Facing the Mirror

The Proof-of-Concept initiative puts the Province of Iloilo at the center of an innovation process that generates new ideas and enables experimentation of never-tried-before strategies and actions to address the devolution of education dynamic in the LGUs.

In the first organizational and planning meeting of the POC, Synergeia pushed the first step in the innovation process which was to define the variables, issues and challenges of education confronting the Province of Iloilo, underpinning the felt need for change in the sector. 

The meeting, which brought together the province’s education champions from 11 LGUs, DepEd, DILG, and the LSBs, began with an introspective exercise into the realities behind why we are not achieving as much success in the reading performance of our children in Grade 3.

Like facing the mirror, the insights they shared were honest and unfiltered. In sum, the mirror showed seven truths for which all agreed that they would confront with a solid commitment to change and deliver. 

1. The reading proficiency level of Grade 3 students is limited to word recognition and comprehension needs to be developed and improved. 
2. Teaching English begins in the second semester of Grade 2 but it was cited that it could be done earlier with the example of how the English alphabet is taught in daycare centers to predominantly pre-school children, like in Batad. 
3. Learning environments influence reading skills as shown by differences in the standards of learning in Manila vs provinces. 
4. Learning English and Filipino at the same time is highly doable.
5. Economic, social, and institutional factors affect the performance and quality of learning in schools.
6. The concept of devolution can be extended as a framework for accountability and incentives, where all stakeholders can work together and be accountable for, be empowered by an incentive/disincentive system, and be measured by clear, comprehensible, and measurable results or outcomes.
7. The current performance measurement and management system, including the set of indicators or metrics, must be evaluated and aligned with the goal of raising the performance and quality of learning consistent with international standards. 

Read next post on: Braving the Monsters of learning in the Province of Iloilo