SEVERAL stakeholders from the private sector agreed last week to carry out a year-round community tutorial project to assist youngsters with their assignments and other academic requirements starting at the resumption of classes after Christmas.
The project was conceived in response to the experience of some members of the four-year-old Kamagayan Football Club who quit their studies because of poor scholastic performance due to their failure to submit academic requirements since no one could assist them at home.
Following careful investigation, it was found out that the problem is not exclusive to members of the barangay soccer team but also true among other children in the barangay whose parents are so busy making a living or don’t have the academic acumen to assist their children.
Vriendschapsband Haarlemmermeer-Cebu (VHC) with the cooperation of the University of the Visayas (UV) Community Relations and Linkages Office, Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) and Children of Asia Foundation and selected barangay officials of Kamagayan bond together to make the project happen.
The project will provide at least four tutors that will be stationed in the barangay hall to help pupils with their assignments starting from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. from Monday to Thursday. The different stakeholders agreed that the first season will run from January up to March and will resume at the opening of the new school year depending on the result of the initial project implementation.
The University of the Visayas-College of Education will provide volunteer tutors and some armchairs; JPIC will bring their mobile library to the barangay while Children of Asia Foundation will provide training and scholarship to the selected child.
Barangay Captain Raquel Avila allowed the barangay hall’s covered roofdeck to be converted to a tutorial center. It will soon be furnished with multi-media equipment to simulate an ideal classroom setting.
This private sector-led undertaking is the right response to the Philippine’s performance in a global survey of reading comprehension under the Program for International Student Assessment in which the Philippines came out last among 79 countries.
When it is true that the development of education is the primary responsibility of the government, ranting over its failure on social media will not solve the problem and would only further glamorize our own failure as a nation.
We are not in an ideal world where public service is efficiently provided by the government who keep our taxes, but if we start extending a helping hand we will be able to solve our problem as a people.
Gift giving is supposedly a daily occurrence and the presents should not necessarily be wrapped in fancy papers. Look around, there are a lot of our underprivileged brothers and sisters who will be happy recipients of your generosity. The joys and jitters of being able to share are not exclusive during Christmas season.