Oriental Negros wants zero non-readers by 2010
DUMAGUETE CITY, Oriental Negros (Feb. 14) -- If Gov. George Arnaiz will have his way, Oriental Negros will no longer have non-readers by 2010 and grade school pupils will subsequently improve by leaps in literacy, competence and confidence. And it seems that the high-spirited governor will do have his way.
Gov. Arnaiz initiated what will be a widespread implementation of the Bright Minds Read (BMR) beginning reading curriculum for Grade One pupils in all public schools supervised by the Oriental Negros Division of the Department of Education (DepED).
Through the efforts of Board Member Mariant E. Villegas, education committee vice chairman of the provincial legislature, the Provincial Government purchased 60 BMR tool kits and had some 200 teachers trained in implementing the curriculum last Feb. 4 and 5 for some P400,000.00.
By June this year, the province will purchase 100 more BMR educational kits, the governor disclosed.
Arnaiz formally entered for the Province on Feb. 6 into a memorandum of agreement with McDonald's Charities for assistance in the implementation of the BMR program with DepED. The realization of the MOA had the support of Meralco Foundation and Aboitiz Group Foundation.
The Provincial Government adopted the BMR program having been convinced of its effectivity after the pilot implementation of the curriculum in the National Capital Region (NCR) that showed 96 percent of the grade one pupils learning how to read at the end of the school year.
McDonald’s Charities and DepED-NCR pursued the BMR project to address the alarming rate of non-readers among Grade One public school pupils across the country by stimulating proper reading habits among beginning readers.
A study in 2003 showed that four out of 10 Grade One pupils in public schools nationwide are found to be non-readers. These 40 percent become either “students at risk” of not qualifying for Grade Two, or they fall behind for the duration of their schooling simply because they hardly read.
The 2004 pilot implementation performed on 4,200 Grade One pupils in 14 schools proved that BMR can effectively curb poor to absent reading skills by radically reducing the rate of non-readers from 40 percent to only four percent by the end of the school year.
Today, BMR has yielded positive results in various schools with 90 percent of Grade One classrooms in the NCR now using the BMR teaching method only without the prescribed BMR beginning reading kit yet.
Kenneth S. Yang, president of McDonald’s Charities, declares: “We believe that a good education can bring a world of opportunities. This has been the guiding motivation of Bright Minds Read — to make these opportunities available to as many Filipino children as much as possible.”
"By teaching Filipino youth how to read at an early age and in the process cultivating in them a genuine love for reading, BMR hopes to develop students who are smart and fast readers, confident leaders and well-rounded individuals,” he added.
At the press conference following the Feb. 6 MOA signing at Oriental Negros High School, it was noted that 10 percent of grade one pupils in Oriental Negros could hardly read.
Dr. Catalina Credo, Ed.D., English supervisor, bared that about 3,000 out of some 30,000 Grade One pupils in Oriental Negros in school year 2004-2005 ended the school year still unable to read. The same appears to be true in the current school year the will end in next month.
Credo said she feels positive about BMR when it is fully implemented next school year. "If the mechanics are fully implemented and the approaches properly adopted with the teachers having the heart to do it, I'm sure we will have a better batch of Grace One pupils" at the end of school yar 2006-2007.
She said the Division will integrate BMR with other approaches like the Third Elementary Education Program (TEEP) funded by the World Bank to make sure that the pupils will improve in their academic performance, build the capability of the teachers and establish strong partnership with the community.
Dr Juliana Topia, Ed.D., Social Studies supervisor, noted that the disciplines promoted by BMR are applicable in other subjects other than Reading. "This is really good, especially along the dimensions of developing questions for the pupils," she said, adding that such manner gives teachers insights to develop their own.
DepED-Oriental Negros Division superintendent Aleli R. Abne said "the coming of BMR is an answer to our prayers" as she lamented that her Division recorded the lowest rate in Central Visayas in terms of academic performance.
"I'm really impressed (with BMR) and I'm happy that we now have it as it will be of great help in improving the ability of our pupils," she said.
Oriental Negros will be the first province in the country to have taken bold steps in addressing the literacy issue of grade school pupils, particulary through the use of the BMR program. BMR is still implemented on pilot basis in just a handful number of schools each in the cities of Baguio, Iloilo, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Davao.
During the same press conference, Gov. Arnaiz described BMR as “a very wonderful program.” “It will improve the capability of our children in school and the efficiency of our teachers in making sure that our Grade One pupils will learn how to read and become capable to learn more."
Arnaiz said the teachers who participated in the BMR training were “very happy” and “very excited” about the BMR training, and added that he looks forward at their maximum use of the BMR approaches and the utilization of the 60 kits the Province had initially purchased for them.
A BMR kit that is worth P11,200.00 contains 32 teacher training modules, 32 illustrated English and Filipino big books promoting Filipino values and 200 worksheets, all specially designed to enhance beginning reading skills.
Arnaiz and Villegas personally distributed the BMR kits to 60 public schools with Superintendent Abne during the conclusion of the BMR training conducted by Dr. Elvira K. Directo, Ed.D., who took the lead in the conduct of the BMR study, the development of the beginning reading curriculum, and its pilot implementation in the NCR.
Arnaiz and Abne signed the MOA with McDonald's consultant Cerwin T. Eviota who represented Mr. Yang and with Meralco Foundation president Alex Escaño. The vice governor and some provincial board members witnessed the signing along with DepED-Oriental Negros supervisors and some teachers tasked to use the BMR curriculum.
------------------
MOA EXCHANGE. Oriental Negros Gov. George Arnaiz (left) and McDonald's Charities consultant Cerwin T. Eviota exchange copies of the memorandum of agreement they signed for the widespread implementation of the Bright Minds Read (BMR) program in Oriental Negros, as provincial information officer Oliver Lemence looks on.
