unicef phillipines: ber gei's story

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Schools for Asia Philippines Ber Gei’s story EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT

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Achieving universal primary education in the Philippines requires getting children into school on time and ensuring that they stay there — and succeed. UNICEF recognises that the key to both is early childhood education.

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Page 1: UNICEF Phillipines: Ber Gei's story

Schools for Asia Philippines

Ber Gei’s storyEARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT

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2 UNICEF Philippines

In the Philippines many children start school late, primarily becausedespite being of school age they are considered ‘too young’—notready—to go to school. As a result, children aged five to seven makeup the majority of pre-primary and primary school age children whoare not in school. On the other hand, young children who do go toschool do not always fare well: sixty-two per cent of all primaryschool drop outs occur in grades one and two. Achieving universalprimary education in the Philippines requires getting children intoschool on time and ensuring that they stay there—and succeed.UNICEF recognizes that the key to both is improved school readiness. The period from ages three to five is crucial in the lives of children.

It is a time of rapid cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional and motordevelopment. What happens—or does not happen—during this timeinfluences the way they grow and develop, and paves the way forfuture school success. Quality Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) programmes

not only give children a foundation in basic literacy and numeracy,they teach them the all-important ‘soft’ skills that translate directlyinto school success, including the ability to pay attention and focus,socialize and work as part of a group, follow a routine, share, nego-tiate and resolve conflicts. This means children arrive in elementaryschool eager and ready to learn. And those who start school aheadstay ahead. Studies show that they do better in primary, and evensecondary school, and are far less likely to repeat a grade or drop out.

EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT

Tribal Village

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And yet many Filipino children still miss out on this opportunity.Despite laws in support of early childhood education, access to earlylearning currently remains at just 19 per cent for three and four-year-olds and 66 per cent for five-year-olds. The situation is worse forvulnerable children in poor communities.In the following pages you will meet three-year-old Ber Gei. She

and her family live in a small, remote village located in themountainous interior of the island of Mindanao. The island is amongthe poorest in the Philippines and Marilog district, where Ber Geilives, is among the most remote and disadvantaged districts on theisland. Like most in the district, Ber Gei and her family areindigenous people or ‘lumads’. And like the majority of indigenouspeople throughout the world, they are isolated and poor, living onthe fringes of mainstream society with only limited access to basicservices, including education.In 2008, with UNICEF support, Tribal Village opened a home-based

ECCD facility aimed at giving children like Ber Gei the foundation sheneeds to succeed in school. It is not a panacea: it won’t end her family’s poverty or shorten the

distance she will have to walk to school, but it will give her the rightstart: an equitable platform for learning that will ultimately benefitnot only Ber Gei, but also her family, her community and the countryas a whole.

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Ber Gei is three years old. She lives in Tribal Village, which has apopulation of just 75 people, and is located several hours north ofDavao City on the island of Mindanao. Ber Gei lives with her mother,father, three older sisters and baby brother. Her family are ‘Lumads’—indigenous people—from the Matigsalog tribe. Her father’s name isRico. He is a farmer and labourer. Her mother’s name is Liza. Shetakes care of the children and works several days a week as a laboureron a nearby squash plantation. Several weeks ago Ber Gei startedattending the UNICEF-supported home based Early Childhood Care andDevelopment (ECCD) facility in her village. This is a day in her life.

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06:30 I’m going to have a bath.

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06:34 I like to wash myself but I still need a little help.

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06:52 Mother combs my hair.

07:08 We leave for my school.

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07:04 My sister Maria Donna Rose goes to another school but today she is coming to schoolwith me and bringing my brother Rico Jr. and mysister Jelay Beam. My other sister Vea Jean already went to school.

I’m not going to school today because my mother said Ihave to stay home and take care of my brother. I criedwhen she told me. I’m worried. The teacher told us notto miss school anymore. What if she gives an assignmentwhile I’m gone? What if when I go back she gets mad atme for being absent again? I am on the honor list for mygrade. What if I get bad marks because I miss too muchschool?

—Maria Donna Rose Andacao, 9, Ber Gei’s sister

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07:18 Mother dries the maize...

