The community-centered schools and the adult education program

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The community-centered schools and the adult education program
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THE COMMUNITY -CENTERED SCHOOLS AND THE ADUlT EDUCATION PROGRAM Excerpts from the report of Superintendent Gregorio Lardizabal of Batangas Several division supeTintendents visited the following pTovinces du1·ing the pe1·iods Decembe1· 4-16, 19.50 and Janua1 ·y 4-20, 19.51: Cebu, Iloilo, Lanao, Cotabato, Bulacan, Pampanga, Batangas, Bataan, Pangasinan, and Cagayan. They had one puTpose in mind: To find out what the Cumnwnity-Centered Schools Have Done to Make Adult Education Effective? He1·eunde1· is a 1·esu1ne of what one of the superintendents has seen. CEBU 1. The Abellana High School of Cebu City has included in its curriculum painting, ceramics, and extension service. Both youth and adults are enrolled in these courses. Dressmaking and sewing are also given to adults. 2. The construction of toilets has been made a project. 3. Difficulty is being encountered in preventing some people from letting their animals go astray. 4. In Balamban district, reforestation has been started. First class wood trees are being planted in the denuded areas. 5. In Carcar, 15,000 pomelos were distributed for planting in the homes. 6. In Argao and Carcar, soil conservation is a project. The "kaingin" system practiced in these areas has made the hillsides barren. Some of the people have made a living from selling firewood; hence the cutting down of trees and the consequent barrenness of the soil. The people are being shown how to stop erosion of the soil by means of reforestation. 12 7. In Pinamungahan, fishponds have been built by the schools. The objective is to resuscitate the fish industry and to encourage fishpond owners to enlarge their ponds. 8. In L i 1 o an, approximately three hectares of fishponds belong to the school. 9. In Danao, the ceramics industry has been introduced in a limited scale (3 houses). Swine and poultry projects have been started. Danae's beautification plan has made the town attractive. Under the "each-one-teach-one" plan, Boy Scouts teach adults how to read. The Cartilla system is used. Many of the "students" are servants. Home economics is taught on Saturday evenings:· 10. In Talisay and Catmon, reading centers are located in the school compound. 11. The literacy campaign in Cebu is conducted through the adult education classes. ILOILO 1. Decisions about the work of community schools were arrived at through group discussion, and activity launched is made possible through the concerted effont of THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR 13 school officials, the people of the community, and social agencies. 2. In Santa Barbara, there is close coordination of effort between and among the principal of the elementary school, the district supervisor, and the principal of the high school. The activities undertaken are: providing programs for adult education, community recreation, community libraries, and a program for improving community health. The subject-matter taught in the schools is integrated with community living. There was considerable use of group discussion techniques, and it was evident that the students gathered plenty of resource materials from the community. The same techniques were used even in the .teaching of English composition. There is danger, however, that the imporbmre of drill lessons may be neglected. Santa Barbara is a clean community. The cleanliness of streeb and home and school premises i-.: a joy to see. 3. At Oton High School a "special farmer's class was seen. It was composed of barrio lieutenants, farmers, and other adults representing varied walks of life and coming from different parts of Oton." The discussions on various methods of improving farming in the locality were conducted in the dialect. 4. As in Santa Barbara, the integration of school work with improvement in community living is effected through the use of surveys, personal interviews, field trips, documentary materials, resource visitors, visual aid and work experiences. 5. The outstanding work in Oton is the experiment being conducted in the use of the vernacular. "The Superintendent of Iloilo claims that the use of the vernacular makes learning more effective. Pupils who begin in the vernacular and continue for two years and then study English in the third grade learn as fast as those who are taught in English for two years, inspite of the twoyear handicap, according to the Superintendent. The evaluation made by the Division of Measurement and Research of the Bureau of Public Schools bea.rs out the claim of the Superintendent." 6. The achievement of the "little teachers" (the pupils) in helping teach the adults is worthy of mention. The "little teachers" are first taught the Hiligaynon. The reports show that in two months out of 139 adults taught, 39 read a few words, 63 read slowly, and 26 read well. In writing, this is the report: In two months, out of 103 adults taught, 61 can write their names, 14 can write another person's name, and 11 can write sentences. 7. "The yards of the homes were properly cleaned, garbage was well disposed of by having trash cans on the streets, homes were beautified, and the attitude of the people toward the community-centered schools was gratifying." 8. "The experimental school, the use of the Hiligaynon as · • a medium of instruction in the first two grades, and the communlt;y assemblies have done much in awakening consciousness among the people and the teachers to their responsibility to lead in making the community schools im14 THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR prove the living conditions in the rural areas." PANGASINAN 1. Talospotan barrio in Malasiqui is far advanced in cleanliness and home surroundings. Blind drainage was noted in a numher of houses visited. 