Palawan teacher uses gadgets to engage tribal community

CEBU, Philippines - "Clarissa, isulat mo nga ang number 5 (please write the number 5)," Teacher Jong asks a young girl at the Sitio Bolnok Learning Center, a one-room shack in a small settlement in the mountains of Malis, the southernmost barangay of Brooke's Point, a town some 191 kilometers south of Puerto Princesa City in Palawan.

Amidst much giggling, Clarissa traces the number on a tablet which Reuben Herrera, more popularly known as Teacher Jong, holds up for her.

Clarissa is one of 21 school-age children and 16 adults in Sitio Bolnok who have been attending classes under an Alternative Learning System (ALS) program conducted by Jong, an ALS mobile teacher, since 2010.

All of them can now read and write thanks to Jong, who visits them twice a week in addition to conducting classes for out-of-school youth at the poblacion in Brooke's point and in Mt. Magagong, which is about two-and-a-half hour's hike from Bolnok.

Jong is one of 25 mobile teachers in Palawan implementing ALS, a free education program implemented by the Department of Education under the Bureau of Alternative Learning System to help those who cannot afford formal schooling. These include elementary and high school dropouts, out-of-school youth, non-readers that include even adults and senior citizens.

Based in Brooke's Point, Jong travels some 21 kilometers to Malis on his motorbike, hikes some 30 minutes to Sitio Bolnok where he has built a one-room structure with funds raised from friends, some of who he met on Facebook.

Sitio Bolnok is home to a small tribal group called Palawan (pronounced faster than the name of the province). When Jong started holding classes in Bolnok in October 2010, only 6 out of the total population of 89 knew how to read and write, he says.

Now, he has four learners in advanced elementary level (Grades 5-6 in formal school) who will take the accreditation and equivalency (A&E) test next year. If they pass the A&E test, they will earn an elementary diploma signed by the DepEd Secretary.

"Sana makatapos sila ng high school (I hope they finish high school)," says Jong, who knows full well that a high school diploma can give Palawans in Sitio Bolnok a chance at employment and a better life.  The Palawans, he says, eat only twice a day.

It is hard to keep the students in school, he says, since the adults often forego the two hour-sessions to make a living either planting or harvesting rice or making copra while the older children stay home to take care of the infants. Thus, he allows the older kids to bring their charges to the center. He has students as old as 54 and as young as 4 years old.

Jong believes that the students could retain learning better if they are well nourished. He also wishes that the DepEd budget could accommodate another ALS mobile teacher in his area so that he could increase the frequency of the classes.

Newly-married and with a child on the way, Jong is starting to feel the physical demands of his work. He travels a lot on bike and on foot even under adverse weather conditions. 

The enterprising young man manages to supplement DepEd's yearly allocation of P5,000 for materials to provide for his students' needs by writing to a TV network and getting them to support and feature Sitio Bolnok in one of their programs. The resulting publicity has boosted his efforts to promote ALS Palawan's efforts via his Facebook account and get support for educational materials and school supplies from friends like Pusong Pinoy as well as the construction of the learning center.

Just recently, the Sitio Bolnok Learning Center was recognized by Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) as one of 10 winners of its new social development initiative payITfwd. Through payITfwd, Smart lends its technology to enable the spread of social good acts that foster learning.

Each winning community-based project gets five tablets, a technology grant of P50,000 and connectivity via Smart Pocket Wi-Fi with P3,000 worth of load credit.

Smart is now accepting entries for the second round of payITfwd.  For more details about the program, check out www.smart.com.ph/payITfwd.

Jong has already installed applications like Phonics, Basic Writing, Math games, and ebook ALS Modules into the tablets, which he will use for instruction.  "My students get excited about the lessons and are more interested in learning when I use the tablet," he explains.

He plans to use the cash prize to buy a DLP Projector, a generator or a solar panel, and LED TV for the learning center. There is no electricity in Bolnok and Magagong so he has been relying on a solar-powered charger donated by Aral Pinoy to conduct interactive lessons using the tablet.

Jong is happy that the prizes from Smart will not only benefit Sitio Bolnok, but also those he teaches in Brooke's Point and Magagong.  Connectivity will also help him do online research, download materials, report updates to and monitor announcements and advisories from DepEd and/or ALS Palawan, and seek additional assistance for his projects.

Born and bred in Brooke's Point, Jong sees what he is doing not as a job, but as a mission. He feels happy knowing that his students already consider him a member of their family. "Every time na my progress sila, sobrang saya ko na (I am overwhelmed with happiness when I see their progress)," he adds.

With technology now helping him breach learning barriers, Jong hopes it will simply be a matter of time before he can get one more teacher to help him bridge physical distances and continue giving back to more members of his community. (FREEMAN)