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Education Matters: Are we ready for K to 12 program?

Filipinos are generally literate. According to the United Nations Statistics Division, percentages of literacy rates in the Philippines are consistently high: 95.1 in 2000, 95.1 in 2003 and 94.8 in 2008 for 15 to 24 years of age, both males and females.

The World Bank reports conservative a figure at 86.4 percent functional literacy in 2008 covering ages 10 to 64.

According to the World Bank, basic literacy covers a person’s ability “to read and write and understand a simple message in any language or dialect” while functional literacy is described as one who “has a range of skills and competencies, cognitive, affective and behavioral which him/her to live and work as a human person, develop his/her potentials, make critical and informed decisions, and function effectively in society within the context of his/her environment and that of the wider community in order to improve the quality of his/her life and that of society.”

As a nation, Filipinos place great interest in basic education as shown by the high percentages in the enrolment ratio in primary schools: 90.3 in 2001, 91.5 in 2003 and 92.1 in 2008 which then correlates to the high level of literacy rates that includes numerical and comprehension skills, as defined by the National Statistics Office. But despite these figures along with the 7.3 percent GDP growth in 2010, the country’s poverty incidence rates remain high at 26.5 percent according to the National Statistical Coordination Board 2009 survey. In 2006, the poverty rate is at 26.4 percent.

In 2010, the unemployment rate was at 7.3 percent posting a slight difference from the 7.5 percent rate of the previous year. This translates to 2.9 million Filipinos that are unemployed with 6.8 million underemployed workers.

To make education matter, the Philippine government through the Education department recently formally launched the K to 12 program, adding kindergarten to the six-year elementary level and two-year senior high school to the 4-year tertiary level. The goal of the program is to improve the competencies of students for ready employment sans a college diploma. The additional senior years focus on students’ specialized training on fields ranging from science and technology, music and the arts, agriculture and fisheries, sports, business and entrepreneurship.

This year, the implementation of the universal kindergarten in public schools had begun. High school students will undergo the senior years in SY 2016-2017.

This program, however, is silent over the long standing realities and problems of the educational system. The quality of education continues to be plagued by serious problems such as ill-trained and underpaid teachers, understaffed faculty, cramped, makeshift classrooms and dilapidated facilities, erroneous textbooks and insufficient teaching aid materials.

In a privilege speech delivered by Kabataan Partylist representative, Raymond “Mong” Palatino revealed that the survival rate of the youth in schools as, “Of the 100 pupils that enter grade 1, only 66 will finish grade six, 58 will enroll in 1st year, 43 will finish high school, 33 will enter college, and only 21 will eventually graduate …..”

While recognizing that “added learning and training period in elementary and high school could be beneficial for our youth”, Palatino pointed out that the K to12 program is “problematic by the context within which it is set to be implemented and the direction it intends to take.”

On the budget allocation, Palatino projected that the added burden on the educational system will further shrink its already inadequate budget share. Last year’s P207 billion budget, an 18 percent more than the P175 billion in 2010, is still “insufficient in addressing the needs of basic education,” he added.

Palatino also shared findings in a study, entitled “Length of School Cycle and the ‘Quality’ of Education” by educators Abraham Felipe and Carolina Porio, that there is no correlation between the length of school cycle and the quality of education.

Far from being the solution, the K to 12 program is like throwing a monkey wrench to a system that badly needs an overhaul. The added years may perhaps add more variables to an already ailing education system. Let us just hope that the first batch of K-12 turn out to be able and mature individuals that could be readily absorbed by local industries as soon as they graduate. If not, the government only succeeded in delaying the inevitable.

Helminths among us

The country has three main endemic soil-transmitted helminths, the trichuris, ascaris, and hookworms. Helminth is a worm classified as a parasite.

Most infections are found in children and the number of worms that can infect a child vary. Moderate to heavy infections can result to poor absorption of nutrients, blood loss and poor utilization of iron. Helminths infection can lead to malnutrition and anemia, which in turn can lead to poor performance in school work, physical fitness and poor growth.

