Thursday, August 07, 2008 Oledan: Alternative approach By Radzini Oledan Slice Of Life
IN MANY areas of Mindanao, the formal school set-up may be inappropriate and more costly to operate. It lacks the flexibility to adjust to emergency situations and to the local situation.
Alternative or non-formal education, based on the experiences of groups that had implemented such programs, can be more effective and appropriate.
The consistently low budget for NFE is reflective of the continuing neglect of and misconception about non-formal education.
The dominant thinking among policymakers and educators is that education can only be provided in a formal school set-up and by teachers who are trained in formal education courses.
Thus, NFE is viewed as an inferior mode of learning and should, therefore, be regarded merely as a stop-gap measure. The orientation is how to bring the children back to the formal school system.
Thus, learning is measured by equivalency ratings based on the same parameters used for students in the formal system. This thinking would necessarily look at funds invested in non-formal education as wasted resources that can serve better if channeled to the formal school system.
Non-formal may be the only form of education that is available to the majority of poor children in Mindanao.
Based on available statistics, it is estimated that as much as 60 percent of school-aged children from ultra poor families - those belonging to the lowest quintile or poorest 20 percent income bracket -- are not covered by the school system.
This indicates an urgent need to realign the education budget to provide more resources for Mindanao, particularly for the poorest provinces.
Resources should be allocated with a clear bias in favor of the poorest areas and population groups; armed conflict areas; Muslim and IP communities.
Government supported teachers' education and training programs should stress on increasing the number of teachers from income-poor and conflict-prone areas of Mindanao.
Such initiatives are intended to strengthen the participation of the target areas and population groups in the education sector and to facilitate better communications and learning approaches.
Locally based teachers also reduce the risks of teachers abandoning their posts in cases of displacement and armed conflict situations.
Without addressing the issue of access to quality education, it will be difficult to achieve any substantial improvement in the country's poverty situation. Otherwise, poverty will continue to be replicated from generation to generation.
