DepEd Advances Indigenous Peoples Education Through Committed, Sustained Dialogue with IP Communities

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones reaffirmed the Department of Education’s (DepEd) commitment to further strengthen the Indigenous Peoples Education (IPEd) Program through continuous consultations with IP elders, leaders, and community representatives during the 2017 National Indigenous Peoples Education Gathering on January 10 in Davao City.

The Gathering commemorated 10 years of meaningful dialogue between DepEd and IP communities all over the country that led to the birth of various policy issuances that provide appropriate directions for IPEd Program implementing regions and divisions, so that initiatives are responsive to the aspirations and educational needs of IP learners.

A prayer-blessing also opened the second decade of dialogue, with community elders and leaders expressing their hopes for a deepening relationship between IP communities and DepEd, and praying for the guidance and well-being of all those involved in implementing the IPEd Program.

In her keynote message, Briones highlighted specific education concerns that have direct bearing on IP learners and communities and the implementation of an education that is geared toward a more quality, accessible, relevant, and liberating basic education for all.

She underscored the importance of environmental protection in the curriculum as one way to contribute in keeping IP learners and communities safe, as their identity, culture, and livelihood are shaped by the natural environment surrounding their communities.

“So kailangan talaga, tayo na umaasa sa natural environment, dapat tayo ang mangunguna sa pag-protect nito… I-protect ang ating livelihood dahil ang katutubo, hindi lang nagpuputol ng kahoy, hindi ba? Pinapalitan iyan dahil alam naman natin na iyon ang nagshe-shelter sa atin, ” Briones said.

She called on DepEd to be a champion of the environment as this is a concern of all, not only of IP communities.

The Education chief also mentioned the significance of utilizing technology in ensuring that the cultures of various IP communities in the country are nurtured and protected: “Kailangan gamitin natin ang technology para ipalaganap ang ating kultura, pamamaraan, at pamumuhay.”

Briones committed that as DepEd continues its efforts to enhance the curriculum, concerns of IP learners and communities will be included. “Marami pang pagbabago ang gagawin natin sa curriculum, pero ang importante, hindi natin iiwan ang mga katutubo.”

Furthermore, she conveyed her message not just for IP learners but to all Filipino learners, "You have to be brave, you should be courageous, you should not be afraid even as you know that the world is changing and by the time that you graduate, it will change even more.”

Also present at the event were Undersecretaries Alberto Muyot, Jesus Mateo, Lorna Dino, Alain Del Pascua, Annalyn Sevilla, and Victoria Catibog; Assistant Secretaries Revsee Escobedo and Josephine Maribojoc; and former Education Secretaries Jesli Lapus and Mona Valisno.


Notable milestones

As of 2016, the IPEd Program has reached 16 regions, 31 cities, and 80 provinces; established mechanisms for engagement and partnership with 170 Indigenous Cultural Communities (ICCs) in 290 communities nationwide; developed more than 500 contextualized lesson plans in collaboration with 60 ICCs located in over 200 communities nationwide; and conducted basic training on IPEd and the use of contextualized lesson plans to 2,718 schools serving IP learners.

The IPEd Program is also working on the development of the basic requirements —orthography, dictionary, grammar book, and reading materials—to implement the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) with 65 ICCs.

In support of the program, DepEd continuously crafts policies based on community feedback through consultations and relevant studies that will address the education concerns of IP communities. Concerns addressed by policies formulated in the five years of IPEd Program implementation include the recognition of non-profit private schools serving IP learners, cultural sensitivity in dealing with aspects of IP culture, curriculum contextualization, and hiring of teachers for schools implementing IPEd, among others.

With the opening of the second decade of dialogue, future directions include institutionalizing the mechanisms of dialogue towards effective curriculum contextualization and program implementation, strengthening and expanding school level implementation of the IPEd Program, and systematizing the delivery of DepEd services—both formal and ALS—in far-flung IP communities, among others.

