World Vision supports DepEd’s Catch-up Education Program

Philippines – These recent years, the Department of Education (DepEd) has made major changes to its programs especially in introducing a new educational system named K to12. With this, DepEd also introduced the Kindergarten Catch-up Education Program (KCEP).

According to a DepEd Order article, the KCEP is being implemented in compliance of Republic Act No. 10157 or the Kindergarten Education Act. The Act mandates all five-year-old children to avail kindergarten education. The KCEP is a complementary intervention for children five years old and above ‘who do not have access to schools or daycare centers or those who live under difficult circumstances such as chronic illness, displaced due to armed conflict, urban resettlement, disasters, extreme poverty” and many more. Since 2014, the KCEP program has been making changes to the lives of young children.

A public elementary school in Danao, Bohol implemented this program with the modification of applying it on primary school. Students from elementary levels also undergo tutorial sessions to equal their knowledge level and skills on their appropriate grade level.

World Vision, with its Education technical program, supports the Catch-up program implementation especially in schools located in far-flung areas. In the province of Danao, Bohol, a public elementary school received reading materials and school supplies to supplement the tutorial sessions of the participants.

The organization also trained selected teachers with the Culture of Reading (CoR) project. They learned how to become effective storytellers using localized big books. CoR is a World Vision approach to improve the reading and comprehension skills of children.

“The support provided by World Vision made our work a lot easier,” shares Dioscora, a Grade1 adviser. “The learning supplies such as reading aids, flash cards and markers, aid our tutorial sessions of Catch-up program students more efficiently.”

Jet, 7 years old and a graduate of the Catch-up program, has learned how to read and comprehend at par of his grade level. His mother, Jennifer, shared that Jet could not learn well during his first grade because of their family’s economic limitation. Now on his second grade, Jet has become an active student in his class.

World Vision aims to provide a community where children can fully live. The organization also believes that education is a vital part of a child’s development to reach their full potential.World Vision/October 8, 2017

Stay up to date with World Vision Philippines! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.