In a national study commissioned by the World Health Organization and performed by Dr. Lydia Leonardo of the Department of Parasitology showed that the prevalence of helminths vary widely for each worm.

According to the study, the most frequently encountered worm is trichuris. In 6 out of 39 provinces surveyed, more than half of the population has this worm. In 3 of these provinces, 7 to 8 out of 10 individuals would have trichuris. Children with trichuris, also known as the whip worm, suffer from poor performance in their verbal abilities. Three out of 10 children are infected by the whip worm.

In 3 out of 39 provinces, more than half of the population had ascaris or the roundworm. Five out of 10 children are infected by roundworms. Due to this particular infection, the children performed poorly in memory tests.

In 1 out of 39 provinces, hookworm was found in half of the population. Only one out of 10 children have been found with hookworm. This type of worm causes blood loss, anemia and eventually, stunting of physical of growth.

To protect your child from infection, imbibe in them the simple habit of hand washing seriously. Deworming treatment prevents transmission. Children should take deworming drugs twice yearly to be totally-free of helminths.

Other information courtesy of Dr. Juan Antonio Solon, Associate Professor, Dept. of Parasitology, College of Public Health, UP Manila

Pamper your Little Princess

Are you tired of hosting the usual birthday parties for your little daughter? Are you out of ideas where to bring your princess and friends? Or, are you simply wishing for a bonding time with your munchkin aside from your shopping dates?

Pampering and Bonding. This is the exactly the kind of treat we had when my daughter, niece and I stepped into the California Nails & Day Spa on that sunny Saturday. Just by the words on the invite we knew we were in for something new – a spa party for kids! Party host and owner Leslie Matta shares that, “The concept came to us courtesy of our experience with our clients. Mommies usually come in with their daughters tagging along. We wanted the little ones to feel welcome and join their mommies during pampering treatments. Now, we have treatments for the kids not only to fill in the time but also present an opportunity to bond with mommy as well.”

Counting those cute little fingers is more fun at California Nails’ Mini Manicure and Nail Art. Experienced and highly-trained attendants carefully clean kids’ fingernails with hypo-allergenic cleansers then buff them with wooden nail files. Nail cutting will only happen under the request of mommies. For those colorful nail art, the girls can choose from the many designs available which are sometimes simplified to fit those little nails.

Being the nanay that I am, I did not let the day go without inquiring about California Nails’ safety and cleanliness standards. “All our kits are kept sanitized and sterilized to prevent contamination and transmission. We strictly implement the safety procedures to keep the quality of our services intact,” clarifies Leslie.

We were also intrigued to find out what the Cupcake Pedicure from the kiddie spa packages really is. As the girls are getting their nails to dry with those cute little fans, the staff actually started handing out cupcakes before they went cleaning and trimming those tiny toenails. “The mini cakes keep the girls from fidgeting on their seats. Before the girls knew it, the pedicure is done with the cakes that kept them busy,” says Leslie.

As I began feeling envious from all the pampering the girls are enjoying, they were ushered in a separate room for a taste of the Milky Way Facial. Specifically developed for girls, the facial involves cleaning, moisturizing and nourishing procedures with only natural topical creams like (you guessed it!) milk. Feeling and looking refreshed, the girls got up with a slight sheen on their faces that fittingly complemented their big smiles.

“This is the fun alternative from the usual birthday party we host for our daughters. Starting from a small party of six girls, we have several packages of treatments they will surely like. The girls also get to bring home their very own kiddie nail kits,” shares Leslie. Girly group dates are welcome at any California Nails’ branches or you can especially arrange a kiddie spa party at a different venue.

Yes, gone are the days where girls have to contend with fake nails and doing their own manicures and pedicures. With California Nails, girls get to have fun simply by just being girls.

Blue Cow: A Comic Evolution

As a medium catering to the taste and standards of the masses, the comic book has evolved into an intellectual fodder for the upper class, offering more complex story lines in high quality print.