My husband is a farmer and sometimes he works as a labourer. I am a housewife and I alsowork as a labourer on a nearby squash plantation. Today I have to help my husband withthe harvest. I don’t have anybody to watch the baby, Rico Jr, who is just one, so I told myoldest, Maria Donna Rose, to stay home from school to take care of him. She is nine-yearsold and in the third grade. I also told the other two, Vea Jean, who is in the second gradeand Jelay Beam who is in kindergarten to stay home today because this morning we don’thave enough food to give them for the long journey (four km one way) to school, andback. They would be hungry and not be able to concentrate. Vea Jean refused and went toschool anyway. I know it’s important for them to go to school every day, but right now it’snot possible because of our family’s economic crisis. My husband and I strive to do betterbut we simply cannot work any harder.

—Liza Andacao, Ber Gei’s mother

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07:25 ...and leaves for the field.

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Before this centre opened in 2008 children were just roaming aroundall day and doing nothing. When we heard about an ECCD facility thatopened in a village two kilometres away, some of us sent our children.But it was too far away, I thought it would be a good idea to open asimilar facility in our village, so I called a meeting with the parentsand raised the idea with the local authorities. Everybody liked it. Iput my daughter Marcelita forward as the first teacher, and all of theparents agreed. They were glad their children would have theopportunity to learn right here in the village. It didn’t take long for the parents to see improvements in those

who attended pre-school. The children helped their parents andshowed respect to their elders. They could identify letters andnumbers. They were less shy and interacted better with otherchildren. We were glad for these changes. We knew they would helpour children do better when they went to school. Before the ECCD programme started here just ten children from this

village went on to elementary school and six of them dropped out.Currently 20 children are going to school every day—and they aredoing better than their predecessors because now they have thefoundation they need to learn and the encouragement of theirparents.

—Hipolito Casingyan, Tribal leader (right, in red)

12 UNICEF Philippines

WELCOME TO TRIBAL VILLAGE’S HOME BASED ECCD CENTRE

How does UNICEF help?

Between 2008 and 2011 UNICEF has

constructed and rehabilitated 131 Early

Childhood Care and Development

(ECCD) facilities most as part of its

emergency response in its focus areas.

In addition, 1,687 ECCD centres were

provided with ECCD play and learning

packages. These facilities along with

improved pedagogy by trained day care

teachers have prepared about 50,000

vulnerable children to enter elementary

school, and more important, have

provided the evidence based case for

the scaling up of UNICEF’s ECCD

models and innovations beyond these

vulnerable areas to the country as

a whole.

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MEET MISS JARIELFor many years, UNICEF has been the

driving force behind ECCD program-

ming in the Philippines. As such, it has

supported the government in develop-

ing policies, standards and tools to

improve access to and the quality of

ECCD programmes nationwide. It has

also championed innovations that have

reached the most vulnerable and

disadvantaged young children. UNICEF

supported the development of day care

service, home-based ECCD and the

kindergarten curricula. It has also

developed prototype teaching and

learning materials for these

programmes and created the training

programmes that have been given to

tens of thousands ECCD workers and

their supervisors nationwide. UNICEF

has also supported the development of

child development assessment tools

and guides such as the Philippine ECCD

checklist and the school readiness

assessment.

How does UNICEF help?

I graduated from high school in Davao City. After I got married Isettled here with my husband who is a farmer. I had always dreamedof being a teacher, but I never had any training or any plan to teach.I had only been here a couple of weeks when the previous ECCDWorker, Marcelita, said she was moving away and asked if I’d like thejob. I said yes. I observed her in class for five days and then I was onmy own. The first day I was alone it was really hard. The childrenwere fighting. They were hard to teach. They were stubborn. I didn’tknow what to do with them. I didn’t know how to run the activities. I was so relieved when I was asked to attend an ECCD trainingsession. After that first training I felt so much better! I know I stillhave a lot to learn about how to better handle the sessions and howto bring more variety into the activities and make them morestimulating. But it feels so good to know I can do this—and to knowthat because I am here doing this work all of the children in thistribe will be ready to go to school and learn. This is the starting pointfor their education, which is what will lift them out of poverty.

—Jariel Casingyan, ECCD Worker

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07:31 Everybody else sings and dances.

There are 23 children enrolled in this daycare. Some days I have onlyten or twelve in class, other days, like today, there are far more,including a couple of girls from the elementary school and somebabies. Most people here earn only 1000 pesos (US $24) or less in amonth, and it is not regular income. They send their children herebecause the family doesn’t have food or because they need someoneto watch the baby. As a teacher this isn’t a problem for me, but it ishard to manage the class when the young ones keep crying becausethey’re hungry.

