500 high school students help pupils to read

ALABEL, Sarangani—Some 500 students in higher school levels across the province have agreed to sacrifice the fun of their summer break to help those in the lower levels hone their reading skills.

For 15 days until April 30, the students will help Grade 1 teachers all over the province in mentoring incoming Grade 2 pupils with difficulties in reading.

Gov. Steve Chiongbian Solon said the volunteer program was part of the Reading is Fun project of the government-funded Quality Education for Sarangani Today and Tomorrow (Quest2).

Quest was an annual education-enhancing program conducted during the summer and was started in Sarangani province in 2007.

Quest2 is a continuation of that effort to help children cope with their reading problems, he said in a statement furnished the Inquirer.

Dan Evans, the provincial government’s education consultant, said that aside from helping “failing readers,” Quest2 also aimed to convince more children to enroll.

“Less than half of our children are not even enrolled in school. The big challenge of the province is to get more children into school,” Evans said.

Quest2 is the expanded version of Quest, the literacy program that former Gov. Miguel Dominguez and his sister, Cecile, started in 2007.

In 2013, after it helped more than 27,000 children become good readers, Quest was named a Galing Pook awardee.

It also got the support of RockEd Philippines, a volunteer group made up of celebrities, musicians, poets, artists, entrepreneurs and writers.

RockEd Philippines was founded by Therese “Gang” Badoy Capati, an advocate of alternative education and one of the Ten Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service.

Evans said the quality of education in the province, where a significant number of indigenous peoples are found, had been improving but more needed to be done because of the low attendance in schools.

He said only a slim percentage of those in high school actually went on to college.

“Most dropouts are due to failure in reading. By focusing on that aspect, we will save some children from dropping out of school,” he said.

Evans said the reading sessions would cover at least 20 public schools, which have been identified by the Department of Education as having a large number of students with difficulties in reading.—Allan Nawal, Inquirer Mindanao