Republic of the Philippines
Region X
DIVISION OF BUKIDNON
City of Malaybalay
A REPORT ON THE STATE OF CHILD-FRIENDLINESS OF SCHOOLS IN THE DIVISION OF BUKIDNON
The Division of Bukidnon is one of the twelve divisions of Region X (Northern Mindanao). It is composed of twenty five (25) districts and forty eight (48) secondary schools. It is headed by a schools division superintendent and two assistant schools division superintendents . It has sixteen members of the promotional staff.
The Division has six pilot schools. These schools were taken from the two districts. Three (3) from Talakag in the northern part of the Division and three from Maramag in the heart of the southern part of the Division. Three of these schools were handled by a full- fledged principals and the other three are handled by teachers –in-charge.
The school size of these pilot schools were categorized in the graph below:
The schools have twenty five (25) catchments barangays with 1,597 pupils. Three of the schools are titled while three (3) are not.
The graphs below described the number of teachers teaching Grades I to VI.
Two of the schools have three (3) non-teaching personnel. These comprise the school nurse, utility worker and the clerk who assisted the school head and teachers in promoting students’ welfare.
All schools have organized PTCAs. Three (3) schools have School Advisory Councils while three (3) schools do not have. These organizations that include parents of the pupils and community members served as the civil entity adopting the school to benefit its various charitable activities. It has become a civil organization that endeavors to support the school relative to its needs in terms of infrastructure projects and formulate plans for the development of the school to improve its performance academically. With the advocacy of the Child Friendly School System, PTCAs in these schools have not only supported the school in terms of their financial needs but it transcends its responsibility from infrastructure - oriented to raising participation and reducing drop –out rate. This was done by conducting regular meetings , consultations , planning and awareness program by the members of the organizations and the school staff . The associations are also involved in planning activities that will help promote learning of the children.
To improve children’s participation in the school and in the community, the six pilot schools have organized functional Pupil Government Organizations (PGO). These organizations serve as venues for students to develop their leadership skills and provide them the opportunity for active participation in school activities which is one of the categories of the children’s right stipulated in the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Children. Moreover, community involvement is also encouraged among school children. During community programs such as Nutrition Month, Araw ng Barangay and other activities pupils are encouraged to participate. In this way, they are trained to be an active members of the community and learn that to be involved is one of their social responsibilities as members of the society.
Aside from maintaining functional PGOs, five of these schools also organized co-curricular organizations like Math Clubs, Science Clubs and others. These do not only allow them to interact with fellow students but also develop their ability to make sound decisions for their groups.
To provide an enabling environment for the exercise of these various activities of the children, some of the pilot schools established Science Laboratories , Math Rooms , Science parks , Math Parks , Reading Room and Speech Laboratory among others.
One component of being a child friendly school is the provision of health facilities and services. Since only two (2) of the pilot schools in Bukidnon have a school nurse, other schools are visited by the District Nurse only once a month. So some teachers were trained to become clinic teachers to attend to minor ailments of the pupils. For first aid and other support health services the pilot schools also trained some pupils to assist the clinic teachers in providing advocacy in health programs ( preventive health services ) . These brigade of pupils involved in health activities are called Little Doctors and Nurses.
The Division has two medical officers and six dentists. These health personnel take their rounds in all schools to conduct medical examinations and dental services to the pupils. In the pilot schools, one school was provided with these health services twice a year and the other once a year. However, it is sad to note that the data from the monitoring and evaluation indicated that four (4) of these schools were not reached by these health services. However, data indicated that all of the teachers in the pilot schools underwent medical check- up annually. In addition, these schools are also holding annual weighing and measurement of the weight and height of the pupils to establish a nutritional data base for children.
Relative to these activities, data from the M and E showed the following nutritional , health , and dental status of the children in the pilot schools:
There are one hundred twenty nine (129) classrooms in all six (6) pilot schools. However, data showed that some schools need repairs categorized into the following:
Category
No. of schools
1-3 classroom repair
3
7 and more classroom repair
2
Total
5
These situations, however, may have been solved because of the resource mobilization done by the schools in partnerships with the PTCAs, Local Government Units and the community served by the schools. These are implied by the resource mobilization data indicated in the M and E. Data showed that one of the pilot schools have access to the Special Education Fund ( SEF) . Although five (5) of the schools indicated that they have no access to the SEF , other resources were also available like the school improvement fund from the PTCA and from their MOOE. All pilot schools indicated that their barangay have not supported their schools in terms of infrastructure projects. This local government –school relationship needs to be strengthened in the CFSS schools.
In the aspect of the performance indicators of the pilot schools, the following data surfaced in the M and E instrument.
The average participation rate of the pilot schools is 83.28% while the completion rate is 46.49 %. Drop-out rate is pegged at 1.96% . This would mean that in every ten (10) school age children in the community at least eight (8) are in school, of the eight (8) five (5) will eventually graduate from elementary curriculum , two ( 2 ) will drop out of school, one (1) will either be repeater or a transferee to other school.
The performance of the pupils in the pilot schools in the Division is presented in the graph below:
Data from the M and E showed that only 25 % of the schools have reached mastery level of the competencies tested in both the regional and the national test. This data should direct administrators to formulate policies to improve performance of pupils in the NAT. However schools are pursuing the following intervention programs to address the problem:
1) Prepare lesson plans based on the Philippine Elementary Learning Competencies (PELC) with appropriate visual aids.
2) Implement programs like Remedial Reading, Speaking English and Filipino are also advocated.
3) Encourage pupils to attend school regularly and motivate them to do their tasks and assignments.
4) Monitor teachers’ performance and provide needed support like sending teachers to in-service-trainings.
