Early childhood care to be institutionalized

The City Social Welfare Services Office is working on the institutionalization of the home-based Early Childhood Care and Development program that has already been benefiting hundreds of underprivileged children in the city.

City Social Welfare officer Cathy Yso said the program is meant to augment pre-school service in order to prepare children for formal education.

Under the home-based ECCD, children ages three to six who are unable to avail of the day care services in their barangays are provided with home-based pre-school education. The Department of Social Welfare and Services already launched the home-based ECCD last May 10 in coastal barangays. These include barangays Basak Pardo, Basak San Nicolas, Mambaling, Ermita, Duljo-Fatima, San Roque, Sawang Calero, Pasil and Cogon Pardo.

The city government has established 148 day care centers in different barangays.

Compared to day care education, Yso said the home-based education has no facility where the children and the day care workers meet for their Monday to Friday classes.

In the home-based education program, Yso added that a member of a particular community or barangay offers a portion of his or her house to accommodate at most 15 children attending classes twice to thrice a week.

"A lot of children are not provided with proper support to ensure cognitive and emotional development because their parents are not well to do. The home-based education serves as the alternative venue for these children to significantly improve psycho-social development and physical growth," Yso said.

The day care workers have a curriculum to follow while the home-based workers are using a different manual provided by the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the United Nations Children's Fund which focuses on child participation and socialization.

The city government pays for the honoraria of home-based workers at P50 per session. The home-based education beneficiaries are provided with books and other supplies and materials, Yso added.

"We will be expanding to the mountain barangays. We have an ongoing advocacy program on this so as to encourage barangay officials and residents alike to adopt the home-based education," Yso said.

Last month, a home-based school was established in the mountain barangay of Guba. Yso said the DSWS' target this year includes barangays Sudlon I, Sudlon II and Sinsin. However, she claimed not all barangays are open to the idea of establishing home-based education. However, she said, that she will continue to convince possible community partners that this program will ensure holistic development of the children during their formative years and that this should be everybody's concern. - Garry B. Lao