2. San Julian also exemplifies clean surroundings. 3. Reading centers were seen in the following localities: Embarcadero, Bued, Caloocan, Talospotan, and in olsian, Bayambang. 4. While efforts are being exerted to introduce industries, it was only ait the Calasiao High School where hat making is being revived. An expert outsider has been employed to teach teachers how to make Calasiao hats. 5. In the home of Assistant Superintendent Estanislao Lopez of the Manila City schools, the people went out en masse to hear from the radio the news of the day in the reading centers located in the premises of the school. In the reading center, the people congregate after the day's work to chat and talk about the news of the day, to hear information from resource visitors, and read newspapers and magazines. 6. The streets and home surroundings are clean, the fences are well lined, and home gardening is carried on even o~ sandr soil. The people graft nch s01l into the garden after much of the sand is dug away. Plants bloom vigorously. BULACAN 1. Chickens, chickens, chickens in Bulacan! In many places there are backyard poultry projects. 2. In Meycawayan, there are the beginnings of a shrimp culture. 3. In San Ildefonso, a piggery project is an accessory to a rice mill. Duck projects are maintained side by side with the pig projects. Water from the duck projects run into canals leading to the homes of the swine. 4. In Santa Barbara there are poultry and "silver king pigeon" projects. . 5. In the Santa Barbara elementary school the buntal industry bids fair to influence the life of the community. Expert teachers (presumably outsiders) are engaged to teach the pupils. 6. Bintog school, Plaridel, is teing converted into a stock farm of two hectares. 7. Tambobong has a reading center. So has Maguinaw, Maasin barrio (San Ildefonso), San Marcos earrio (Calumpit). The reading center in the latter is used for holding community assemblies. 8. Adult education in the Baliwag High School is going on in the form of a night class for adults in the National Language. 9. At San Miguel High School, home-room organizations and the student government are utilized to aid in the campaign against illiteracy and to hold community assemblies. Barrio communities are organized to help in the campaign. 10. A meeting held at the Baliwag elementary school and attended by school, PTA members, officials of zone organizations and officials of the municipality indicated the interest of the people in the education of their children and THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR 15 especially on how their children should get the most of their schooling so that they can earn their living as well as improve tbe life of the community. PAMPANGA 1. Pampanga may be rated as having the most extensive and perhaps the most productive amongthe economic project centers visited, the following towns being the most notable ones in vegetable gardening: Sta. Ana, Angeles, Magalang, Mabalacat, Porac, Sta. Rita, and Guagua. Some school gardens have been harvested four times during the year. 2. Handicrafts are also being extensively undertaken, particularly in Magalan)r. Mabalacat, Sta. Rita, and Bacolod. In some schools they have equipment for woodturning. In Mabalacat, Porac, and Sta. Rita, pupils are learning to do barbering. 3. In the Pampanga Trade School, sewing is a part of the curriculum. 4. In San Fernando, a teacher has invested Pl2,000 for a poultry, which is being run on a commercial scale. In Sta. Ana, San Antonio, Mexico, Porac, Floridablanca, and Carmen, there are piggery, duck raising, and poultry projects. 5. Cleanlin·ess is notable in Barrio Sto. Rosario, Mexico, and Angeles. San Fernando has also shown improvement in cleanliness. 6. Reading centers are found in Sto. Rosario and Porac. 7. Provincial and municipal officials are participating actively in the community improvement projects, through the issuance of circulars, sale of seeds at nominal cost, and appeal to the people for the construction of sanitary toilets. 8. An example of civic-mindedness is the act of Dr. Luis Dizon of Magalang, Pampanga, who donated a portion of his property for the construction of the municipal presidencia. BATAAN 1. The communities are organized into puroks, based on the theory that activities and ideas on community improvement should originate from the people. "Community-improvement," says Superinintendent Laya, "can never start from a fiat, though presidential, not from the oratory of persuasion brought to the barrios by city slickers." The puroks grew out of a felt need to get together and solve common problems. The numerous signboards displayed on strategic places indicate to what extent Bataan has been organized through the puroks. 2. There are reading centers in every purok, especially in Sarna!, Orion, Orani, Balanga, and Limay. In these reading centers, the people congregate to hear and discuss the news conveyed by newspapers and the radio. There, too, th1~ adult illiterates are taught how to read and write by other members of the purok. 3. At Calero, Orani, the site of the recreation center is a reclaimed mudflat. The playground and the grandstand have been built by the community. At Carbonero, people hear news and music from the radio. The puroks even improve and construct streets which are muddy, crooked or badly planned. 