In conclusion, the state of the child friendliness in the six pilot schools of the
Division of Bukidnon is more on the beginning and developing stage,although one (1) out of the six schools is on the established stage. This conclusion is supported by the result of the recently conducted Self Assessment Survey of the Schools in the Division as shown in the graph below:
Prepared by:
Agustines E. Cepe
Elbert R. Francisco
Dr. Carmelita A. Tina-an
The schools have twenty five (25) catchments barangays with 1,597 pupils. Three of the schools are titled while three (3) are not.
The graphs below described the number of teachers teaching Grades I to VI.
Two of the schools have three (3) non-teaching personnel. These comprise the school nurse, utility worker and the clerk who assisted the school head and teachers in promoting students’ welfare.
All schools have organized PTCAs. Three (3) schools have School Advisory Councils while three (3) schools do not have. These organizations that include parents of the pupils and community members served as the civil entity adopting the school to benefit its various charitable activities. It has become a civil organization that endeavors to support the school relative to its needs in terms of infrastructure projects and formulate plans for the development of the school to improve its performance academically. With the advocacy of the Child Friendly School System, PTCAs in these schools have not only supported the school in terms of their financial needs but it transcends its responsibility from infrastructure - oriented to raising participation and reducing drop –out rate. This was done by conducting regular meetings , consultations , planning and awareness program by the members of the organizations and the school staff . The associations are also involved in planning activities that will help promote learning of the children.
To improve children’s participation in the school and in the community, the six pilot schools have organized functional Pupil Government Organizations (PGO). These organizations serve as venues for students to develop their leadership skills and provide them the opportunity for active participation in school activities which is one of the categories of the children’s right stipulated in the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Children. Moreover, community involvement is also encouraged among school children. During community programs such as Nutrition Month, Araw ng Barangay and other activities pupils are encouraged to participate. In this way, they are trained to be an active members of the community and learn that to be involved is one of their social responsibilities as members of the society.
Aside from maintaining functional PGOs, five of these schools also organized co-curricular organizations like Math Clubs, Science Clubs and others. These do not only allow them to interact with fellow students but also develop their ability to make sound decisions for their groups.
To provide an enabling environment for the exercise of these various activities of the children, some of the pilot schools established Science Laboratories , Math Rooms , Science parks , Math Parks , Reading Room and Speech Laboratory among others.
One component of being a child friendly school is the provision of health facilities and services. Since only two (2) of the pilot schools in Bukidnon have a school nurse, other schools are visited by the District Nurse only once a month. So some teachers were trained to become clinic teachers to attend to minor ailments of the pupils. For first aid and other support health services the pilot schools also trained some pupils to assist the clinic teachers in providing advocacy in health programs ( preventive health services ) . These brigade of pupils involved in health activities are called Little Doctors and Nurses.
The Division has two medical officers and six dentists. These health personnel take their rounds in all schools to conduct medical examinations and dental services to the pupils. In the pilot schools, one school was provided with these health services twice a year and the other once a year. However, it is sad to note that the data from the monitoring and evaluation indicated that four (4) of these schools were not reached by these health services. However, data indicated that all of the teachers in the pilot schools underwent medical check- up annually. In addition, these schools are also holding annual weighing and measurement of the weight and height of the pupils to establish a nutritional data base for children.
Relative to these activities, data from the M and E showed the following nutritional , health , and dental status of the children in the pilot schools:
There are one hundred twenty nine (129) classrooms in all six (6) pilot schools. However, data showed that some schools need repairs categorized into the following:
Category
No. of schools
1-3 classroom repair
3
7 and more classroom repair
2
Total
5
These situations, however, may have been solved because of the resource mobilization done by the schools in partnerships with the PTCAs, Local Government Units and the community served by the schools. These are implied by the resource mobilization data indicated in the M and E. Data showed that one of the pilot schools have access to the Special Education Fund ( SEF) . Although five (5) of the schools indicated that they have no access to the SEF , other resources were also available like the school improvement fund from the PTCA and from their MOOE. All pilot schools indicated that their barangay have not supported their schools in terms of infrastructure projects. This local government –school relationship needs to be strengthened in the CFSS schools.
In the aspect of the performance indicators of the pilot schools, the following data surfaced in the M and E instrument.
The average participation rate of the pilot schools is 83.28% while the completion rate is 46.49 %. Drop-out rate is pegged at 1.96% . This would mean that in every ten (10) school age children in the community at least eight (8) are in school, of the eight (8) five (5) will eventually graduate from elementary curriculum , two ( 2 ) will drop out of school, one (1) will either be repeater or a transferee to other school.
The performance of the pupils in the pilot schools in the Division is presented in the graph below:
Data from the M and E showed that only 25 % of the schools have reached mastery level of the competencies tested in both the regional and the national test. This data should direct administrators to formulate policies to improve performance of pupils in the NAT. However schools are pursuing the following intervention programs to address the problem:
1) Prepare lesson plans based on the Philippine Elementary Learning Competencies (PELC) with appropriate visual aids.
2) Implement programs like Remedial Reading, Speaking English and Filipino are also advocated.
3) Encourage pupils to attend school regularly and motivate them to do their tasks and assignments.
4) Monitor teachers’ performance and provide needed support like sending teachers to in-service-trainings.
In conclusion, the state of the child friendliness in the six pilot schools of the
Division of Bukidnon is more on the beginning and developing stage,although one (1) out of the six schools is on the established stage. This conclusion is supported by the result of the recently conducted Self Assessment Survey of the Schools in the Division as shown in the graph below:
Prepared by:
Agustines E. Cepe
Elbert R. Francisco
Dr. Carmelita A. Tina-an
No comments:
Post a Comment