All children should be able to read by age 10. Beyond this, when children cannot read, it usually indicates that there could be some gaps in the educational system. Many children around the world are not learning to read proficiently. In fact, over 250 million children are not even in school (UNESCO). This is a crisis that threatens the ability of countries to build and develop human capital, and it could undermine sustainable growth and poverty reduction.
Recent data from the World Bank and UNESCO revealed that the Philippines has a 91% learning poverty rate, or the proportion of Filipino children who are unable to read or understand a simple story by the end of their primary school. With this rate, the Philippines could be considered at the edge of learning crisis. The Philippine government is aware of this situation, and they are taking important steps to prevent this crisis from ballooning. One of the steps they are taking is to institutionalize the deployment of teachers to the barrios. It aims to provide basic education to children living in geographically isolated communities, such as those far-flung, hard-to-reach, and mountainous areas. It is in effect putting up a one-stop-school in the community, where a teacher should be deployed to teach. Students who completed the Teacher to the Barrios program can be considered elementary graduate.
However, despite this initiative, many of the teachers assigned to the program as teacher to the barrios still lacks essential support. This includes transportation allowance, hazard pay, and other expenses required to support their role. Not to mention the lack of facilities and school supplies for their students. If you have something to give or share to support our dear teachers, please send an email to hodlandshare.2022@gmail.com. HODL&SHARE can help you reach out to the teachers and students. HODL&SHARE is a family-giving circle initiative who provides support to teachers and students in far-flung areas as one of their giving programs.