BEAM Newsletter

AusAID Development Counsellor inaugurates IP Center

“This IP Center is more than a building. It represents a collective effort to build a better future for the Sama boys and girls. I hope that they will excel academically and be proud of their heritage,” these were the encouraging words of Peter Jensen, the new Counsellor for Development Cooperation of the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) Manila, during the inauguration of the Indigenous Peoples Center at Tagpopongan Elementary School, IGaCOS on February 11, 2008.

Roughly 21.5 kilometers from the Poblacion, accessible through unpaved roads, Tagpopongan Elementary School is one of the public schools with predominant IP student population trialing the indigenous peoples curriculum spearheaded by the Philippines - Australia Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao.  In the early years, indigenous people coming from the Northern and Eastern coasts of the undivided Davao Province settled Samal Island. A large mixed population of Mansakas, Mandayas and Muslims composed the identification of the now so-called Sama Tribe. Long before the Christians migrated to this Island, the coastal areas were already populated by natives ruled by a “DATU”. These early settlers were tall, big and/ or of giant size “DINAGATAS”, but these natives, ancestors of the present samal natives became extincts for they were killed and poisoned by the early colonizers. Proof of this can easily be verified by the presence of human bones and remains found in the rocky shoreline caves of liquid Islets and the mainland Samal Island.

Through the BEAM-supported Institute for Indigenous Peoples Education (IIPE), the 20 IP Pilot schools in Region XI are provided resources to showcase the prominent culture of the community. Thus, school-based IP learning centers are established to serve as repository of indigenous knowledge, practices and artifacts in support of the implementation of the indigenous peoples curriculum.

Of the 20 pilot schools promoting the major IP tribes in Region XI, the Tagpopongan Elementary School is the lone pilot school epitomizing the Sama Culture. Majority of its 202 student population is of Sama origin.

According to Pastor Melchor Gonzaga, one of the local leaders and a full-blooded Isama “Usa kini ka dako nga oportunidad para sa amo mga Isama. Ang dugo sa pagka-Isama anaa apan ang among kultura naghinay-hinay na ug kawala (This is a great opportunity for our tribe. The blood of being an Sama is present but sadly, our culture is vanishing).”

Responding to the clamor for a culture-sensitive basic education for indigenous peoples, BEAM in partnership with DepEd developed the indigenized Basic Education Curriculum. This is the same curriculum used in mainstream elementary and secondary public schools but it also incorporates the traditions and cultures of the different tribes in Mindanao.

“IP children have shown poor retention rates over the years. The IP curriculum is set in a context that they can relate to, find meaning in and allows them to perpetuate their culture,” Australian Project Director Dr. Ian D’Arcy Walsh explained.

Present too during the inauguration were Deo Mwesigye, First Secretary for Development AusAID Manila, Peter Klar, Deputy APD and M&E Adviser, Ramon Bobier, DAPD and Community Development Adviser, local government officials of IGaCOS, school officials and members of the community. Tagpopongan Elementary School also received teaching and learning materials from the BEAM Project and were turned over to its principal Edna Lestojas by Mr. Jensen.