March 29, 2024

To help address the reported existence of non-readers in the primary grades amid the implementation of distance learning, the Schools Division of Benguet through the Curriculum Implementation Division (CID) launched in April this year a crucial reading intervention program dubbed as Project Bindiyan (Batang i-Benguet nakababasa, diwang isinatitik at yamang-angkin naisasabuhay).
The intervention project came as 1,561 grade 1 learners from the 14 districts were reported as struggling readers while there are also 755 learners in the other grade levels who could not properly read as of April 23.
Considered as the contextualized equivalent of DepEd-Cordillera’s Read to Lead program, Project Bindiyan aimed to massively use video-based lessons in Beginning Reading in Kankanaey, Ibaloy, Kalanguya, and Karao which were produced by the division since the onset of the pandemic last year.
Schools Division Superintendent Gloria Buya-ao lauded this initiative as she witnessed and reviewed samples of these video lessons based on the primer on beginning reading during the virtual orientation of school heads, teachers and learning support aides (LSAs) on the use of these learning materials.
While reiterating the need to strictly follow health protocols and guidelines, the division head expressed optimism that schools would find ways so that these video-based lessons would be learned by children at home.
Buya-ao added struggling learners especially those in economically disadvantaged areas shall be the priority in the distribution of tablets to be procured from the DepEd’s Basic Education-Learning Continuity Plan fund and from stakeholders’ donations.
Through the collaboration with parents and local leaders, teachers and volunteers were tasked to facilitate the systematic learning of these video-lessons at home mainly by struggling grade 1 learners and non-readers in the primary grades.
CID Chief Rizalyn A. Guznian said learning materials were among the produced video-based lessons as a result of a video-lesson production project in the different subjects funded from the DepEd division budget last year.
She said teachers and LSAs just need to follow the sequence of letting children learn the lessons based on the proper steps in the primer for beginning reading in the mother tongue languages.
“Teachers and LSAs will not be teaching in a limited face-to-face class. They will only ensure that target learners will have access to these video-based lessons and that children will properly learn these, even repeatedly as needed, but following the proper sequence according to the primer on beginning reading,” Guznian said while clarifying this undertaking is a home-based learning intervention that also entails cooperation of parents or guardians at home.
Meanwhile, 57 LSAs were enlisted to help implement the project in selected schools in the 14 districts although each is only entitled for a P2,000 monthly honorarium up to July 10 from the Indigenous Peoples Education-Program Support Fund (IPEd-PSF).
Guznian said an increase of their honoraria could be considered for schoolyear 2021-2022 with the combined support from the Provincial Government of Benguet and available IPEd-PSF or any other source (MACARTHY B. MALANES)