Nurturing Our Future Leaders

Nurturing Our Future Leaders
By Pepper Marcelo

Public education in the Philippines, especially in the elementary level, faces grave dangers of continuing disintegration. Recent statistical data reveal, among others, that 55% of students drop out between Grades 1 and 2, only three out of ten reach Grade 6, and only one out of six students have a proper textbook. Not surprisingly, poverty is Centex the main cause of these dropouts, but another significant reason is the adverse social selectivity between the private and public sector; approximately 85-90% who cannot afford a decent education have no choice but to submit to the problematic alternative. There is no in-between.

The Center of Excellence in Public Elementary Education (CENTEX) is a project that chooses to serve poor children from disadvantaged communities by giving quality education that is at par with that offered in private schools. "The underlying, or overarching goal is to produce leaders," says Carol E. Atacador, CENTEX Director. "What's happening in the Philippines is a direct result of not having good leadership. We're educating our children with the idea of serving the Filipino people."

Managed by Ayala Foundation, Inc., CENTEX was born out of necessity. "We at Ayala offer several scholarships, but very few would pass the requirements to get these scholarships, even if they were just to vocational schools," Atacador explains. "We realized that it was basic education that was a problem here." In order to have scholars in the first place, the Foundation would need to take a thorough, hands-on approach to train young children in basic elementary skills. CENTEX addresses the lack of mastery of these skills that will eventually enable children to enter high school and the tertiary level.

The school's curriculum for the children has several objectives, the first being to cultivate critical thinking. "We want to instill in the children that they are not to be intimidated by ideas, ideals, and people," Atacador says. "They are to think for themselves. At CENTEX we don't impose learning; we facilitate learning. It's self-discovery while we guide the students through the content." Another aim is for the pupils to be proud of their heritage and to render service to the Filipino people. And, in relation to the environment, to train the children to be aware of their surroundings and be the best stewards of the planet.

"The curriculum we have is holistic and highly integrated," she says. "I don't believe that life is 40 minutes of math and 40 minutes of science. Rather we simulate that life is an integration of all the disciplines, and you use content in order to function, using all the disciplines. Facilitating knowledge so they'll be life-long learners."

CENTEX currently has two schools, one in Tondo, Manila, which caters to 525 children, and another in Bauan, Batangas, which has 375 students. There are 25 students in each class. Every year CENTEX selects a total of 75 children after a very meticulous selection process. The first level is a readiness test, both mentally and physically, which entails being toilet-trained, remaining focused, and following directions, among others. There are also several IQ tests administered to determine a child's academic readiness. The final level is a to determine need, if the family is truly deserving. All this information comes through CENTEX offices within the Ayala Foundation where Atacador and her committee determine the finalists.

Education is not the only thing CENTEX provides. Because the children are from poor families, it is necessary to remove all monetary burdens in order for them to focus solely on their studies. The Center pays for transportation, uniform and meals consisting of one hot lunch every day. The parents of the children are also wholly involved in the process. In exchange for the free education, parents are required by CENTEX to contribute 30 hours of school service, whether it is helping out in the cafeteria, cleaning the school facilities, or other tasks that benefit the school.

Last March, CENTEX celebrated a milestone by graduating its first Grade VI elementary class. Many of them would have been accepted as scholars in prestigious high schools, such Philippine Science and Manila Science, but the Center entered into a partnership with Holy Spirit of Manila that will enable the graduates to continue their special type of curricular offerings and methodologies. "We were afraid that they have not yet internalized the moral and ethical values, including Filipino values we've taught them. After all they're only 11, 12 years old. There are no guarantees that they will be internalized. But at least there's a venue for us now to continue our values education."

Primary funding for the project came through the Ayala Land, Inc., which initially bestowed P50 million. Atacador says that for sustainability purposes, they only spend the interest of that amount, "because once you start getting into the principal, in five to six years, you're done. What happened, globally and in the Philippines, is that, one moment the interest rate is very low, one moment it's high, but it has since reached a plateau at six to seven percent."

CENTEX has also partnered with the Department of Education and the city government of Manila, which allowed CENTEX the used of a pre-existing building in Tondo. Manila is also paying the salary of the teachers. Globe Telecom, Inc., in conjunction with Purefoods Corporation and the Batangas provincial government, funded the second school in Bauan town in Batangas.

Fund-raising activities are held to augment the financial needs of the two schools. One such activity is art auctions. Notable artists such as Bencab, Arturo Luz, Malang Santos, and Anita Magsaysay-Ho are just a few that have "embraced the cause" by donating their original artworks. Through this, the Center has sustained the feeding program for the kids. As Atacador states, "a hungry child cannot learn."

She hopes that CENTEX will eventually spread to other regions and underdeveloped communities. There have been overtures, but the challenge remains trying to find more corporate sponsors. "When we started, we thought a CENTEX school in a particular region could serve as a training ground for that specific region, in the methodology, the content of the curriculum," she says. "The dream was 100 CENTEXES in the Philippines, but conflict and economic downtrend happened, and it is very expensive to do what we're doing with quality. Rather than diminish the quality, we decided to learn from the two [Tondo and Batangas]. One is urban and one is rural, there are lessons to be learned here before we replicate."

Atacador, who was formerly an administrator at the University of California in Berkeley, calls on Filipinos both in the country and abroad to help in this worthy endeavor in any way they can. "What I'd like to tell my brothers and sisters, whether they're in the US, Canada or Europe, in different parts of the world, is this: We still belong to one nation. Your allegiance could be to a new country now, but don't take the Philippines away. Look back, we are needed, those of us who've had the opportunity to leave and have a better life in a new country, bond together and look back to a better Philippines and a better future."

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