NOT ALL school children can read. That is a sad fact about the current education situation in many parts of the country. They are called frustrations readers. This problem hinders kids from getting the most out of their daily lessons, which is deemed to have a great impact to them as they progress on their journey of education.

Grade one pupils from Alabel Central Elementary School and SPED Center receive books from the Alcantara Foundation last year. *Image from QUEST

To help solve this problem, the Conrado and Ladislawa Alcantara Foundation Inc., the Office of the Provincial Governor of Sarangani, the Provincial SK Federation (PPSK), the Local Government Units of each municipality, the Department of Education, and the Ayala Foundation, Inc. joined hands in the Sarangani Big Brother Season 2: Reading is Fun, a reading program.

Sarangani Big Brother, which started last year, is a volunteer-based reading program that runs for 15 days during the summer. Volunteer school teachers will extend their services to the identified frustration readers. Youth volunteers, the Ate’s and Kuya’s of the paraticipants, are also mobilized as teacher aids that will help ensure that the participants obtain optimum learning in the program.

Tomorrow, April 14-16 is the first round of the training of the teachers and the youth volunteers in Maasim, Sarangani Province. That will be followed by the other six municipalities of Sarangani.

Ayala Young Leaders Congress alumni, together with other volunteers from PPSK and the units under the Office of the Governor, will facilitate the training.

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Being the senior AYLC alumnus in the group, I was tasked to talk on Servant Leadership. I am both honored and pressured because this is the topic that I think our Mentor, Sir Monch Mossessgeld, has the credibility to deliver. Haha. I think I will just borrow his words.