4. Sarna! is doing vocational activities on a large scale. In three 16 THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR barrios surveyed, it was found out ithat 77 % of the women are engaged in embroidery work. The home economics teachers are teaching the women how to do embroidery work. 5. At one place, poultry projects have doubled from nine to eighteen. 6. The magazine of the community schools, Ang Bataan, pub)icizes the accomplishments of the various puroks. 7. Barrio Burgos is starting a community garden. 8. Everywhere there is noticeable improvement in general health and sanitation, construction of community toilets, public playgrounds and reading centers. 9. Through the "each-one-teachone" method the number of illiterates has been greatly decreased. 10. Vocational work has improved to such an extent t bat some of the projects started are now making profits. 11. "The people are now taking the initiative of discovering for themselves their own problems and finding means of solving them with only moral help from the teacher."-Report of the district supervisor of Orani, Ang Bataan, Jan. 15, 1951. CAGAYAN 1. The organization of the adult education program in Cagayan is almost the same as that in Bataan. The unit organization is the zone, corresponding to the purok in Bataan. The signboards indicating the names of the zones are likewise prominently displayed along the streets. The zones seem to have distinctness and individuality, each zone trying to outdo the other zones in community improvement. 2. The program of the Cagayan high school to help elevate the economic life of the people, specially those in the rural areas, places among the best in the country. The school, with the ter:.hnical assistance of the Bureau of Animal Industry, is doing exceptionally good work in improving the breed of "swin . High-grade swine is now tound in many parts of Cagayan, as a result of the work of the high school. Its work in connection with the immlifiization of swine is also noteworthy. 3. The high school also helps owners of poultry projects to have eggs incubate in the high school poultry arm, which is conducted in a highly efficient manner. There is cleanliness all around, and sbtdents have organized themselves into teams for the purpose of insuring the cleanliness of the premises. 4. Food production is also carried on very extensively in the high school agricultural projects. The school has a small trac for plowing. The school site IS large, and plenty of poultry and s'wine feed is being produced. The tractor is also loaned to neighboring farmers. 5. Experiments in the production of crops are being conducted. One result of these experiments is the finding that mongo can be planted in seasons quite different from that usually observed by farmers, as a result of which more abundant crop is produced. 6. The high school nursery is used not only for experimental purposes but also for the dissemTHE PHILIPPINE EDlJCATOR 17 ination of seedlings among the people. The seedlings are distributed free in order to make the people production conscious. The school nursery also furnishes flowering plants to the people for the purpose of beautifying their homes. 7. Almost every hQme in Tuguegarao has a vegetable garden. 8. In every phase of the community-improvement program, there seems to be a good coordination between the private schools and the public schools. 9. "In Tuguegarao, there are no spots, streets, or yards that are not clean and sanitary. At the Caritan zone, where houses are very close together, it is surprising to see that cleanliness is maintained. The spirit of the people in this zone is quite different from that obtaining in identical slum districts elsewhere. The people seem conscious and willing to render service to one another. 10. '~ri e is the cleanest spot visited m uguegarao." Beautification of premises is also notable. The municipal nursery is not only productive but also a model of beautified surroundings. 11. The s ops in the Cagayan Trade School are truly community service shops because they are open to outsiders who may wish to work in them. Adults are taught trades on Satur(iays in the TfaaeS'"clwol. A reading center and a community clinic were established through the initiative of the Trade School. The Trade School also conducted campaigns for the cleaning of premises in the neigborhood. 12. Literacy campaigns are also a part of the Cagayan communityimprovement program. There has been a steady enrollment in the adult education classes. Intermediate school pupils are being used to teach adult illiterates. The work is being done to a large extent with the parents of the pupils. Ibanag verses and the code of eThics written in Ibanag are being taught to adults. Reading centers were seen in Tuguegarao and at the Iguig Central School. 13. Some industries are being revived or given impetus to by the schools: one example is cotton 7 cloth weaving, especially at Guising, Gattaran, and Sanchez Mira. The home economics supervisor is in charge of promoting this project. Along with cotton-cloth weaving the schools are helping develop and promote the growing ? of cotton. The division o ce condude experiments on the growing of cotton, and it was found that it is a suitable crop in several areas of the province. The first crop of cotton at Imurang, Baggao, was turned into yarn and used by the people in making cloth and nets. 14. Tinapa-ma!fing is also an industry bemg developed and promoted through the schools, especially in such fishing towns as Aparri and Sta. Ana. The agent of the Bureau of Fisheries helped a great deal in developing this project. 15. The district supervisor of Baguey initiated the project to have the schools introduce and develop oyster culture. 16. Claveria is now supplying Prisco with brooms. The schools played an im)mrtant role in developing the broom industry. THE PHILIPPINE ED GATOR J 7. Silkworm culture has been r~vi ~d 1TIPamplona because of schrJrJl initiative. 