unlock its potential, brave the monsters and win in this battle for learning and excellence.
Change comes more from managing the journey than announcing the destination” – William Bridges
The success of the Proof of Concept (POC) initiative, which tests the capacity of the Province of Iloilo to take leadership in the implementation of basic education, rests on the drivers of change, principally the local chieftains of the province and the officials of DepEd and DILG.
Execution is critical and necessary for results-based change management. It requires a serious degree of commitment and action from the drivers of change to derive the desired value from this devolution innovation exercise.
In the planning and organizational meeting for the POC, the drivers of change, in an eventful signing of the Pledge of Commitment, accepted responsibility and leadership for this mission to raise the quality of learning and reading for the children of their province.
The drivers of change who signed included:
1 Governor Arthur Defensor Jr., Iloilo
2 Mayor Oscar Villegas Jr, Lemery
3 Mayor Jon Aying, Sara
4 Mayor Lydia Grabato , Mina
5 Board Member Jason Gonzales, Panay REC Chairman
6 Director Juan Ingeniero- DILG Regional Director, Reg 6
7 Asst Regional Director Victor De Gracia, DepEd Region VI
8 Mayor Jerry Treñas- Iloilo City
9 Mayor Nielo Tupas – Barotac Viejo
10 Mayor Elvira Alarcon – Batad
11 Mayor Elizalde Pueyo – Cabatuan
12 Mayor Janette Colada – Guimbal
13 Mayor Vicente Escorpion Jr – Igbaras
14 Mayor Francis Amboy – Maasin
15 Mayor Vicente Jaen – Leganes
16 Dr. Ernesto Servillon Jr – Schools Division Superintendent of Iloilo Province
17 Dr. Ma Luz De Los Reyes – Schools Division Superintendent of Iloilo City
The Pledge of Commitment states that:
“We, the Governor and Mayors of Iloilo Province and the Mayor of Iloilo City, along with our partners from the Department of Education and the Department of Interior and Local Government, share the wisdom and urgent mission of helping every child to learn well.
We believe that Local Government Units, and their Local School Boards, in partnership with the schools and their communities can introduce positive changes to strengthen the delivery of quality education.
We accept the responsibility of participating in a Program that can demonstrate how the delivery of basic education can be efficiently devolved to local government.
We commit to provide leadership and dedicate resources to accomplish the following activities:
Strengthening the leadership and effectiveness of Local School Boards;
Building the capacity of teachers in developing reading competencies of male and female children;
Providing opportunities for parents and guardians to be Nanay-Tatay-Teachers;
Organizing communities to gain support for the program;
Developing Public-Private Partnerships so that children can learn better;
Developing learning materials that reflect the stories, history, values, and traditions of the Iloilo people; and
Supporting inclusive activities that will enhance the creativity and developmental values of our children.
The Province of Iloilo pioneers an innovation project that will test the wherewithal of LGUs to be at the frontier of its education needs and long-term goals.
Together with 11 LGUs, the DepEd, DILG, and the Local School Boards or LSBs, it embraced the Proof-of-Concept (POC) initiative, supported by Synergeia in partnership with EdCom 2 chaired by Senator Angara.
It braved demands and expectations of the POC’s hypothesis on the capability of the Province to demonstrate how strengthening LSBs, community participation and decentralization of certain provisions in the delivery of basic education can result in:
a. Every Grade 3 child can read well in English and Filipino;
b. Increase in creative and thinking ability of children;
c. Improvement in the performance of principals and teachers;
d. Community engagement in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of education programs; and
e. Use of performance budgeting in the disbursement of Special Education Funds by the LSBs.
In her presentation on the POC during the first organizational and planning meeting in Iloilo City, Synergeia’s Founding President, Dr. Milwida Guevara detailed the functions to be assumed by the LSBs and the school community covering the needs assessment and post-testing of children, teachers and parents, the development of approach and strategies in the teaching of reading, the development and procurement of reading materials, the training of principals, teachers and parents and the implementation of learning activities of children.
Dr. Guevara noted that the devolution experiment is a big step forward to affirm the LGU’s capability to rethink, rewire, and redo the implementation of basic education that is aligned with the real needs and demands of the communities in the LGUs.