Along the way such changes have made the comic book an ideal collector’s item and even an artifact for mature readers.

While most publishing firms are shying away from costly production, independent artists are taking up the slack by producing and marketing their own works. The notable creators in this field are Arnold Arre (Mythology Class, Martial Law Babies), Carlo Vergara (Zsa Zsa Zaturrnah), Gerry Alanguilan (Elmer, Wasted), Manix Abrera (Kiko Machine, 12), Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldimoso (Trese).

In its desire to cut across conventional approaches to promotion and marketing, Blue Cow Co. Inc., a subsidiary of Pioneer Insurance, has joined the fray by tapping into the medium and shooting three birds with on stone: publishing, merchandising and insurance-saving scheme.

Its main arsenal is Private Iris, a glossy, full-color comic book for kids that is the brainchild of award-winning writer Jaime Bautista.

“Private Iris is not just a comic book,” says Jo-I Alvarez, Blue Cow’s assistant vice-president for marketing and sales. “The built-in saving tool in our comic book makes it the first and only comic book of its kind.”

This was the first time a comic book was linked to a financial product, presenting a totally new business model, according to Bautista. “We have shown that there is room for creativity in the business side of comics, and that creators should not only focus on the creative aspect of the product.”

Instead of focusing on competing with what was already out there, the company believed that the challenge was on introducing “this new proposition to the market,” said Alverez. “Considering the product, target market and possibilities offered by our distribution, we have decided to make the marketing approach highly interactive.”

Thus, Blue Cow, in cooperation with schools and bookstores, goes on tour to bring Private Iris directly to its consumers, with ten issues so far launched by visiting a combined 30 bookstore branches of Powerbooks, Fully-booked and National bookstore as well as over 80 schools in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, and recently in Bacolod and Cebu.

When the Blue Cow team visits a school or holds a launch in a bookstore, the members engage children and their parents in games and activities, like Dress Up Iris, that teaches kids how to manage and budget money. Kids are given a budget to buy the materials for Iris’ new costume. The best costume with the most savings wins. Apart from that, children get to join a book-reading session and animated clips are shown teaching money lessons in line with the detective-mystery theme of Private Iris.

The marketing team also interacts with readers through the Private Iris web site that feature games, tests and social networking.

The comic book also serves as a distribution package for Pioneer’s Sparx savings kit in the inside pages. Readers get to save 50 percent of Private Iris’ P200 retail price.

Children, with the help of parents, can enroll in the savings scheme by fax postal mail, or email, with the savings account and insurance coverage activated by a code on the Sparx card in the comic book. The account matures and is redeemable when the child reached 15 years old, including the average yield of 3 percent per year.

Visual artist Arnold Arre did the artwork for Private Iris until the sixth issue, after which the brothers Jim, Jay and Joy Jimenez, all accomplished artists and animators, took over the illustration works.

Bautista hatched the idea of a full comic book that gave kids financial lessons integrated in the storyline. Private Iris, the heroine, and her best friend, Danton, were developed for a wider readership within the comic book’s category. Iris could exude qualities even boys could easily relate to – action-oriented, analytical and logical. She even wore shirts and pants with hues of blue. In contrast, Danton is outspoken, emphatic and sensitive to other people’s feelings.

Private Iris as “a comic book with a deliberate and worthy purpose packaged in a non-threatening manner” has reached an estimated 60,000 readers since its maiden issue came out in June 2008 – not bad considering it is competing in a market cluttered with cable television, pirated movies, internet and hand-held game consoles.

Financial literacy may be one of the crucial lessons young Filipinos must be taught, says Bautista.

At the same time, Blue Cow is redefining comic book publishing by combining spending with a savings and insurance scheme, opening new possibilities to an industry rising from the ashes of its former mass appeal.

Smart Toys for Smarter Kids

Shopping for toys with kids can be a real nightmare for parents. Major tantrums can erupt anytime when kids, teeming with curiosity, want to play with all the toys on shelves left and right that most toy stores discourages. So, where can you find a toy store where kids can play and enjoy the toys without having to buy one?

