GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/ 11 August) — The city government will expand starting this month the implementation of its flagship reading remedial program for low-performing public elementary schools in the city.
Mayor Ronnel Rivera said they are finalizing the launching on Friday of the weekend reading remedial classes in the city’s “bottom 10” public elementary schools as part of its Community Teach Project.
He said the project, which started last May, will cover a total of 200 Grade 3 pupils or 20 each from the 10 schools.
“It will mainly focus on improving the reading proficiency and eventually the learning capability of the recipients,” the mayor said.
The program’s 10 beneficiary-schools are the Pedro Acharon Elementary School, Romana Acharon Elementary School, Jose Divina Gracia Elementary School, Dadiangas South Elementary School, Calumpang Elementary School, Lagao Central Elementary School, Lanto Elementary School, Dadiangas North Elementary School, General Santos City School of Arts and Trade, and Jose P. Laurel Elementary School.
Rivera said the remedial classes will begin on Aug.
15 and every Saturday of schoolyear 2014-2015.
He said they have partnered with the Notre Dame of Dadiangas University’s Community Involvement Service program and the Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Colleges for its implementation.
The two institutions specifically agreed to provide volunteer student-teachers for the initiative, he said.
The city government, in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd), Smart Communications Inc. and RD Foundation Inc., initially launched the Community Teach Project last May as a 15-day reading remedial program.
Rivera said the innovative program is part of the local government’s continuing efforts to raise the standards of the educational system in the city.
Community Teach is a program designed to develop the reading skills and comprehension of selected incoming Grade 3 pupils through the participation of their respective communities.
The students were pre-selected by the DepEd based on the data from the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory or PHIL-IRI.
DepEd’s city division earlier designed a curriculum for the Community Teach Project that involves “effective teaching strategies that would engage the students into an interactive learning system and in a holistic and child-friendly environment.”
The agency had assigned some teachers to act as facilitators while the City Social Welfare Development Office (CSWDO) designated one of its personnel to supervise the conduct of the remedial classes.
The CSWDO was tasked to conduct supplemental feeding programs for the remedial classes through assistance from the parents of the beneficiaries. (MindaNews)
