Forward0
To keep the momentum after a successful round of Briefing Orientation Seminars, Multiply-Ed’s national team went on to conduct their second Learning Collaboration (LC) on vertical integration (VI) in Batanes last July 8-13, 2024.
Ms. Joy Aceron set the tone for the second iteration of the LC on VI, by discussing the rationale of such sessions as a deliberate and systematic effort to learn and strategize.
“Multiply-Ed,” Aceron pointed, “is geared to be the prime example of VI’s potential for scale and replicability.”
“Through the learning collab, X-Ed is given the space to backtrack–a critical element that facilitates drawing lessons from both failed attempts and stories of change,” she added.
Better Than Before
The first session was a recap of the first VI Learning Collab in Bantayan, Cebu to bridge the takeoff points to applied practices since then. Team members reflected on what and how these lessons manifested in the last months of Phase 1 and transitioning into Phase 2.
Representatives from member-organizations Bukluran UP and the Student Council Alliance of the Philippines (SCAP) shared great improvements in their involvement in X-Ed. In Bantayan, they were able to raise this as a concern that has hampered X-Ed’s performance in consolidating support for the 8-Point Reform Agenda, among other aims. Since then, X-Ed has been engaging with mass organizations (Mos) more frequently, both online and onsite.
Since the MOs take part in the advocacy, communications, and engagement (ACE) arm of X-Ed, they are able to leverage the reform agendas and change stories to stir public clamor on relevant education issues. Examples include winning seats in the University of the Philippines’ University Student Council (USC) by bringing campaigns strongly linked to X-Ed, or by publishing statements on the turnover of DepEd secretary position and its implications.
Overall, this led to a positive change in behavior, as noted by Ken Gilo from SCAP, which could only lead to further validation of the movement/coalition-building component in X-Ed’s design.
Indigenous People Panel Discussion
As an addition to the LC, X-Ed has arranged a panel discussion with representatives from the education sector of Batanes. The overall approach to Phase 2 reflects the necessity to engage with other non-X-Ed sites to inform approaches in monitoring and advocating with marginalized learners.
ach resource person shared insights, experience, and information about indigenous people’s (IP) education in Batanes. They are Mr. Macky Noguera, OIC Schools Division Office (SDO) Batanes; Ms. Lizcel Ronino, IEAP Focal, National Center for Indigenous People (NCIP); Mr. John Dave Ablat, Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Federation Batanes President; and Ms. Yana Garcia, Batanes National Science High Supreme Secondary Learner Government (SSLG) Grade 11 Representative.
They each presented their insights on the state of IP education in Batanes, as well as best practices and challenges in ensuring quality, accessible, gender-responsive, and resilient IP education in their province.
The panel talked about the importance of close collaboration among different levels of governance to pool resources and support for students. Their close-knit communities enabled them to closely monitor children and encourage them to attend school.
“The Ivatan people feel that completing basic education is a moral obligation,” Mr. Noguera stated. “This is also reflected by only 1 to 2 dropouts last year,” he added.
DepEd SDO has been collaborating with Ivatan teachers to indigenize educational content to preserve their language and culture. Students from Grades 1 to 3 are under mother tongue-based learning, yet more and more children are becoming more proficient and prefer using Filipino or English.
According to Mr. Ablat, this is exacerbated by the fact that students rarely practice their local language in the home and in the community.
Ms. Ronino also shared NCIP’s program on supporting Ivatan youth with financial assistance in both basic and tertiary education through their Indigenous Education Assistance Program.
Ms. Garcia shared about challenges in accessing both print and online education resources due to limited internet access.
This was echoed by Mr. Ablat, given that there’s limited resources to ensure updated textbooks in times of national calamities. In addition, he also advocates to both DepEd and the provincial government to support students participating in academic competitions such as press conferences, besides sports.
Mr. Ablat also shared how he was able to raise concerns over utilizing their Special Education Fund (SEF), and how it should be properly allocated towards student needs.
However, he also pointed out that issues on gender and sexuality among the youth are yet to be explored at this level.
“There have been cases of teenage pregnancies, and talking about reproductive health and rights remains stigmatized, Mr. Ablat said. “Young people still experience fear and shame as they attempt to explore, limiting access to safe commodities to protect them from RH risks,” he added.
After the session, X-Ed processed their newly-gained insights, and drew lessons on multi-level collaboration of education duty-bearers, the importance of youth leadership through institutions such as SK, and how culture affects community perspectives on education.
As members processed the potential of insightful discussions featuring members from marginalized sectors in education, the team and local coordinators began to explore how to replicate this session in the coming months.
Youth-Led for X-Ed
In defining its own parameters and standards, X-Ed as a youth-led organization is geared to become an innovative case of a movement-based purposive approach to education accountability governance. Internally, operationalizing X-Ed is becoming much easier.
Mr. Francis Isaac began his discussion by differentiating youth engagement and youth participation, as reflected in his review of literature. Youth, in terms of engagement, started from being beneficiaries of projects and programs–”them” as stated in ACT Youth’s definition. Later on, critiques from this perspective gave rise to an enabling active participation from the youth themselves. Young people shift towards acting and taking part in decision-making to express claims and change.
Mr. Isaac then posed a question to the members, “Is youth participation always good?” Global and local history has had its share of active youth supporting fascist regimes. X-Ed then attempted to contest this idea, which eventually led to establishing a key element to genuine youth participation. “Who? For whom?” In other words, youth participation and its goals must both benefit the youth sector and the nation.
This was followed by Ms. Zarah Navarro presentation on the progress for ACE, while Ms. Leizl Adame shared a video featuring YODEMO (youth-centered development model) as added learnings from other CYAN projects.
Advocacy, Communications and Engagement
Two main concerns set the tone for this session. One, there’s a need to recalibrate communications to adapt to Phase 2’s focus on marginalized learners. Second, operationalizing advocacy and engagement to include other education stakeholders was realized as a gap that needs to be addressed. Based on discussions, X-Ed should have a more deliberate attempt to have targeted communications outputs for national and local duty-bearers, development and civil society organizations, and non-youth volunteers like teachers and parents.
“We are only as good as our communications strategy,” Mr. Isaac said.
Hence, this motivated the members of the LC to produce IEC materials worth launching, listed below.
-A booklet and primer on X-Ed’s reform agenda how to effectively advocate as a youth
-An infographic on the gains in BARMM, applying VI
-A video discussing how VI is applied for Marawi’s change story
-A comic series featuring relevant issues and bridging them to the X-Ed reform agenda
-Videos featuring volunteers and why they find the reform agenda relevant to them
-A campaign jingle and song for #MalayangEdukasyonPH.
These were all presented for comments from the members, all of which were expressions of excitement and motivation to improve the materials.
A last panel discussion was facilitated to process key takeaways, new topics for the next LC, and action steps for the sites and ACEs. These included suggestions to keep the momentum as monitoring is ongoing, and further amplifying ACE to both engage duty-bearers and include more youth in the movement. Documentation and learning as a process and item was also shared as a key takeaway, as well as adapting to existing successes from local site communications.
The 2nd Learning Collab on VI ended on a light and gleeful note, with a reinvigorated X-Ed team committed to deliver.