AFPI: New P5 coin will be accepted at LRT / MRT Ticket Vending Machines by March

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AF Payments Inc. (AFPI), the company behind the Automated Fare Collection System beep™ and the supplier of the self-service Ticket Vending Machines (TVMs) in LRT1, LRT2 and MRT, has begun the calibration needed for TVMs to accept the new five peso coins released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) late last year.

The calibration work will be conducted in Germany where the supplier of the coin acceptor unit used in the machines is based. AFPI’s partner in Germany is one of the leading suppliers of vending machine coin acceptors in the world.

Taking into consideration any unforeseen delays in the process, the new coins are expected to be usable at all TVMs across the three elevated railways (LRT 1, LRT 2, and MRT 3) this March.

“For the protection of our consumers and the train operators we serve, we only work with experienced and reputable suppliers who have the capability to perform this type of sensitive system upgrade” said Agnes Padilla, spokesperson for AF Payments, Inc.

In the meantime, AFPI advises the commuting public to double-check their five peso coins before inserting them into the TVMs to avoid any inconvenience. It also reminds passengers that they can opt to buy Single Journey Tickets and even replace their new coins for old ones at the station tellers.

Lastly, the company reminds the public that they can purchase and reload the tap-and-go beep™ cards at FamilyMart, Circle K, SM Bill Pay, Robinsons Business Center and Bayad Center outlets as well as at the stations.

DepEd Receives Training Course Manual for Child Protection Specialists

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As part of its continuing efforts to promote the Child Protection Policy, the Department of Education (DepEd) received 1,500 copies of the manual entitled “Breaking the Chain of Violence Against Children: A Specialized Training Course for DepEd Child Protection Specialists” from Consuelo Zobel Alger Foundation on January 9.

The donated training course manuals will be given to all the trained and designated child protection specialists (CPS) of DepEd, and will be used by the participants of the second level training, to help them gain expertise on providing technical advice and referring child protection cases, advocating for the protection of children, and disseminating information to their respective schools and offices.
On behalf of the Department, Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Alberto Muyot received the manuals officially turned over by Consuelo Zobel Alger Foundation’s Managing Director, Atty. Carmela Andal-Castro.

In his foreword message for the manual, Muyot expressed the importance of creating a safe and nurturing environment for learners; “DepEd recognizes that for a teaching-learning environment to be truly beneficial and meaningful for learners, it should promote all their rights, especially their right to be protected from all forms of abuse.”

Castro also expressed her hopes that the publication of the CPS training manual would help teachers, school officials, and even parents combat abuse, neglect, and exploitation of learners.
The training course manual contains the training program, materials for the training modules, and the references used such as the DepEd Order No. 40, s. 2012 or the DepEd Child Protection Policy and the Republic Act 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act.

Pursuant to Department Order No. 131, s. 2016, and to further boost the implementation of its policies on child protection, DepEd shall train and designate CPS who will provide technical guidance to the schools and their respective schools divisions on complex or serious cases of child abuse brought to their attention, and recommend actions to address the same based on existing Child Protection-related laws and pertinent DepEd issuances.

The CPS shall also assist in referring cases to concerned government, non-government, or other agencies for appropriate interventions or further case management.
There are two levels of training for CPS: (1) National Training of Trainers on Child Protection; and (2) Child Protection Specialist Training.

To date, there are 290 trained and designated CPSs in Regions 1, 3, 4A, 4B, 5, 6, 7, 8, Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), and National Capital Region (NCR). There will be additional three batches for the Second Level Training in February and March, with participants from Regions 2, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13.

“We hope that this training course can adequately address the needs of our child protection specialists. It is our goal to train individuals to be knowledgeable on the holistic approaches to child protection,” Muyot concluded.


Photo caption: DepEd Undersecretary Alberto Muyot receives 1,500 copies of training course manuals for Child Protection Specialists (CPS) donated by Consuelo Zobel Alger