A new reading center is now accessible and made more fun to learners, including out-of-school youth, at the Bangui Central Elementary School in the first district of Ilocos Norte.
In an interview on Thursday, Markelvin Guzman, monitoring supervisor-in-charge of the Bangui-Dumalneg District of the Department of Education in Ilocos Norte said the new reading center called “Kalapaw” (makeshift dwelling) was established within the school compound “to provide a safe, welcoming, and resource-rich space where learners who experience difficulty in reading can receive focused assistance.”
The Bangui Central Elementary School is among the first to establish the project, which was formally inaugurated last Dec. 16.
“This is a significant step to strengthen literacy support to our struggling readers in the school and the wider community.
He assured that there are sufficient reading materials at the “Kalapaw”, including board games and other interactive materials, arithmetic, values formation, and sports, to entice more learners to visit the center during their free time.
Guzman said donation drives for reading materials will also be conducted to augment the contents of the center.
Guzman said all elementary schools in the province are being eyed to have their own “Kalapaw” with the support of education stakeholders, both from the public and private sectors.
Other public schools in the province have also stepped up measures to address the gap in learning after a reading inventory showed that some Grades 4 to 6 pupils experience difficulties in reading and comprehension.
Meanwhile, Sonia Garcia, officer-in-charge of the school, said the initiative is in response to the growing need for targeted reading interventions, particularly for learners who lag behind in comprehension and fluency.
” ‘Kalapaw’ aims to nurture confidence and a love for reading among its beneficiaries,” she said.
To date, the school has also partnered with Adarna Publishing House to boost the reading program of DepEd Ilocos Norte.
Based on the World Bank’s data on learning poverty, at least 90 percent of Filipino children aged 10 struggle to read or understand simple text. (PNA)