At Pocketful of Kids, children get to experience a one-stop toy store that encourages learning, socialization and exploration while having fun. “Play helps develop our children socially, physically, intellectually, and creatively. For example, a child can hone his or her concentration and attentiveness by knowing and remembering sequences of a certain game,” explains Natalie Tanchip, owner and founder of Pocketful of Kids, the very first toy village in the country.

Inspired by her life-long dream and love of children, Natalie Tanchip, with the support of her husband and family, conceptualized, created and opened this hands-on playground cum toy store last October 25. Every crook and cranny of Pocketful of Kids came out of Natalie’s imagination and was executed under her strict direction and design. Every room is visually stimulating by using colors, structures and textures right out of a children’s book. Even the rubber material for the floor is personally picked by Natalie to fit safety standards.

“The notion of bringing learning into playtime is really something that Pocketful of Kids wanted to push,” explains Natalie Tanchip. “Our vision is to provide high-quality toys that help children learn and ensure that these will aid significantly in developing a child’s mind.”

Hard to find elsewhere, Pocketful of Kids showcases top-of-the-line toy brands from the United States and Europe that promotes learning through play. From Melissa & Doug, there are puzzles and wooden educational toys. Learning Resources carries hands-on educational materials and teaching resources that aid parents and teachers in enhancing cognitive and motor skills of children. For scientifically-themed toys, Educational Insights with the famous Hot Dots pens, Playfoam and GeoSafari, teaches children to learn the fundamentals of geography, math, reading and science. For cute, novelty items, they offer the Italian brand Tatiri with their unique wooden toys, jewelry and accessories. If you want colorful wire and magnetic bead mazes that your child can manipulate, Educo from the Swiss company HaPe are also available. For older kids and tweeners, there is Alex crafts, arts and fashion.

Aside from toys, Pocketful of Kids also offers books for the pre-schoolers and young readers. Their creative team also oversees the daily kids’ workshops on music, dancing and personality development held at the toy village.

Pocketful of Kids toy village can be found at the 15th floor, Strata 2000 Building, Emerald Avenue, Ortigas.

Parenting on Digital Television

The idea has festered on Tintin Bersola’s mind for quite sometime but it is her husband’s input, tv broadcaster Julius Babao, that gave her that Aha! moment of staging her own show over the internet. “One sleeplessness night, I surfed the net and discovered that there are so many, many parenting websites. They mostly contain blogs, tips, info, pics and video clips but no format comes close to a tv show,” shares Tintin. “I knew it was the right time to launch the first online parenting show in the country with video streaming and episodes taped and created by and for Filipinos.”

Parentin.tv is Tintin’s latest platform in pursuit of her advocacy toward good parenting and literacy as she takes on the new role as its executive creative director. This is the first-of-its kind, online parenting show combined with a dynamic website designed to nurture and educate not just moms but also dads, grandparents, even yayas and the household help. Parentin.tv answers the need of modern parents’ for information on changing parenting styles, child care products and life-changing events of babies and kids.

The parenting portal also features free online consultations with doctors, teachers, professionals and experts through the parents’ community. The 30-minute bi-weekly program is available to viewers 24/7 – anytime and anywhere. As registered members, viewers can avail of perks like store discounts and invites to exclusive events.

Christine Bersola-Babao, a multi-awarded celebrity host and momprenuer, is long-time advocate of several noteworthy causes and a five-time Anak TV Seal awardee. Her daughter, Antonia, shares speakership duties with her for the National Book Development Board. Tintin is also an avid storyteller and crusader for Qualibet’s campaign on “No to Transfat” and responsible Nutrition Information. She hosted the nutrition show, Busog Lusog, Ang Inyong Gabay sa Wastong Nutrisyon as part of her advocacy. As a humanitarian, she actively raised funds for Bantay Bata and the medical missions of DZMM. She also speaks for Caritas Manila and World Vision. Her volunteer work involves projects with Gawad Kalinga and the Phil. National Red Cross. On environmental concern, Tintin authored the bestselling children’s book, the Basura Monster.

