The city government here expects the implementation of the “Barangay Pagbasa” ordinance to sustain and further boost Baguio’s high literacy rate.
“This is one of the initiatives we have undertaken to ensure that students who need help will be assisted and none of them will be left behind,” councilor Vladimir Cayabas, author of the ordinance that was passed on final reading and signed by Mayor Benjamin Magalong on June 17, said.
The ordinance is up for posting and publication, which will determine its date of effectivity.
The program was first started by the Department of Education (DepEd) during the pandemic as a support program. It involves the conduct of free reading lessons to children in certain areas in the villages.
Cayabas and Association of Barangay Council (ABC) federation president, councilor Rocky Aliping, co-authored the ordinance to continue the gains of what has been started.
“This initiative promotes parent involvement in the ongoing education of their children. We do believe the barangay with the volunteers can also be involved in teaching the young people so that it is not just the school, the parents especially if they are incapable, in terms of skills or time people who would like to be part of the learning process of the members of the community,” Cayabas said.
He said the ordinance will strengthen the city government’s commitment to supporting the national government’s education agenda, citing that investing in the youth yields the best and highest interest.
The ordinance was authored to institutionalize the program, which will enable barangays to take a more active role in improving literacy among their constituents.
Based on the latest education survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Baguio bagged the second highest rank nationwide in terms of functional literacy with a rate of 89.8 percent, higher than the national average of 70.8 percent.
The functional literacy rate is highest among those in the college level at 91.2 percent followed by post-tertiary and non-tertiary at 88.3 percent, and the lowest among those with no grade completed and the early childhood education at 17.5 percent.
The ordinance said the Barangay Pabasa program intends to serve as a complementary tool to promote the fun of reading while addressing reading deficiencies among the youth within the city’s barangays.
It is a support learning system to complement the already existing reading programs of the DepEd by extending and expanding to all barangays in the city.
It will be a barangay initiative reading program in collaboration with the Education department, the local government unit and other education stakeholders.
The ordinance mandated the creation of the Barangay Pabasa Advisory Committee at the city level, tasked to ensure the proper implementation of the primary purpose of this initiative.
The ordinance mandated the creation of a working and advocacy body to be known as the Barangay Pabasa Advocacy Team, which will be tasked to promote and implement the primary purpose of the program.
The target clients are children and youth aged six to 21 who are either non-readers or frustrated-level readers, particularly those not adequately served by formal school-based education.
The program will run for 15 days, ideally during school breaks, with sessions lasting half a day or totaling at least 60 reading hours.
Cayabas said that based on the ordinance, the Barangay Council for the Protection of Children (BCPC) budget will be sourced, in addition to the PHP500,000 annual appropriation, from the city’s Special Education Fund or from the city government’s general fund under the education department.
The ordinance is grounded on the global and national call to improve access to quality education as articulated in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG), particularly the goal of Education For All (EFA). (PNA)
