𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗. 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗡. 𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗧𝗘.
𝙀𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙈𝙖𝙮𝙤𝙧 𝙎𝙖𝙧𝙖
Davao City Mayor Sara Z. Duterte has come a long way in helping the basic education. As the Chair of the Special Education Fund (SEF), she has solid experiences when it comes to improving the education system.
In the Local School Board, she knew the needs and problems in the ground and she led the planning and implementation of programs that would best improve the education sector.
As the chief executive officer who looks into the general welfare of the city, Mayor Sara has put premium in education. The SEF of Davao City which she monitors focuses on school supervision, public education, sports development, and manpower development.
Aside from the regular programs in the elementary and secondary, it also includes Sunday High School education, Madrasah comprehensive development and promotion program, implementation of Kindergarten catch-up program, among others.
As the presumptive Vice President and the incoming Education Secretary, Mayor Sara is best fit to lead the basic education sector. She has greatly influenced the high participation rate since 2016. In fact, in school year (SY) 2018-2019, the elementary level has 100.02 percent.
The participation rate in all grade levels has dropped though starting the pandemic for obvious reasons.
Participation rate is the ratio between the enrolment in the school-age range to the total population of that age range.
The school leaver rate and the dropout rate also show a decreasing trend in Davao City. These are learners who do not finish a particular grade level as well as those who finish but fail to enrol in the next grade level the following school year.
In elementary, for example, the 0.98% dropout rate in SY 2016-2017 was reduced to 0.54% in SY 2020-2021. The secondary level has a bigger dropout rate of 3.98% reduced to 1.12%.
𝐎𝐧 𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 (𝐀𝐋𝐒)
The ALS is a parallel learning system that provides opportunities for out-of-school youth (OSY) and adult (OSYA) learners to develop basic and functional literacy skills, and to access equivalent pathways to complete basic education.
Mayor Sara’s support to the ALS Program in 2010 to 2013 in her stint as Davao City Mayor was overwhelming. More than 21 million from the SEF was allocated to the Basic Literacy Program (BLP), Accreditation and Equivalency (A&E) Program, and Informal Education. A small portion of this was allotted to trainings and supplies and learning materials.
It gathered 33,961 enrollees in the BLP and A&E Program ensuring no children is left behind and more adults are given the basic literacy skills. Out of this number, 10,147 enrollees were recorded as completers and 8,483 were passers.
In 2016 to 2022, more than 108 million was allotted by the Office of the City Mayor giving educational opportunities to 70,976 enrollees. About 14,304 have already completed and more than 17 thousand have passed. But the Informal Education was temporarily suspended upon the onset of the Covid-19 virus because face-to-face classes were not allowed for skills training.
More than 74 percent from SEF were allotted to infrastructure, trainings, and supplies and materials. Through her, the state-of-the-art ALS building was built.
𝐎𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬
Mayor Sara has also looked into the needs of school buildings and classrooms and hand washing facilities. She has paved way to a total of 412 projects since 2018 through SEF.
About 226 were already completed, 78 ongoing constructions, 88 have documents on process, 10 for inspection, and the other 10 projects were suspended.
𝐎𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠
Davao City, in her leadership and with sports development as part of Mayor Sara’s priorities, hosted the 2019 Palarong Pambansa and was rated with 10/10 performance. It was dubbed as the best Palarong Pambansa hosting.
Prior to the Palarong Pambansa, Davao City also hosted superbly the 2018 and 2019 DaVRAA (Davao Regional Athletic Association).
Davao City has supported sports activities recognizing its importance to one’s physical being. Mayor Sara recognizes that sports activities help in the mental growth and reasoning of the young.
𝐎𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲
The establishment of a local city college is her brainchild, and she has also caused the establishment of the University of Southeastern Philippines Malabog Campus to offer an agricultural school in the area.
The City College of Davao, with a vision to become the leading local college in the country, aims to produce graduates from the poverty lines. This provides a clear pathway for a college degree for the senior high school graduate, giving them opportunity to pursue higher education.
The publication of modules, Child Protection modules, and Kean Gabriel hotline, where it receives complaints, have become useful and beneficial and were used as models in other divisions and regions.
As part of the campaign to prevent and control drug abuse in the city, Mayor Sara strengthened the Davao City Anti-Drug Abuse Council (CADAC) and initiated the enhancement of the School
Curricula (RA 9165 Article IV, Section 43) through developing drug education instructional materials and integrating it in the elementary, secondary, and tertiary curricula of all public and private schools in Davao City.
She has also initiated and encouraged the DepEd Davao City team to produce modules for Grades 4 to 12 and extended financial support to supplementary materials such as Public Safety Modules among others.
The teachers of Davao City can attest on her support. One evident support was providing free buses for teachers in the far-flung areas especially in Malabog District. She also provided duplicating machines especially for the use of printing the modules.
There are too many achievements and support to mention under her term as the mayor. Now, as the incoming Education Secretary, more support, initiative, and transformation lie ahead.
By Maria Gemima C. Valderrama
Digital portrait by Justin Brylle C. Villarias
source: DepEd Region XI
