BELIEVING that now is the time to act, Schools Division Superintendent (SDS) Melanie P. Estacio of Digos City made a heartfelt appeal to barangay leaders and community partners to help build a future where every Digoseño child can be functionally literate.
Speaking at the launch of Unlocking Boundaries for Functional Literacy and Numeracy: Project Basa and the Alternative Delivery Mode (ADM) Guidebook at Ramon Magsaysay Central Elementary School, SDS Estacio noted that over half of the learners in Digos City are not ready for their grade level.
“This is not just a school problem. This is a community problem. That means the solution must come from all of us,” she said.
SDS Estacio stressed that addressing this learning crisis must involve all members of the community and urged every barangay to create its own Barangay Reading Corner.
She believes this small, yet powerful initiative can help children who struggle to keep up in class, and these reading spaces can become places where children discover the joy of learning, supported by volunteers, parents, and community leaders.
“Let us invest in reading today so that we don’t have to invest in rehabilitation tomorrow,” she emphasized, reminding everyone that illiteracy hinders a child’s education and future.
Representing City Mayor Josef F. Cagas, General Services Officer Loleimer Egos affirmed the city government's strong commitment to the call and emphasized the urgency of the situation.
“The City Government is truly committed to addressing problems in reading. We need to develop the students’ critical thinking so they will become functionally literate citizens,” Egos stated.
At the heart of the literacy campaign is Project Basa for Reading Mastery, the flagship program of the Schools Division of Digos City, anchored on Republic Act No. 12028, also known as the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program Act. The project underscores the division’s commitment to ensure that every child, regardless of background, can read with comprehension at their grade level.
Through structured, data-driven, and inclusive reading interventions, the program aims to close literacy gaps that have long held back too many young learners.
In Digos City, the journey toward literacy is no longer just a classroom goal, but a community mission built one book, one child, one reading corner at a time. PR