ISABELA CITY, (PIA) – The Isabela City de Basilan’s innovative “Sakayan Kaalaman” program has achieved a remarkable transformation at Cabunbata Elementary School, successfully reducing the number of struggling or frustration level readers from 97 to zero.
The teachers acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the learners, they experienced a learning gap and the Sakayan Kaalaman helps both the teachers and the learners.
“Marami ang na categorized na struggling, meron pa non-readers. So, with the collaborative effort of the school and the community we were able to come up with this idea na mag join and work hand-in-hand ‘yong ating local government unit through the “Sakayan Kaalaman” project and also with the Cabunbata Elementary School’s effort and reading project which is the reading intervention strategies among strugglers,” said Era Claire E. Alib, reading coordinator of Cabunbata Elementary School.
Before the program’s inception, 97 learners at Cabunbata Elementary School were struggling to read but with the Sakayan Kaalaman initiative, everything changed.
The program is being implemented with a perfect blend of engaging activities, regular assessment and collaborative efforts between teachers, parents and community volunteers.
Cabunbata Elementary School is the second school beneficiary of the program, the first was Busay Elementary School which yielded impressive results with 26 out of the identified 98 struggling readers classified as instructional readers, while an encouraging 72 have transitioned into independent readers.
The “Sakayan Kaalaman” is an initiative of the City Government of Isabela de Basilan under the leadership of Mayor Sitti Djalia Turabin-Hataman implemented through the City Information Office with its mobile library.
It is anchored with the vision of the city government to ensure that every child in Isabela City could read and address the concern on the previous alarming data from the department of education revealing a staggering 81 percent of enrolled learners are classified as non-readers. (EDT/NDR/PIA9-Basilan with reports from CIO Isabela)