—Jariel Casingyan, ECCD Worker

An argument often used in favor of ECCD programmes is that

they allow older siblings—usually girls—who would otherwise

have to stay home to watch their younger siblings, to go to

school. While this is true, children with siblings who are too

young for ECCD are still at risk: the two and under age group,

which is also extremely important from a child development

perspective, is generally neglected by ECCD services. UNICEF is

working to help government develop strong programs catering

to these groups of children and their parents by building on

existing programs such as home-based ECCD and parent

education programs.

How does UNICEF help?

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“Once or twice a week one of Liza and Rico’s oldest daughters will be here with the baby,” says Jariel. “Other times, when the family doesn’t have any food, all of them are here.”

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The State of the Art Review of Day Care Service in the Philippines 2010 notes that among the top three

critical areas for improvement are the need for more learning materials, improvement of structure and

facilities, and training on managing children’s behavior. UNICEF proactively advocates to national and

local government officials to fulfill their mandate and build day care centers and kindergartens. In

exceptional cases, such as conflict- and disaster-affected or very poor communities where the financial

situation is desperate and critical, UNICEF helps build centers and pre-schools, equips them with child-

friendly water and sanitation facilities and furniture and ensures they have adequate teaching-learning

materials, manipulative toys, musical instruments, emergency kits, eating and drinking utensils,

toothbrushes, soap and water containers for promoting hygiene. Materials and supplies are selected with

a view towards developing skills for thinking, speaking, feeling and interacting with others. They include

puzzles and games, blocks, dolls, boxes to stack and sort, storybooks, art supplies and musical instruments.

How does UNICEF help?

08:20 ...play with blocks and dolls...07:56 We make music...

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08:49 ...and color.

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“The children come because it is fun, because their parents want them to get a good start in their education and because of the government feeding programme,” says Jariel.

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09:40 We say a prayer then we get to eat.

Getting children into school and ensuring they stay there requires addressing all of the potential barriers to a child’s

education. All UNICEF-supported ECCD programmes take an integrated approach—ensuring that children’s health,

nutrition and psycho-social wellbeing are taken care of. This is particularly important in vulnerable communities

like Tribal Village, where the nearest clinic is four km away and the single doctor there serves 47,000 people. By

teaching parents about hygiene, nutrition and how to recognize and prevent common illnesses, ECCD workers help

to educate parents. At certain points in the year ECCD programmes bring in Barangay (village) health and nutrition

workers to weigh the children, give them vitamin A and to demonstrate the preparation of healthy food. A dentist

visits each ECCD programme once a year to examine the children’s teeth and give parents information on cleaning

their children’s teeth. In addition, Barangay leaders are trained to protect children and to report cases of child abuse

and exploitation. In cases when children are not registered at birth, ECCD workers facilitate and help out in the late

registration of children to ensure that they obtain birth certificates prior to entering primary school.

How does UNICEF help?

I am supposed to teach enriched parentseffectiveness seminars every month, but I don’tbecause it is hard to get the parents to participate.I had some training on this, but I think I needmore. Recently I had to do something for nationalnutrition month. So many of the children arecoming to school these days with runny noses, so Icalled a meeting with parents to discuss goodnutrition. I don’t feel very confident teachingthem. Almost all of then are older than me—andthey are also my relatives.

—Jariel Casingyan, ECCD Worker

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“We don’t have any books in our language,” says Jariel. “All of the books are in Filipino and English. I translate them to the children as I read.”

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How does UNICEF help?

We feel good about sending Ber Gei to daycare. She plays and readsand learns about letters and numbers. She gets to learn andexperience much more than she would if she just stayed home. It ispreparing her to go to school.We Lumads are not very educated. I dream that one day all of my

children will finish their schooling and improve their lives. That isone reason we really work hard: so they can finish their education.With an education, you have the chance to achieve your dreams.

—Rico Andacao, Ber Gei’s father

10:53 It’s story time.

Young children learn best in the same

language they use at home. UNICEF is

working to enhance learning

effectiveness in the early grades through

the use of the mother tongue as the

language of learning. UNICEF-supported

Training programmes emphasize

teaching-learning practices to promote

it and in some areas, UNICEF supports

the development of mother-tongue

based learning materials.

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11:38 More singing and dancing...

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11:39 ...how does this one go again?

