Bringing Schools Closer to Children in Pagayawan, Lanao del Sur
By Pakigdait, Inc.
Sittie Aisah Sharief Noah, 25, is a learning facilitator with the Australian Government funded Education Pathways to Peace in Mindanao (Pathways) program in Diampaca Learning Center in the Municipality of Pagayawan, Lanao del Sur. For Sittie, teaching children is a fulfilling job. She believes that teaching children helps her to reach her own potential and be the best she can be. Not only that, Sittie finds comfort knowing that she has shared the best part of herself to the children in her community.
“I chose to become a Learning Facilitator because my passion is to teach the next generation,” Sittie Aisah shared.
The learning centre where she serves was made possible through Pakigdait Inc.’s project ‘Creating Pathways to Peace and Education to the Vulnerable and Underserved Villages in Butig, Sultan Dumalong, and Pagayawan, Lanao del Sur’. The initiative seeks to provide children in the Bangsamoro with innovative and safe access to education.
The Australian Government supports the project through the Pathways Program, in partnership with the Department of Education and the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education (MBHTE). Pathways is a Philippines-Australia partnership supporting quality inclusive kindergarten to grade 3 (K-3) education for all children in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Sittie’s role as a Learning Facilitator is funded through the Australian supported Responsive Innovation Fund (RIF), which helps to address learning and educational gaps throughout Bangsamoro through technical assistance.
SCHOOL ACCESS CHALLENGES
Sittie Aisah saw that going to school was not easy for the little children of Diampaca village. Although the children in the barangays are eager to learn, the nearest schools from where they live, Ilian Elementary School and Linindingan Proper Elementary School, are about five kilometers away.
With little to no public transportation available, the children are forced to walk long distances and cross rivers to reach Ilian Elementary School.
Every day, after walking in the sun’s heat, the children and adults cross the river through an unstable bamboo bridge connecting Diampaca and Ilian. When it rains, the river’s currents become strong, and the water level can surge to as high as a child’s head height. Unfortunately, a seven-year-old boy was once swept away by the currents and drowned while trying to cross the river. The locals believed he slipped and fell.
The difficult and dangerous daily commute has since compelled parents to stop sending their children to school. As a result, Sittie Aisah shared that there are children past the pre-school ages who have never been to school but would still want to enroll in kindergarten.
Witnessing first-hand how the local children and their parents have tackled such difficult education challenges has only inspired Sittie more.
TRANSFORMING LEARNING CENTRES
Through the RIF, Diampaca Learning Center was constructed in a barangay under the management of Ilian Elementary School. Aside from Diampaca Learning Center, six other learning centres in the municipalities of Butig, Pagayawan, and Sultan Dumalong were also renovated.
The project, which started in January 2021, also covers the villages of Ragayan and Cabasaran of Butig; Dinganun and Buta-Sumalindaw of Sultan Dumalondong, and Diampaca and Rangiran of Pagayawan.
Each learning centre has two learning facilitators who are from the local areas. Hiring locals is one way to ensure the teachers know and appreciate the local context of the children and community, and can tailor teaching and learning approaches accordingly.
Diampaca Learning Center used to be an abandoned building which the community used as a temporary barangay hall and storage for harvested crops. The barangay officials, who understood the value of early childhood education, agreed that the building could be transformed into a learning centre.
“I am thankful that the project gave me the opportunity to teach in my community,” Sittie Aisah said.
Now that there is finally a new learning centre in Diampaca, children can safely go to school and enjoy learning every day without the long trek and the dangers of crossing the river. Local parents also constructed a new bamboo bridge that is wider and more stable for people to use.
Community members have also attended the centre’s Islamic seminar sessions, mural painting activity, and the Culture of Peace Workshop. This type of community engagement is key to ensuring peace and inclusion across the local region.
Sittie Aisha hopes that the children will not lose interest in studying, and hopes they can achieve their dreams. “I am hoping and praying that more projects like this will happen because I see that there are many children who want to enroll in our Learning Center next year. The parents and I share the same sentiments in this,” she explained.