By: Donald B. Aguinaldo
The Supreme Student Government (SSG) has implemented a twin project that will cater to disadvantaged learners as classes shift to distance learning this school year.
In separate resolutions both dated August 24, the student body approved the Pen and Pad Paper Project (4Ps) and Mobile Peer Tutoring Project.
SSG President Micah Azzeyah D. Ante said the initiatives will promote the welfare of learners by aiding those who may find difficulty in learning with the modular approach.
“These projects will target learners who struggle in their finances and with independent learning to help them get through the challenges of the new and better normal in education,” Ante explained, adding that the pandemic has made living conditions challenging even more.
Complementing the modular approach
The projects will both complement the modular distance approach to learning which will require the learners to accomplish various written tasks with the assistance of their parents, other family members and stakeholders in the community acting as para-teachers.
Addressing financial constraints, the 4Ps targets to raise and distribute pad papers and ballpens to at least 200 disadvantaged learners of the school.
The SSG president said children of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program beneficiaries and learners in remote places are the priority recipients of the project.
“Learners are required to write their outputs on sheets of paper. Given the voluminous written outputs they are expected to submit, the provision of free school supplies will be of great help to our fellow learners,” the top SSG leader added.
Meanwhile, the Mobile Peer Tutoring Project aims to network learners who may struggle with independent learning with their fellow and performing learners acting as peer tutors.
Ante said the project opens opportunity for struggling learners to consult their questions regarding their tasks and lessons with their peer tutors.
“The SSG is working with 30 peer tutors who will have to receive calls and messages from their fellow learners,” she added, noting that in-person tutoring may not be possible due to the pandemic.
“It will also support teachers and complement the duty of parents, other family members and stakeholders in the community who serve as para-teachers,” she said.
Through this project, learners can assume the roles of para-teachers especially in the event where parents, other family members and stakeholders in the community are not available to respond to the needs of the learner.
Ante stated, however, that peer tutors will only be available on their schedules so they can also attend to their tasks and lessons.
Keeping bayanihan alive
The projects will further the collaboration of the school with its stakeholders and partners as both rally around helping disadvantaged learners of the school.
As of writing, the student government was able to accumulate nearly 300 pad papers and ballpens and other school supplies through its donation drive.
These on top of the cash donations amounting to nearly 7,000 pesos that have been raised by the officers of the student body since the projects’ inception.
“We thank our education stakeholders and partners for their support especially as we respond to the challenges in education in this trying time,” Edward D. Garcia, PhD, the school principal, expressed.
“Any small acts of kindness and generosity matter, particularly so that the pandemic has affected the living conditions of our learners and their families,” Dr. Garcia added.
In addition to the donation drive, the SSG also offers pre-loved clothes online in which all proceeds will be used to sustain the projects.
“The support of our stakeholders and partners have been overwhelming. We resolve among ourselves in the student body to replicate the projects in the coming months,” Sol U. Calata, the SSG adviser, declared. #