Philippines

Even in the Philippines multiple intelligence is regarded as a significant tool to educate children. Tomorrow Miss Kelly and I go to a meeting about the problems with childcare locally. It will be interesting to see if Evansville is as open to real education for young children as the Philippines.

PIA Press Release

Tagbilaran School Reform Program Begins at Day-care Centers

by Rey Anthony Chiu

Tagbilaran City
(5 July)

This city has found another wise way to break the chains of poverty in its people: equipping their children with the right tools, said Mayor Dan Neri Lim, during the launching of Tagbilaran City's comprehensive school reform project last week.

Known for its aggressive investing in the future, Tagbilaran City puts innovation here with the out-of-the-box educational framework that experts believe would be ideal for the Philippine environment.

The school reform program, an innovation in preschool education envisions to fully develop the child's potential in all aspects of learning. This can be through the full realization of the multiple intelligences (MI) each child possesses.

It looks two areas of concern: competence in skill and discipline of work, two skills that equips students to be active learners, said Joy Abaquin, Multiple Intelligence international school directress, during the program launching, Friday at Saya's Restaurant.

And because a child's potential can be evoked by the crucial role of teachers, the program also takes a look at them.

Billed as the "MI Smart Start," the project is an 18-month initiative that addresses the needs and goals of the city Day Care Centers, making them centers for early childhood development.

Set in two pronged approach, the MI program starts with pre-school teacher's training component to transform them into effective teachers. This is done by improving their beliefs and understanding about pupils intelligence, classroom instruction and achievement.

On the other hand, the trained teachers also aim to evoke in preschoolers the opportunities for experiences that not only develops the whole child but also the child's unique intelligence profiles.

This is over and above another equally envying step to help alleviate parent's concern on elementary education.

The city government has earlier allocated some P8.6M for coming up with the real essence of free education. School children here in 16 elementary schools get free uniforms, shoes, bags, notebooks, papers pencils and crayons to the city's almost 9 thousand pupils in 15 barangays.

All of these however is "merely scratching the surface." Mayor Lim, together with the city sanggunian said they want to encourage the children to go to school and reassure the parents that the city government is doing its part to relieve them of the expenses for the basic educational needs.

If the city government can not fully spend its meager resources to beat poverty, the mayor hinted that giving the children the right skills to work for it is what it sees as noble, he explained.
With the investment on children to generally take a long time, Mayor Lim said "if we want our children to be competitive in their time, we have to equip them now.

"It is no just showing them that we care, it is giving them hope," he said.