Flipping the Victory of a Tailored Synergy

by:
Blessie Merillo-Espares
Teacher 2
Arriesgado Elementary School
Claveria North District

Reaching a new territory in the landscape of education had led to the discovery of the
pandemic’s toll on reading which worsens the literacy predicament in teaching.
Empowerment. Collaboration. Synergy.
These combated the success of the implementation of Brigada Pagbasa of the Schools
Division of Masbate as it continuously provides impactful literacy opportunities to literacy-
challenged learners in the whole province.

Unfolding the Pages of Brigada Pagbasa

Brigada Pagbasa is a part of Brigada Eskwela’s implementation that seeks to enhance
the reading abilities and comprehension skills of kindergarten to grade six learners. Its main
goal is to prepare schools for the opening of classes through the help and assistance of
various stakeholders. The project is based on the national 3Bs initiative also known as
“Hamon: Bawat Bata Bumabasa” which intends to strengthen the reading proficiency of
every learner and help to nurture a culture of reading which is considered a requisite skill in
all learning areas. DepEd Bicol has its own initiative dubbed as “Bawat Batang Bicolano
Bihasang Bumasa” or 5Bs which was adopted by the SDO Masbate Province through
Division Memorandum No, 145, s. 2021 titled “Interim Guidelines in the Implementation of
Brigada Pagbasa”.
Empowering the Implementation Drivers
The SDO reached a total number of 3,689 volunteer readers, 6,039 volunteer tutors,
3,206 book donors and 30, 948 volunteer support which sufficed the 37,366 identified
learners after the call for volunteer tutors, volunteer readers, book donors, and volunteer
support which started on June 1-18, 2021. After the finalization of the List of Volunteers ad
Mapping of Beneficiary Learners, the planning conferences and training workshops of
Brigada Eskwela Coordinators, Public Schools District Supervisors, and Brigada Pagbasa
Key Teachers followed.
To ensure the accountability and proper coordination of all key personnel in the
implementation of Brigada Pagbasa, the Planning Conference of District Brigada Eskwela
Coordinators was held at Mobo Central School last July 6, 2021. This was attended by the
32 District Brigada Eskwela Coordinators, the Division Partnerships Focal Person, Alexander
G. Poldo, and Mark Anthony R. Rupa, Chief of School Governance Operating Division
(SGOD). Subsequently, the Training Workshop of District Brigada Pagbasa Key Teachers
was conducted at the same venue. It was also attended by the 32 Public Schools District
Supervisors and District Brigada Pagbasa Key Teachers; the Division Trainers namely
Charm Elaine Pusing, Cherry Rose S. Alba, Mary Joy D. Ramirez, Jonalyn A. Pepito,
Jonalyn E. Oliva, Junee L. Abetria, and Christopher I. Alvarez; the Division Partnership Focal
Person, Alexander G. Poldo; as well as the Education Program Supervisors for English,
Helen V. Titong.
Moreover, the Planning Conference of School Brigada Coordinators and Training
Workshop of School Brigada Pagbasa Key Teachers were conducted in every district. This
was also followed by the Orientation and Capacity Building of Volunteer Tutors and Readers
per School last July 14-15, 2021. The Education Program Supervisors and Division
Coordinators in the Curriculum Implementation Division (CID) together with the Public
Schools District Supervisors and School Heads monitored the conduct of the training and
capacity building at the district and school levels.

Firming a Strong Spectrum of Support

To boost the implementation of the programs some Municipal Local Government Units
in the province issued resolutions that allocate financial support to Brigada Pagbasa and
Brigada Eskwela. These municipalities are the municipalities of Aroroy, Cawayan and
Cataingan allocated 500,000 pesos, the Municipality of Baleno gave 1.5M pesos,
Municipalities of Esperanza and Palanas gave 100,000 pesos, Municipality of Uson
allocated 400, 000 pesos, Municipality of San Fernando rendered 200,000 pesos and
Municipality of San Pascual allocated 10,000 pesos for every school respectively.
Consequently, five barangays in the Municipality of Baleno; nine barangays in the
Municipality of Balud; 29 barangays in the Municipality of Cataingan; 33 barangays in the
Municipality of Cawayan; three barangays in the Municipality of Dimasalang; one barangay
in the Municipality of Monreal; five barangays in the Municipality of Milagros; seven
barangays in the Municipality of Palanas; seven barangays in the Municipality of Pio V.
Corpus; eight barangays in the Municipality of San Jacinto; 13 barangays in the Municipality
of San Pascual; and 13 barangays in the Municipality of Uson who issued an ordinance
and resolution allocating some amount of money in support of the implementation of the
programs.

Hurdled Challenges
Despite lots of support coming from stakeholders, the restrictions of the Covid-19
pandemic impede the implementation of the program. One municipality in the province
restricted the implementation of the program due to the great number of cases in their
locality. Since health protocols require limited group attendance, the number of learners that
could participate in face-to-face tutorials had not been fully maximized. In addition, due to
the limited number of learners that could be accommodated despite the surging number of
volunteer tutors and readers, some learners were not catered to. There were also limited
reading materials available at the early stage of implementation especially locally-made
reading materials.
However, the post-test shows a high enhancement result in learners reading
performance. There is almost an 86% reduction in the number of struggling readers reported
during the pretest. Out of 8,463 learners that cannot read any letter, only 1,171 could not
read anymore after the four-month implementation. Moreover, there is almost 94% increase
in the number of learners who can read common words; about 100% intensification is also
observed in the result of the number of learners that can read a paragraph of simple
sentences with no more than three mistakes and can read and understand a story with two
out of three correctly answered questions. There is also almost 71% growth in the result of
the number of learners that can read and understand locally made reading materials with
two out of three correctly answered questions.

When the Past Prepares for the Future

This pandemic caused the Department of Education to do a sudden shift in terms of the
mode of delivery of learning- from the traditional face-to-face to distance learning delivery
modalities such as online, modular, and blended approaches. However, for this reason,
literacy gaps had widened in schools.
Brigada Pagbasa had prepared the learners to become equipped with the necessary
reading skills that will help them in the upcoming school year. It shows that everyone is
concerned about providing the best to all Masbateño learners amidst challenges. Indeed,
empowerment, collaboration, and synergy among the program supervisors, teachers,
parents, stakeholders, and volunteers are the key to a successful implementation of a
program. No one would feel neglected when cooperation is fostered regardless of how
difficult the situation is.
As face-to-face learning comes to a close, providing the learners know where they are
headed and being prepared brings them the best education.