Today, as a result of advocacy by UNICEF and its partners, early childhood education is

part of the Philippines’ national education plan. The government has mandated universal

and mandatory kindergarten for five year olds by 2015 and is working to increase access

to early childhood education for three and four year olds to 70 per cent by 2016. Some

schools, including the elementary school Ber Gei’s sisters attend, already require students

to have pre-school experience before entering grade one. It is hoped that, as a result,

more children will go on to complete the full course of primary schooling.

How does UNICEF help?

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“We don’t eat rice very often,” says Liza. “This is a real treat. Most of the time we eat root crops—-with or without frogs.”

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13:14 I like to feed my brother.

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14:08 It’s hot. I’m having another bath.

I teach the children arts and crafts, games and storytelling. I alsoteach them how to dress themselves, brush their teeth, wash theirhands and use the comfort room (toilet). Not so long ago the ‘comfortroom’ was everywhere. In 2010 the village got two actual comfortrooms. Now family practices are changing. The young children are stillnot good at using them, but I’m working on it. Cleanliness and good grooming are two other practices the ECCD has

influenced. Parents used to leave their children without any clotheson or in dirty clothes. Now they make sure their children have a bathand change their clothes every day.

—Jariel Casingyan, ECCD Worker

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15:32 Mother and I sing songs.

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Rico only got to finish grade 6. I finished two years of high school. Iwas working as a maid and going to school when my father made mestop and get married. Neither of us wanted to get married, but therewas a quarrel and my father prevailed. Over the years we have come to love each other. And because of our

experience, if there is one thing we agree on, it is education. Wedream that all of our children will become teachers. And sendingthem to the daycare centre is part of that dream—no, the key to thatdream—the starting point, so that when they reach formal educationit is easy for them to learn and eventually to go on to attend highereducation.

—Liza Andacao, Ber Gei’s mother

Schools for the Philippines Ber Gei’s story 31

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16:48 When the other children get home from school they play games.

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16:51 I want to play too.

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16:53 My sisters take me with them.

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16:55 Somebody pushed me.

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17:08 The Tribal Leader plays music...

17:10 ...and my mother joins him.

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“We haven’t yet brought tribal instruments like the kuglong into the ECCD centre” says Tribal Leader Hipolito Casingyan, “but it seems like a good idea. Why not try it?”

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17:20 My father is home.

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17:47 He cooks dinner.

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The day to day situation for people here has improved a lot due tothe presence of education in our area—including this day care centre.We have learned how to take better care of our children and now theyare prepared to go to school. But education is also important for the long term. The Matigsalog

who get an education will transfer what they learn to the youngergenerations and in time this will help all of us to improve our livingconditions. Maybe in the future many of us will be educated and wewill do high paid jobs where we just sit there all day reading andwriting.

—Hipolito Casingyan, Tribal Leader

17:55 We eat...

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18:14 ...and then sing songs.

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All children deserve the opportunity to enterelementary school on time and ready to learn.

UNICEF is working with the government, local education authorities and NGOs to provide young children throughout the Philippines withquality pre-school programmes that give them

a good start in life.

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To fund all of its work UNICEF relies entirely on voluntary donations from individuals,

governments, institutions and corporations. We receive no money from the UN budget.

UNICEF’s goal is to make a difference for all children, everywhere, all the time.

ABOUT UNICEF

All children have rights that guarantee them what they need to survive,grow, participate and fulfill their potential. Yet every day these rights aredenied. Millions of children die from preventable diseases. Millions moredon’t go to school, or don’t have food, shelter and clean water. Childrensuffer from violence, abuse and discrimination. This is wrong. UNICEF works globally to transform children’s lives by protecting and

promoting their rights. Their fight for child survival and development takesplace every day in remote villages and in bustling cities, in peaceful areasand in regions destroyed by war, in places reachable by train or car and interrain passable only by camel or donkey. Their achievements are won school by school, child by child, vaccine by

vaccine, mosquito net by mosquito net. It is a struggle in which success ismeasured by what doesn't happen—by what is prevented.UNICEF will continue this fight—to make the difference for all children,

everywhere, all the time.

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UNICEF Philippines

31st Floor

Yuchengco Tower, RCBC Plaza

6819 Ayala Avenue

1200 Makati City

PHILIPPINES

Tel : + (632) 901-0166

Fax: + (632) 729-4524

www.unicef.org/philippines

Photography, writing and design: Kelley Lynch

Following the success of Schools for Africa, in January 2012

UNICEF launched the Schools for Asia initiative:

www.supportunicef.org/schoolsforasia