The Department of Education in the Cordillera Administrative Region (DepEd-CAR) on Thursday said the good performance of the region, specifically the provinces of Apayao and Benguet, in the recently conducted literacy survey is a result of the dedication of teachers, and support of parents and other stakeholders.

“Ang ugali kasi sa atin nahihiya ang teachers sa community kapag natatapos na ang taon at hindi marunong magbasa ang mga bata kaya they do interventions on their own to ensure that they achieve the goal (The teachers here have a culture of being shy if at the end of the school year, their students remain unable to read, that is why they do interventions on their own to ensure that they achieve their goal),” said Dr. Estela Cariño, regional director of the DepEd-CAR, in a media interview.

She said while it is true that there are lazy teachers who are unmindful of the welfare of their students and learners, they are very few and most of the Cordillera teachers are exerting every effort they can to help and provide proper education to the youth.

Cariño said teachers always undertake remediation and they also connect with the learners’ parents or guardians to assist in the education of the children.

She also mentioned the last mile or far-flung schools, which they thought would be the ones to bring down the region’s mark.

“Actually that’s what we think, the last mile schools sila yung mababa ng performance but that is not true in all schools, sometimes yung nasa last mile school mas mataas kasi maliit ang enrolment kaya ang teacher hindi aligaga na umuwi kasi andun na siya and the parents they go kapag ini-invite sila about their children (Actually that’s what we think, the last mile schools will bring down the performance which turned out to be untrue in all schools. Sometimes, those from the last mile schools even have higher marks due to the minimal enrolment and the teachers are not in a hurry to go home as they stay in the school, and whenever parents are invited to the school about the welfare of their children, they show up),” she said.

Cariño said the students attained the good performance despite the Cordillera getting the least in terms of budget.

Based on earlier news reports, the provinces of Apayao and Benguet were identified as among the areas that posted high functional literacy rates.

“Sa Benguet strong din ang reading program ng Benguet and the strong support of the stakeholders,” Cariño said.

She also shared about the strong support of the local government unit for education, which contributed to the good performance of the province. (PNA)