Kindergarten-on-wheels to be launched on eve of Cory's birthday

MANILA, Philippines - A party-list lawmaker and the Department of Education (DepEd) will launch tomorrow the kindergarten-on-wheels (KOW) project to help compensate for the shortage of classrooms and boost the government’s early childhood care and education program.

Dedicated to the late President Corazon Aquino, the KOW is a pilot project for pre-school education to be launched in Quezon City tomorrow, the eve of the former chief executive’s 79th birthday, Bagong Henerasyon party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy said.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro will be the guest of honor and speaker in the inauguration ceremonies to be held at the Corazon C. Aquino Elementary School in Barangay Batasan Hills in Quezon City.

“Budgetary constraints are not the only reasons that have held back our pre-school education program. We are now faced by lack of space for new school buildings but we intend to address this with the novel idea behind the kindergarten-on-wheels,” Herrera-Dy, vice chairperson of the House committee on welfare of children, said.

She said education statistics indicate a sharp rise in pre-school enrolment that was placed at below 30 percent of children aged three to six in 2002.

“The number of pre-school enrollees is expected to nearly triple this year as compared to the number of pupils 10 years ago. Clearly, this would require more classrooms but not necessarily those found in school buildings,” she said.

Herrera-Dy is the principal author of House Bill 1079 codifying the alternative child care laws of the country and HB 1080 seeking to establish at least one special education center (SPED) in each school division and three SPEDs in big school divisions.

She also co-authored HB 0008, which aims to institutionalize pre-school education into the basic education system of the country.

According to her, the late president was a firm advocate of early childcare and education.