Student volunteers of Miriam College get to be teachers for a day as they read stories and mingle with eager pre-school children of the Krus na Ligas Elementary School in Quezon City.

How do you cure an ailing public educational system?

Start from the bottom of the heap – from the pre-school children to be specific.

Pre-school or early childhood education (ECE) is the time when the intelligence, social behavior and personality of a child are formed. Educators believe that it is best to mold a child in his formative years and equip him with appropriate skills necessary for a smooth transition to the big school.

Miriam College chooses not to confine its efforts within its campus as it goes out and shares its expertise in ECE to help improve teaching in barangay day care centers across the country.

TRAINING PARENTS AND TEACHERS

“The problem with most barangay day care centers starts with the location. The spaces are cramped and not conducive for learning. Most of the teachers are also not Education graduates, thus they lack experience in preschool education. Some are only high school graduates,” laments Dreena del Mundo, program director of Lingap Bulilit and chairperson of the Child Development Education (CDE) Department of Miriam College.

Through teacher-training, Lingap Bulilit (which means to care for little children), aims to upgrade the knowledge and skills of barangay day care workers. It began in 2005 as a simple educational outreach for Miriam College’s (MC) five partner communities and schools in Quezon City.

Volunteers from MC’s Child Study Center shared with daycare workers teaching techniques, materials and modules. The daycare teachers were also taught the thematic integrated approach where subjects like Math, Reading, and Social Studies are taught using a unifying theme so the children can easily make the connection.

Modules on environment, advocacies and peace education were also distributed as additional resource materials.

“Most of all, the daycare workers were also urged to use gentle discipline in teaching, which is essentially disciplining with a heart,’’ del Mundo says.

Malou T. Jarabe, executive director of MC’s Institutional Network for Social Action (INSA) says Lingap Bulilit was so successful that it has evolved into a nationwide program with a two-pronged approach for both teachers and parents. So far, some 500 day care workers from various provinces in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao have benefited from the program.

It also earned for Miriam College the Panibagong Paraan sa Puerto Princesa Award in 2008 for its contribution to education for poor communities. The award is a project grant competition of the World Bank.

Complementing the program is a certificate course on Early Childhood Education and Development that allows daycare workers who underwent the Lingap Bulilit seminar to professionalize their skills.

Jarabe says about 100 day care workers in Quezon City are now taking the course at MC with tuition subsidized by the local government. At the end of the two-year certificate course, they may choose to continue with their baccalaureate, while others may be qualified to take the LET exam already.

Miriam College is also coming up with a comprehensive source book and manual complete with principles, lesson plans and policies on ECE for day care workers.

SERVICE LEARNING

To promote the love for reading and enhance the reading skills of children in the daycare centers, Lingap Bulilit on Wheels mobile library was created.

Here, students and faculty of MC’s College of Education bring their cars to partner communities in Loyola Heights and Brgy. UP Campus, to conduct storytelling sessions and fun activities for children.

“One of our programs is to propagate service learning as an avenue for faculty and students involvement. Even now in high school, they are doing service learning. Our objective is really to help shape active citizenship among our students, through programs like Lingap Bulilit,” Jarabe notes.

“It was a learning experience for me. It makes you ask yourself if you’ll actually be the effective teacher that you’re expecting yourself to be,” shares senior education student Beatrice Policarpio.

Other students Isabelle Gerona, Rancy Pulido and Francez Fernandez, are thankful for the opportunity to take the first step in helping change people’s lives.

“Kahit sa simpleng pagbabasa lang ng story, mapapangiti mo na sila. That alone is worth all the hard work and sacrifices as a student teacher. I took this course because I felt it was my calling to be a teacher. Gusto ko maabot yung mga tao sa bundok at iba pang malalayong lugar para ilapit ang edukasyon sa kanila. Dahil makikita mo na marami sa kanila ang gutom sa kaalaman, sa edukasyon,” adds junior education student Heidi Tobin.