Gov. Arnaiz initiated what will be a widespread implementation of the Bright Minds Read (BMR) beginning reading curriculum for Grade One pupils in all public schools supervised by the Oriental Negros Division of the Department of Education (DepED).
Through the efforts of Board Member Mariant E. Villegas, education committee vice chairman of the provincial legislature, the Provincial Government purchased 60 BMR tool kits and had some 200 teachers trained in implementing the curriculum last Feb. 4 and 5 for some P400,000.00.
By June this year, the province will purchase 100 more BMR educational kits, the governor disclosed.
40 percent
Arnaiz formally entered for the Province on Feb. 6 into a memorandum of agreement with McDonald's Charities for assistance in the implementation of the BMR program with DepED. The realization of the MOA had the support of Meralco Foundation and Aboitiz Group Foundation.
The Provincial Government adopted the BMR program having been convinced of its effectivity after the pilot implementation of the curriculum in the National Capital Region (NCR) that showed 96 percent of the grade one pupils learning how to read at the end of the school year.
McDonald’s Charities and DepED-NCR pursued the BMR project to address the alarming rate of non-readers among Grade One public school pupils across the country by stimulating proper reading habits among beginning readers.
A study in 2003 showed that four out of 10 Grade One pupils in public schools nationwide are found to be non-readers. These 40 percent become either “students at risk” of not qualifying for Grade Two, or they fall behind for the duration of their schooling simply because they hardly read.
The 2004 pilot implementation performed on 4,200 Grade One pupils in 14 schools proved that BMR can effectively curb poor to absent reading skills by radically reducing the rate of non-readers from 40 percent to only four percent by the end of the school year.
Today, BMR has yielded positive results in various schools with 90 percent of Grade One classrooms in the NCR now using the BMR teaching method only without the prescribed BMR beginning reading kit yet.
Kenneth S. Yang, president of McDonald’s Charities, declares: “We believe that a good education can bring a world of opportunities. This has been the guiding motivation of Bright Minds Read — to make these opportunities available to as many Filipino children as much as possible.”
"By teaching Filipino youth how to read at an early age and in the process cultivating in them a genuine love for reading, BMR hopes to develop students who are smart and fast readers, confident leaders and well-rounded individuals,” he added.
10 percent
At the press conference following the Feb. 6 MOA signing at Oriental Negros High School, it was noted that 10 percent of grade one pupils in Oriental Negros could hardly read.
Dr. Catalina Credo, Ed.D., English supervisor, bared that about 3,000 out of some 30,000 Grade One pupils in Oriental Negros in school year 2004-2005 ended the school year still unable to read. The same appears to be true in the current school year the will end in next month.
Credo said she feels positive about BMR when it is fully implemented next school year. "If the mechanics are fully implemented and the approaches properly adopted with the teachers having the heart to do it, I'm sure we will have a better batch of Grace One pupils" at the end of school yar 2006-2007.
She said the Division will integrate BMR with other approaches like the Third Elementary Education Program (TEEP) funded by the World Bank to make sure that the pupils will improve in their academic performance, build the capability of the teachers and establish strong partnership with the community.
Dr Juliana Topia, Ed.D., Social Studies supervisor, noted that the disciplines promoted by BMR are applicable in other subjects other than Reading. "This is really good, especially along the dimensions of developing questions for the pupils," she said, adding that such manner gives teachers insights to develop their own.
DepED-Oriental Negros Division superintendent Aleli R. Abne said "the coming of BMR is an answer to our prayers" as she lamented that her Division recorded the lowest rate in Central Visayas in terms of academic performance.
"I'm really impressed (with BMR) and I'm happy that we now have it as it will be of great help in improving the ability of our pupils," she said.
Oriental Negros will be the first province in the country to have taken bold steps in addressing the literacy issue of grade school pupils, particulary through the use of the BMR program. BMR is still implemented on pilot basis in just a handful number of schools each in the cities of Baguio, Iloilo, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Davao.
Happy and excited
During the same press conference, Gov. Arnaiz described BMR as “a very wonderful program.” “It will improve the capability of our children in school and the efficiency of our teachers in making sure that our Grade One pupils will learn how to read and become capable to learn more."
Arnaiz said the teachers who participated in the BMR training were “very happy” and “very excited” about the BMR training, and added that he looks forward at their maximum use of the BMR approaches and the utilization of the 60 kits the Province had initially purchased for them.
A BMR kit that is worth P11,200.00 contains 32 teacher training modules, 32 illustrated English and Filipino big books promoting Filipino values and 200 worksheets, all specially designed to enhance beginning reading skills.
Arnaiz and Villegas personally distributed the BMR kits to 60 public schools with Superintendent Abne during the conclusion of the BMR training conducted by Dr. Elvira K. Directo, Ed.D., who took the lead in the conduct of the BMR study, the development of the beginning reading curriculum, and its pilot implementation in the NCR.
Arnaiz and Abne signed the MOA with McDonald's consultant Cerwin T. Eviota who represented Mr. Yang and with Meralco Foundation president Alex Escaño. The vice governor and some provincial board members witnessed the signing along with DepED-Oriental Negros supervisors and some teachers tasked to use the BMR curriculum.
------------------
MOA EXCHANGE. Oriental Negros Gov. George Arnaiz (left) and McDonald's Charities consultant Cerwin T. Eviota exchange copies of the memorandum of agreement they signed for the widespread implementation of the Bright Minds Read (BMR) program in Oriental Negros, as provincial information officer Oliver Lemence looks on.
posted by Cerwin T. Eviota | 6/28/2006 02:23:00 PM
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