1 . E broidery is another home industry that is being developed by the schools. The Division Office acquires materials from the Prisco and markets them through the same government agency. The Division Office also provides the designs and tells the women which articles are salable. The industry has taken many people from the pastime of playing mah-jong. 19. Peanu~ndy making is another industry that is being developed. The products are consumed locally. 20. The church has played a prominent role in developing the revival to improve community living through its interest in helping promote the spiritual life of the people. BATANGAS 1. The beginning of the reawakened interest in community improvement started in 1946, when the governor at that time, Don Modesto Castillo, conducted inspection tours of the province, and with him were the heads of the various local offices of the provincial and national governments. Each head of office helped the governor indicate to the people of the province the problems and needs of the government and how the people can help solve those problems and needs. These community assemblies stressed the urgent need to have the people cooperate in the assuming of responsibilities incident to the granting of Philippine independence. 2. The community-improvement program started in 1946 waned gradually. But in 1950-51, a reviYal of interest urged through the initiative of the school , and through repeated ugge tion in the community a emblie , the people began to how a decidedl~­ new spirit in helping promote the program. The result o far may be stated in the follo"ing pa.ragraphs. 3. anitary condition in En-er~· municipality have considerably improved, tortet haYe been constructed in the poblacione and barrios; model hou e haYe been selected by community committee· from among tho e which haYe clean surroundings, well-taken care of garden and orchard, and poultry and swine project ; food production has been inten ified; more fruit trees have been planted (30,000 budded orange eedJing planted since 1949) ; poultry projects of the batter y type have considerably increased ; swine rai ing has been popularized (no more stray pigs on the street ) ; the raising of race horses has been intensified; goat-raising has been revived through the lectures given by teachers; the sinamay indu - try has been revived (abaca mo - quito nets are peddled all O\'er Luzon by people from Batanga") ; the schools have revived the embroidery industry by having the school centers distribute embroidery materials ; the making of balisong knives has been improYed by division of labor (each worker specializing in making one part of the knife) ; the basket and sawali industry likewise has been improved through the use of the same process; the lime or apog industry has been given a new impetus; producing ground coffee has been intensified through the use of mechanized equipment~ "Bagoong Balayan" is more popuTHE PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR 19 lar than ever; and panocha (sweetened-peanut) is very popular in Taal and Calaca. 4. In the field of literacy, adult education is offered through organized classes. While the results so far are not any too promising, a headway has been made, as a goodly number of adults have been graduated. 5. Reading centers are established in Rosario, San Carlos; Bolo, Bauan; Ibaan; asugbu; and Fundamental Erlncation . (Continued from page 11) they have first to undergo the discipline of learning a foreign language. In the meantime, our teachers, by undertaking the arduous but immenselv rewarfling- task of organizing the people into s~tf-help­ ing little democracies and enabling them to achieve self-education, have become probably the most significant and influential group of people molding our national life today. Through fundamental education, through the newly-formed community achools, they have become something more than classroom teachers; they have become real community teachers. Indeed, the people of the Philippines have of late years learned to trust the unselfish leadership of our teachers. Observers form other countries hav\3 ~ately become conscious of the importance and the magnitude of the fundamental education movement in the Philippines. In it they see a positive demonstration of the practical working of democracy in the life of an entire Tanawan. These centers have been organized through the combined efforts of the school authorities and district associations. 6. Musical aptitudes are being developed through the staging of musical programs through school and community effort. Folk dances are also being popularized. 7. Teachers have helped intensify the collection of taxes by appealing to the people to pay their taxes. people. A great volume of material is being written and widely distributed to explain the democratic way of life to peoples all over the world, with the end in view nf f'ontainin~ if not combating ideologies inconsistent with democracy, but we feel that much of this material is wasted because it talks against other ideologies but does not show a pbsitive program for underdeveloped areas. Much of it may reach the understanding of the educated classes in such areas but does not touch their symphaties. We have learned that to reach our own masses and convince them of the value of democracy, we do not teach them merely with our published handbook titled Teaching the Ways of Democracy but demonstrate to them how democracy works in their daily lives. Only through such pr~ctical demonstrations can we really show them how democracy can be practical and a happy way of life. Geneva, Switzerland, July 14, 1951.