Background. One Small Step Forward Foundation had also been involved since 2005 with Sto. Cristo Elementary School in Sto.Cristo – Pag-asa, Quezon City. In 2005, Bing responded to a distress call from school principal Nitz Pangilinan., who feared that a whole Grade 3 section would fail, as the Education Department threatened to strictly enforce a policy of “no read, no pass” for all 3rd graders throughout the country. That scared the principal since they had a literacy test at the beginning of the schoolyear (July 2005) and Grade 3 section 4 (the laggard section) had an average 15% literacy score. Which would mean they’d all flunk and be held back if the threat of the Education Department was actually carried out.

A Vicious Cycle. Bing learned that section 4 was always the dumping ground of the low IQ and the unmotivated or problematic children. That the effort needed to handle 60 Section 1 students is ¼ the effort needed to handle 60 section 4 students; and unfortunately, the best teachers get assigned the best (Section 1) sections, and conversely, the worst teachers handle the poorest sections. That despite loud claims to contrary, there are not enough textbooks to go around. That there was a high correlation between economic prosperity and sectioning, with the children of the poorest parents tending to be in Section 4.

This poverty results in a whole new set of problems. For example, parents are unable to provide their children with pads, notebooks and pencils. When the Section 1 teacher writes on the board, the Section 1 students start copying. When the Section 4 teacher starts writing, almost no one is copying since they have nothing to copy with. Also, absenteeism is highest, sometimes reaching 50%, because some parents prefer that their children take time off from school to earn money by peddling sampaguitas or flannel wipes. These are the same parents for whom getting kids educated is lower priority vis-à-vis day-to-day survival. Thirdly, children are often malnourished – section 4 children had actually fainted in class from actual hunger.

A Host of Interventions. What One Small Step Forward Foundation I did last year was to cut up section 4 – a class of 50 – into three groups during Filipino and English hours and paid the allowances of two extra teachers. All the textbooks were photocopied and each student was given a complete set. Phonetic, mnemonic and audio-visual learning aids were purchased. Plus, each section 4 child was given a schoolbag – with notebook, pad, pencils, eraser, crayons, illustration board-blackboard, and ruler inside. Finally, the Foundation mounted a modest feeding program, with each child in the section being fed a cup of noodles three times a week. The intervention was an unqualified success. At the end of the year (March 2006), 95% of the children had hurdled the literacy achievement test.

A New Problem. In September 2006, principal Nitz Pangilinan again approached the Foundation for help. She had the same literacy dilemma with Grade 2, because all first graders last year were promoted to grade 2, based on assurances from parents of 35 illiterate children that they would coach their children in the summer months. Not too coincidentally, the 35 kids belonged to the poorest families, had the highest absenteeism records, and had major social skill deficiencies. But testing in the first month revealed that there had been no progress made; the parents had not kept their part of the bargain. So Sto. Cristo was again faced with the distinct possibility of the equivalent of an entire section of students finishing grade 2 without being able to read with comprehension.

Accenture Intervenes. Bing discussed the problem with Accenture and it struck a sympathetic chord with the organization’s senior executives. Accenture agreed to provide financial support for the planned “intervention”, similar to what the Foundation had mounted the year before. At the Foundation’s request, the school pulled the 35 problematic children out of the four regular sections, created a new “section 5” and hired a new teacher, Miss Gigi Socano, at a contractual salary of P5,000 monthly, to handle the class. Additional reading and language workbooks were purchased for each student. In addition, every child was provided a full set of school supplies. Finally, the school was asked to provide a three-times-weekly feeding program for the 35 students – plus 15 other severely malnourished kids from the other Grade 2 sections – to be prepared by the school’s HE department, with a budget of P15 per meal, or roughly P10,000 monthly, excluding the cook’s allowance. Based on last year’s experience, Bing is confident that the special attention will achieve the objectives. Already, absenteeism has dropped to below 20% and the teacher reports a significant increase in interest and motivation levels for 25 of the 35. Accenture’s Nescel had met with the principal and the assigned teacher twice and met the kids once already. She also witnessed the feeding program in action last November 6, 2006.