Dictionaries Please

Still on my Mindanao assignment,. one of my tours of duty led me to a small school in one of the southern provinces. Since I came unannounced, my visit allowed me to observe classes as they were. Students were polite and well behaved. Typical of a good teacher’s tutoring on good manners with a touch of the usual laid back innocence one finds in a barrio. I was impressed by their avid attention to their lessons and the earmark-worn workbooks that showed many hands had leafed through them.   There were at least two students to a workbook. I learned that teachers depend on just one workbook provided by the Department of Education with answer sheets that need to be photocopied or reproduced in the cheapest manner so the students can afford the material.

The entire school’s 14 classrooms depend on one computer which only the principal and the teachers can use, considering the equipment-versus-student ratio. The revered equipment is housed in a small corner of one big classroom that also houses the “reading area.”

It was with great pleasure when I learned that MOTOLITE through their Balik-Battery program gave schools like this a chance to have workbooks in exchange for old unused car and industrial batteries. The program was an answer to this need.

In this school, there is no library to speak of, just a reading area which could not be maximized as students could not use the place during their breaks as it doubled as a classroom. I gathered from the teachers that they were able to make things work in spite of the simple provisions the school has because they prefer to think of what they have and use it rather than wish and lament and what they don’t have. An attitude I found truly engaging.

There were some books we donated some time ago. I noted that some were still in their pristine condition. More because the students did not have the time and the privacy to scan through them, let alone read.

In this condition, reading was hard pressed to compete with the interactive venue of a nearby computer café that ran games of war and suspense that snagged the children’s attention from the importance of reading.

Another reason for reading disinterest was given to me: “Our students sometimes can not understand the words that they read Ma’am. When they try to browse through the books alone, they can not verify a word that is unfamiliar because we do not have a dictionary that is comprehensive enough. Even during class time, if we do not explain the meaning of the word, students do not have a chance to investigate on their own.” Mrs. Saez, one of the teachers shared. I empathized with their frustration but knew a simple solution for this concern.

The use of a dictionary may be too commonplace for us. But for these students, they are impaired by the lack of this material. They do not have the luxury of a computerized thesaurus or spell check programs. There is a need for at least 14 large comprehensive dictionaries for this school. One for every classroom.

In the Philippines, even if English is considered to be a second language, some of those who are sent to better-equipped schools speak it even better than the local tongue. And our prowess over this globally understood language has facilitated our transactions with other nations and spurred business and development. All because we understand what we are saying. The importance of a word opens relationships that seal deals. Words clarify meanings, they enlighten, help in better understanding the whole context of a statement. Understanding words encourages reading, the expands the mind and allows a person to go to places he has not been to.

Encouraging our students to read and learn can be accelerated by their understanding what they are reading. So I am campaigning for this need. Help me raise reading-loving children by taking part in my campaign for 14 good classroom dictionaries for this little school in Mindanao. I know in your Cebuano heart, there are no regional boundaries to pushing for development through understanding.

If you are willing to share a dictionary, please send your item to this paper and address them to BUSINESS AFTER BUSINESS, c/o The Freeman Newspaper, Star Group Bldg. corner V. Gullas and D. Jakosalem Streets. Please leave your name and contact number so we may acknowledge you properly and tell the children about you.