200 children now certified readers

By Ian John M. Lagare

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (28 May 2014) – Two hundred children with reading difficulties can now read, thanks to Community Teach a joint program of City Mayor Ronnel Rivera, Department of Education – General Santos (DepEd - GenSan) and Smart Communications.  

On Tuesday (May 27), 200 kids from 10 different public schools in the city held their commencement exercises from the Community Teach - a reading and supplementary feeding program for selected incoming Grade 3 pupils. 

These pupil-beneficiaries of Community Teach were chosen based on last year’s data from the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (PHIL-IRI).

Most of the kids were classified as non-readers, according to DepEd - GenSan. 

Mayor Rivera lauded the success of the preliminary days of the all year round Community Teach.

Community Teach continues every Saturday during the school year in the same schools with the same students.

"We had been through a lot before we realized Community Teach. We had to get everyone to participate on it because the community should be involved. Good thing we have Smart Communications and DepEd to help us. And now, I'm really happy to hear that these children can now read," Rivera said in vernacular.

Julisehl Babia, a teacher of General Santos City Elementary School for the Arts in Barangay Apopong and a volunteer of the Community Teach said, "indeed, Community Teach is a very excellent and wonderful initiative of Mayor Rivera to help these kids to learn how to read. Since they are only 20 per class, we can teach them on how to read with all of our focus,” Babia said.

"In Community Teach, their learning is continuous and the reading schemes are very effective. Actually, the program supplemented our remedial reading classes during school days,” she added.

The Community Teach also held a feeding program in which breakfast and lunch were prepared for every class.

Jeanith Libabone, 10, a beneficiary of Community Teach and a student of General Santos City Elementary School for the Arts said that she likes to go to the program because she can eat while learning.

"I can't practice how to read in our home because I have to tend to my siblings. Aside from that, my mother has no job that's why I don't always eat when I go to school, thus I can't learn well," the kid narrated.

"I like the Community Teach because I can eat chicken as our viand. I rarely eat chicken," Jeanith shyly stated.

Julisehl Babia, Jeanith's teacher, said that the kid has gained weight during the course of Community Teach. She gained 2 kilos; from 23 kilos from her weigh-in last April to 25 kilos after the Community Teach. 

Mayor Rivera is planning to add more schools and beneficiaries to the program after the success of the Community Teach in its first batch.

"After seeing that there are still those children that need our help, I am compelled to continue and expand this initiative," Mayor Rivera stated. (GENSAN CPIO/Ian John M. Lagare)