NGO partners with Pagudpud school to boost reading literacy

By Leilanie G. Adriano

Staff reporter

Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte—Silid Aralan Inc. (SAI), a non-profit organization that reaches out to the academically-challenged public school students in the country is partnering with Pagudpud Central Elementary School (PCES) to strengthen the reading literacy of low-performing learners here.

Targeting some 100 learners from the Pagudpud Central Elementary School (PCES), Richard Riveral, PCES principal II said they will establish a learning hub will in the said school primarily to cater to these students. Last May, he said they conducted an intensive reading assessment among grades 1 and 2 PCES pupils and selected at least 100 out of the nearly 200 pupils in the pre-assessment.

Among those who will undergo the program was grade 2 pupil Anxiel Marie Guiamsay.

“Nagbasa ken naganserkami. Adda narigat ken adda met nalaka,” she said saying the new learning hub is a welcome development for her.

Under the “Ground Zero Program”, an entry level of SAI, the selected pupils identified by their teachers as non-readers will undergo a focused learning session after their regular classes.

In here, learners will engage in fun and interactive sessions with the aim of developing their love for reading as they begin to learn how to read.

In a 2017 pre-test result recorded by the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI) of the school, it shows that there are 25 percent out of the 600 pupils population who are under the “frustration level” or they could hardly read with comprehension.

The Silid Aralan will come in handy. Learning sessions are customized to each learner's learning style assisting him or her to acquire the required competencies to move on to the second level of the SAI learning program,” said Maylynne Shiela dela Cruz, coordinator of the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI) of the school. 

After completing the program, the learners will move to the second-level of the program described as iLEAD. Launched in 2012, the iLEAD is a leadership program that starts off with character building.

“Through this program, we hope to reduce the number of pupils under the frustration level and they will be motivated to learn more,” said Mr. Riveral.

The organizers scheduled a series of orientations among the 100 learners and their parents on June 30, July 7 and 14 for a better appreciation of the program.