GMA launches child development programs in Caloocan

President  Arroyo launched two national programs in Caloocan City yesterday for the promotion of early childhood development — the "Pre-school sa Bawat Barangay" and the "Supplemental Feeding Program."

The pre-school program aims to give all five-year-old Filipino children access to pre-school education while the feeding program aims to reduce undernourishment and short-term hunger among underweight first-graders by providing them with daily servings of milk and fortified breakfast foods.

Some 6,000 students of Camarin-D Elementary School benefited from the feeding program — a collaborative effort of the Department of Education (DepEd), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC), the Department of Agriculture, (DA), the Department of Health (DOH) and local governments across the country. 

The President, who personally distributed fresh milk and coco-pan bread to schoolchildren said "healthy children translate to a healthy nation."

"Our children should start their day happy, healthy and full of hope," she said, stressing the importance of having a hearty breakfast everyday before going to school.

Last school year, 63,288 first graders across the country benefited from milk feeding.  A total of 21,189 first graders from 351 schools all over the country also benefited from breakfast feeding. 

In each division, the six schools with the highest incidence of malnutrition and the most number of students coming from low-income families were selected to benefit from the feeding programs.     

After the implementation of the feeding program last year, it was found that the number of underweight pupils in target schools decreased by 5.57 percent.

Education Secretary Florencio Abad said the pre-school program aims to prepare young children for Grade 1 by giving them access to pre-school education.  The project will expand and augment existing day-care centers and pre-schools to ensure that every child has access to early child care.

"The first seven years of a child’s life are the most crucial for their long-term development. Many of the learning disadvantages that afflict our students are the result of inadequate early child care.  Pre-school education is the foundation for lifelong learning," Abad said.

Caloocan Mayor Enrico Echiverri, who joined the President in the launching of the feeding program, also distributed free school bags to the students of Camarin.

He said that with the free bags and school supplies, there would be no reason for kids not to go to school.

The city’s public elementary and secondary schools offer free tuition to children of school age.

"Alam ko na talagang mahirap ang buhay ngayon kaya ang mga libreng gamit ay makaaawas sa gastos ng pamilya," the mayor said. – With Aurea Calica