Such is the plight of thousands of Filipino grade school children who spend their elementary years performing poorly to the point that some of them fail to move on to high school. These are children handicapped by their inability to read. They are also the reason why McDonald’s Charities and the Department of Education-NCR (DepEd-NCR) joined together to bring beginning reading to grade 1 students in public schools with Bright Minds Read (BMR).

BMR is a program that aims to promote beginning reading among Filipino children in support of DepEd’s goal to make ‘Every Child A Reader.’ It is also the product of DepEd-NCR’s collaboration with McDonald’s Charities in fulfillment of Republic Act 8525 which aims to create partnerships with businesses, foundations, NGOs and individuals towards providing much needed assistance and service to public schools.

"McDonald’s Charities firmly believe that proper education can lift kids to a better tomorrow. Our participation in BMR shows our support for DepEd-NCR’s efforts in improving the quality of education in our country and in fostering a brighter future for the Filipino youth," said McDonald’s Charities President Kenneth S. Yang.

BMR was created to address a 2002 DepEd-NCR survey indicating that 4 out of 10 first graders are nonreaders. These nonreaders become either ‘students at risk’ (STAR) of not qualifying for grade two or they fall behind for the duration of their schooling simply because they cannot read well.

In the same year, McDonald’s Charities and DepEd-NCR collaborated on the pilot implementation of the BMR program. It was conducted on 4,200 grade 1 pupils in 14 schools. By the end of SY 2003, 68% of grade 1 pupils can read sentences and answer questions about what they read while 89% have improved their comprehension skills. For SY 2004, the students’ reading skills posted an astounding 81.52% mastery. As of SY 2005, BMR achieved its target of zero nonreaders with all 4,200 pupils reading with comprehension.

"We couldn’t have accomplished this without the support of organizations like McDonald’s Charities. Their continuous commitment to Bright Minds Read will help us reach more children and bring out their full potential as students," said DepED-NCR Regional Director Dr. Teresita Domalanta.

Currently, there are 65 schools in Metro Manila benefiting from the BMR Program. The BMR kits are now being adapted in 500 classrooms in Caloocan City funded by Caloocan local government, and numerous public schools in Baguio, Cebu, Iloilo, Dumaguete, General Santos City, Lipa City, and Kidapawan City in Cotabato. McDonald’s Charities is working hard to take the program further by expanding it to 75 target schools in the NCR and in other parts of the country where a McDonald’s restaurant is present. It hopes to bring BMR kits to schools with high incidences of non-readers in all 17 regions nationwide by 2008.

McDonald’s brings more smiles to Filipino children across the country with programs like Bright Minds Read and Bahay Bulilit under the McDonald’s Charities, a charity arm supported by the world’s number one fast-food chain providing high-quality products at good value.