DepEd to establish more schools for IPs

TO EXPAND basic education services for indigenous peoples (IP), the Department of Education (DepEd) said it would put up more schools in 300 priority sites nationwide, hire nearly 600 teachers and develop 500 “indigenized” lesson plans this year.

The agency said on Tuesday that it was strengthening its partnership with IP communities to be able to effectively implement its IP Education (IPEd) program consistent with their specific educational aspirations and vision for their ancestral domain.

Among the key targets are providing basic education access to 300 sites in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas, according to DepEd’s IP Education Office coordinator Rozanno Rufino.

In Mindanao, where there are 18 indigenous ethnic groups, a total of 251 new public schools will be established for school year 2016-2017. The schools will rise in the Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao, Soccsksargen and Caraga.

“This is the biggest effort in the history of the DepEd to establish schools for IP communities,” Rufino said. “Hand in hand with the IP communities, we shall build schools where culture is respected and where learners are happy and feel secure,” he added.

The agency is also hiring 583 new teachers with permanent positions for these new schools. They shall be trained to implement the IPEd program consistent with the thrust of the K-12 education reform program.

“Hiring teachers whose hearts and minds are open to the various realities, aspirations and cultures of their learners is crucial in the education reforms that we continue to pursue, especially in IPEd,” Rufino said.

At present, more than 7,700 teachers and school heads long employed by the DepEd and serving IP learners have undergone basic retooling on IPEd.

The DepEd has tapped the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Kalahi-CIDSS National Community-Driven Development program for the construction of 605 classrooms. It also forked out P500 million from its budget to bankroll such initiative, Rufino said.

In line with a department order in 2015 titled “Indigenous Peoples Education Curriculum Framework,” various DepEd field offices and schools have started working with IP communities for coming up with “indigenized” curriculum and lesson plans or culture-based learning resources.

By the end of this year, at least 500 lesson plans shall have been formulated for IPEd, Rufino said.