BEAM Newsletter

A hope and a future: A B’laan kid finds a bridge to his dreams

Confidently standing in front of the audience, dressed in the traditional B’laan vest and head wear, 10-year old Bryan Pande, speaking in Bisaya, expressed his gratitude to be a recipient of the Distance Learning Program (DLP) of the Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao (BEAM) Project and DepEd Davao del Sur.

“Dako ang akong pasalamat sa gobyerno sa Australia sa ilang paghatag sa amo mga lumad nga maka-eskwela pinaaga sa DLP. Salamat pud sa among mga maestra sa DLP nga muadto gihapon sa amoa bisan kusog ang ulan (I am very grateful to the Australian Government for giving us Lumads the opportunity to be educated through DLP. Thank you also to our teachers who still go to our place even if it is raining hard).” Bryan was chosen to address the participants during the BEAM Access Forum on Effective Approaches and Practices held at Garden Oases on April 3-4, 2008.

DepEd Davao del Sur Division initiated DLP to provide opportunity for children in remote and isolated places to obtain formal elementary and secondary education outside the school premises through self-paced learning modules. DLP learners, like Bryan, are those who are in the intermediate elementary grades but are unable to enroll or have dropped out because of poverty, distance of their homes from the schools, difficult road conditions, and danger of travelling (some have to cross rivers just to go to school) or had to work to augment the family income. The program begins in Grade 3 where learners can read the modules by themselves and can follow simple instructions in the absence of teachers. They are treated as enrolled in the regular grade level in the mother school or the school nearest their barangay.

Currently enrolled in Grade 4 and an honor student, Bryan and 13 of his classmates used to walk the slippery rice paddies of Little Baguio, Malita, Davao del Sur for four hours just to go to school. The place is called Little Baguio because it regularly rains and the weather is chilly, similar to that in Baguio City, Luzon. It is only accessible by riding in a habal-habal (local term for motorcycle). “Sa una wala pa ang DLP, maglisod gyud ko. Magsugod ko lakaw paadto sa eskwelahan nga wala pa nakamata ang mga silingan para dili ko ma-late. Ang akong mga classmates usahay wala pa pamahaw. Dako gyud nga tabang ang DLP para sa amo mga lumas kay makapadayon mi sa among edukasyon maski dili nagaadto sa eskwelahan. (It was hard before we had DLP classes. I start walking before our neighbors are awake just to get to class on time. Some of my friends go to school without eating breakfast. DLP is a big help to us Lumad children because we continue learning even if we do not go to formal school)” Bryan recounts.

Now, instead of going to the nearest school which is four hours away, Bryan and his classmates are given modules, developed by BEAM and DepEd, to study .“Dali ra namo masabtan ang modules kay naay mga picture ug colorful para sa mga bata (We can easily understand the modules because of the pictures and colorful illustrations for children),” he enthused. A Distance Learning Teacher (DLT) visits them every Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for follow-up, to check on the students’ progress and to manage the DLP in the covered areas. When asked what he dreams of becoming in the future, Bryan answered without delay, “Gusto ko mag-maestro para ang uban nga mga bata makaeskwela maski pa layo ilang balay (I want to be a teacher so other children like me can have education even if they live far away from schools).”

Aside from helping his parents get water from the river and gather firewood, he has time now to play with his friends. This was not possible for him before since he has to walk long hours to and from the school and do house chores when he got home. Bryan’s childhood was given back to him.

Salvacion J. delos Santos, Alternative Learning System (ALS) coordinator of Malita, South District shares that before DLP reached Little Baguio, the girls got married at an early age. “As soon as they start menstruating, they are considered ready to become wives and mothers. But when they saw that there is still an opportunity for them to continue their education, they tell their parents they do not want to get married early,” she recounts. The spirit of Bayanihan was also observed because of DLP as the parents became involved in constructing the community learning center. One parent explained that he felt the need to help because it was for his children’s future. To him, it is a little thing to cut lumber and carry construction materials compared to the gift of knowledge the center will bring to the community. “Our children are safer; they can study and learn fast because they are not tired from walking for hours.”

 Incidentally, one of DLP service provider, Cor Jesu College’s Institute for Community Services and Development was selected as a finalist for the Project Grant Competition for the World Bank-funded Panibagong Paraan 2008. BEAM and DepEd’s Distance Learning Program has developed close to 1,000 learning modules for Grades 3, 4 and 5 is now expanded to other divisions in Region XI.

 BEAM Project and DepEd Davao del Sur’s partnership in implementing the Distance Learning Program is a concrete measure to address the challenge to provide all children the access to basic education. With the support and commitment of the parents and community leaders, DLP is a model of success for education interventions. Not only does it provide education to Lumad children from far-flung areas, the program also provides a fertile ground where children, like Bryan, are free to dream of a better future.Â