“My greatest dream is for http://www.parentin.tv to be a tool in nation-building. Since there is no pressure, ratings-wise, this site enables us to spread the advocacy of parenting by building a community of visitors and loyal followers whom we can inspire and move to be good and responsible parents. Our focus is to be the number one online parenting website for parents and soon to be parents,” quips Bersola.

Statistics shows a 47 percent increase of internet usage by mothers after delivering a child. Eighty percent of the moms also attest that they have become a more informed parent thru the help of the internet while close to 70 percent of mothers uses online social medial sites on a monthly basis. “Being on the web, parents can watch anytime – on demand, by demand. After calling it a day and kids are already asleep, parents can log in and watch the episodes at their own pace, on their free time, and watch the videos again if they do not get to finish watching the episodes,” adds Tintin.

In support of Tin-tin’s new endeavor, Julius, even posted the first daddy blog where he bared his fears and hopes for their second child.

“Parentin.tv is a good alternative to mainstream television broadcast because there is time for an idea to gestate, to exchange views and to catch on. Since, this is on the world wide web, our audience is not limited to local audiences. Ours is driven by a vision of a better place for moms and kids not by ratings,” shares Tin-tin with a trailblazer twinkle in her eyes.

Tick, tock, what’s on the clock?

Kids live in the moment. With no apprehension to past mistakes and future outcomes, they embrace life as it comes and equally respond with no hesitation. As a result, kids laugh as heartily as they can, cry as loud as they can and love as sweetly as they can. As they grow, kids’ lives are slowly inducted to routine and rigors of daily living. Along with other life’s lessons, it is better to start sooner than later just like in the case of teaching the young ones the value and discipline of time management.

“Parenting experts have said it time and again – childhood is the best time to teach the skill of time management,” points out Kelvin Ngo, operations manager of Kids Watch Central. “Studies tell us that 80 percent of a typical workday is wasted on unimportant tasks and wasted time. A statistic that could have been prevented if only these adults had been disciplined early on.”

Time management is said to be a set of skills for better use of one’s time that incorporates organization and attitude into the equation. At first, parents are usually quite daunted to take the challenge because time is an abstract concept. Jennifer Tan, a teacher from Explorations Pre-School says that “it’s not unusual for children to ask: ‘Mom, what does a minute look like?’ or ‘How do I know if my time is already up?” Thus, this is where tools such as children’s watches come in.

“To make it more ‘real’ especially for children, concrete time telling tools such as a wrist watch can do wonders,” Ngo observes. Apparently, visually-appealing timepieces are of advantage and interesting to kids. “If their favorite character is Spiderman or Barbie is on dial or staps, they are likely look again and again at the wrist watches as opposed to a plain-faced one. It’s about adding the element of ‘fun’ to the visual presentation of time,” Ngo notes. Aside from telling time, wristwatches can also aid children in practicing other mathematical skills like number recognition, counting, grouping numbers and skip counting.

For time management, Ngo shares that “children should be encouraged to categorize their tasks as either ‘important’, ‘urgent’ or ‘both’. Important as the task needs considerable attention to detail or research before completion while urgent means that it is due soon. ‘Both’ deals with a great amount of work necessary to accomplish the task given the short time. This exercise helps children classify, prioritize tasks and delegate their time and effort accordingly.”

More than the technical skills, time management can also develop self-confidence and creativity among kids. Being able to foretell the next activity or task on schedule enables children to be more confident in their choices. Knowing when to end a task or how much time remains gives children leeway to create more. Simply put, maximizing time will have kids maximize fun in the end.

Ultimately, advocates of this skill agree that time management is about self-management whereas decisions should come from the children themselves. “Of course, children should not abandon their sense of fun or spontaneity, however, some basic planning strategies do help a lot. And it is a skill that can go a long way and help them achieve success when they grow up,” adds Ngo