ARMM Education Secretary Jamar Kulayan reads the book “Ang Unang Mosque sa Pilipinas (The First Mosque in the Philippines)” to schoolchildren at Claret School of Zamboanga City during the Inquirer Read-Along activity. KENNY NODALO/CONTRIBUTOR
ZAMBOANGA CITY–Nine-year-old Jerny Laurice Anova sat attentively as the stranger read her a story inside a familiar place, where she and her classmates spend at least an hour every day to enjoy their favorite books.
“This is an unusual day for me because it’s one of those few times I get to enjoy a book being read by someone else,” said the Grade 3 pupil of Claret School of Zamboanga City.
Anova and 25 of her classmates were the audience of the Inquirer Read-Along session in the school’s library on Tuesday.
Lawyer Jamar Kulayan, education secretary of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)—whom the students had met for the first time—read the story of the first mosque in the Philippines.
Titled “Ang Unang Mosque sa Pilipinas (The First Mosque in the Philippines),” the story is about the more than 600-year-old Muslim house of worship in Simunul, Tawi-Tawi province. The story is part of the “Mindanao Tales” collection published by the nongovernment organization Kids for Peace for its “Big Books” project.
It was a quick and fitting lesson about history and culture, according to Thea Eliza Tumacas, 9, another Claretian elementary school student.
When asked if they knew what a mosque was, all but two of the children chorused in the affirmative.
The children were in amazement as the story unraveled. The reader told them about the four original pillars still standing inside the present structure in Tubig Indangan in Simunul.
“It’s that old?” some of the students asked among themselves, as if in disbelief when told that the Sheik Karim al-Makdum Mosque was built in 1380.
For Shawn Allian Bejemil, the story taught him about the rich and enduring culture of the people of Tawi-Tawi.
Spicing up the children’s excitement was the giving away of Guyito stuffed toys—the Inquirer’s mascot—as prizes for correctly answering trivia questions.
Anova, a 9-year-old math lover, said the story gave her a new perspective about reading and learning.
“Listening to a story is better than just reading it, because you can ask questions later,” she said.
She said the story taught her about the colorful history and culture of Muslims, some of them her classmates and friends.
The activity highlighted the National Reading Month celebration, which included the distribution of books to children by various groups.
Kulayan also graced the Department of Education-ARMM’s book donation drive in Zamboanga City on Tuesday in an effort to help Bangsamoro schoolchildren improve their reading habits.
“Reading is the key to increasing their learning outcomes, especially in core subjects such as English, science and math,” the regional education chief said.
Aptly dubbed “Learning Improvement through Book Reading Opportunities (Libro) para sa Bangsamoro,” the project is one of the department’s initiatives aimed to improve education in the ARMM with the help of the Australian government’s Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao (BEAM).
BEAM-ARMM has been helping the strife-torn region make strides in education since 2012 by repairing damaged schools and training teachers and school administrators.
Civic groups and organizations such as Junior Chamber International-Davao and Young Moro Professionals have supported the book donation drive, according to Kulayan. Public and private schools like Claret, Ateneo de Zamboanga University and the state-run Western Mindanao University have also joined in the initiative.
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Interested donors of books can contact the BEAM-ARMM office in Cotabato City at 064-5520868 and its field office in Zamboanga at 062-9553499 for more details of the project. They can also check out its official Facebook page at www.facebook.com/beamarmm for more updates on the book donation drive.