THE Department of Education (DepEd) in Cebu City is heeding Education Sec. Jesli Lapus’s call for the enrolment of five-year olds in preschool this year.
Dr. Rhea Mar Angtud, Cebu City schools division superintendent, said children with pre-elementary education have an edge over those who do not.
“I am for enrolling five-year olds in pre-school. They (children without preparatory education) lag behind those who have experienced preschool. (The lack) even leads to inferiority complex at times,” she told Sun.Star Cebu.
“Studies show that those who lag behind in reading and numbers are those who do not have pre-school experience,” she said.
To prepare children for elementary education, the DepEd and the Cebu City Government have created the free summer preschool program.
Subsidized through the City’s special education fund, the program is meant to have five-year olds attend preschool this year.
In a statement, Lapus said the DepEd is allocating P1.8 billion for the 2010 pre-school program, which would accommodate 900,000 enrollees.
“We believe that good pre-elementary preparation is necessary for children to acquire sound learning skills. For this reason, we intend to get all five-year olds to attend preschool,” said Lapus.
The effort to improve quality of education in the country is in response to the 2008 Reading Assessment Test for grade one pupils; results showed that 58 percent were unprepared for elementary school.