How ECCD can break the cycle of poverty

There are three ladies in the government who could have broken the cycle of poverty in our country using a self-sustaining Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) program but chose not to. Seeing their charm and beauty in the papers and television, they could have helped lift the self-respect of their fellow women in the barrios, but instead blocked it.

For politicians, numbers count, not the outcome

Two are mayors and one is a governor. I tried to work with all of them during troubled times in our country. The first saw the Pagsasarili Mothercraft Literacy course I used with the kulot and unat mothers and their children. (These are the Aeta tribes and the lowland farmers who lost their homes during the Mt. Pinatubo eruption.) She preferred to finance 400 poor quality preschools in her municipality making use of poorly trained para-teachers.

The second observed the same program used successfully in a small aluminum caserola (cooking pots) factory which employed and housed 150 illiterate Visayan workers and their families. The owner attended the course herself. This Chinese lady was so inspired that she decided to improve the dwelling area of her laborers. But the lady mayor without explanation merely withdrew her support for continuing the project in five other small factories she chose for our Pagsasarili trainers to help and monitor. This included her own barangay. The cost-effective program was curtailed and so 750 families lost their chance of a lifetime to become economically self-sufficient. Was she impatient with only six barangays and proposed to "bag" all 21 barangays with an instant project since she planned to run for Congress, that being her last year as mayor? Simply out of courtesy, she could have answered my persistent calls and messages.

Finally, the lady governor who took over the lengthy governorship of her predecessor did not show interest in continuing the latter’s project using the same Pagsasarili Mother and Child Literacy Program. Signing a memorandum of agreement the previous year with our foundation, the former governor had prepared everything: a fully equipped Mothercraft room in the Women’s Training Center at the kapitolyo, had the Social Work trainors complete their courses in the OB Montessori Pagsasarili Literacy Trainor’s school in Greenhills, and even solicited financial support from two large companies in the province. In spite of two years follow-up, the lady governor did not lift a finger to implement the literacy project that would have benefited the whole province. The province, close to Manila, sorely needed this literacy training. Its poor zoning plans and unclean surroundings, make the province a poor showcase.

ECCE is a time-bound opportunity to break the cycle of poverty

The World Bank program guide 2000 on ECCD, Early Childhood Counts by Evans, Myers, Ilfeld states that "Research shows that investment in the early years outperforms other public policy options in terms of savings on remedial programs. In this regard, ECCE (Early Childhood Care and Education) is increasingly seen as an investment with potential educational, social, and economic returns. For children from poor families, ECCE is a time-bound opportunity to break the cycle of poverty." Time-bound in the sense that national support is usually given by the First Lady or the President’s wife. After succeeding election, the new First Lady usually does not continue the same project.

The economic gains of such investment were surveyed by Dr. Eligio Barsaga, head of the Research Department of SEAMEO-INNOTECH which made a case study of our OB Montessori Pagsasarili preschools on its 10th year. Interviewing mothers, teachers and grown-up graduates in the eight improved slum areas where they are situated, he entitled his report "Helping People Help Themselves – A case study on the OB Montessori Pagsasarili Projects."

An often repeated report is the recollection of a parent, Mrs. Leonardo: "Rommel Leonardo, one of the first Pagsasarili preschoolers in Bagong Silang and now a fourth year high school student in Child Jesus at Phase 4, Bagong Silang is taking care of our small family business (selling ice and LPG) – from packaging of ice to selling and delivery of LPG tanks. He makes sure that the income is properly accounted for. And then at the end of the day, he makes a list of how much was sold and counterchecks with the inventory. From the sale, he gets his daily ‘baon’ of P20."

She continued, "Rommel washes and irons his own uniforms. As a young boy, he used to do this. I didn’t think he would continue to do so, but he still does. I think he really likes what he is doing. Moreover, among my children (two older girls and a younger boy), he is the most orderly. His clothes are properly folded in the ‘aparador’ according to use – house shirts, uniforms, Sunday clothes, etc."

OFW mothers’ exodus has destroyed families

Since the ’70s there has been an exodus of Filipino women to America, Europe and the Middle East. They sought to augment the family income by earning dollars as nurses, hotel chambermaids or domestic helpers. Most of them are married, leaving behind their husbands to look after many children. Although money was sent home regularly, lonely husbands usually spent them on other women, neglecting the children as well.

Thus, women may tend to look at children as a burden and even as obstacles to their being well employed. Parental negligence in ECCD can result in developmental defects, both physical and psychological, from early years which can have irreversible effects on the individual in his/her capacity to learn and participate in productive activities.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is an international treaty whose first articles mandate a "good family" for every child. The problems of the world have aggravated because quality parenting was not usually exercised by the illiterates. This has caused alarming crimes committed by adults and even parents themselves whose tyranny easily snuff out the lives of the very young and vulnerable children. Government is duty-bound to give family support training.

UNESCO 31 C/5 provides in Activity 2, the "Strengthening of Family Support Policy." "Family has the prime responsibility for the care and education of young children. Increasingly it becomes difficult for the families to fulfill this responsibility. Urbanization, disintegration of traditional values and family structure, increase of female participation outside the home, and other demographic and socio-economic changes are the causes.

Confusion in ministerial auspices

The World Bank study continues, "The unprecedented surge of policy attention to ECCE reinforces the view that ECCE should be framed within the government structure of support and policy development. First of all, a great deal of confusion surrounds the focus of ministerial auspices for ECCE. Secondly, since ECCE has long been shouldered by the private sector, the quest for public funding is a daunting challenge. That ECCE is a mother’s job that does not necessarily require the support of the public sector still dominates the policy makers’ thinking."

Tension occurs between the primacy of political, social, economic and technical criteria. The predominant social criteria are equality among citizens (bridging economic gaps and distribution of goods and services), respect for culture, and social participation. A social focus suggests targeting groups at risk, "constructively" rather than "compensatory," which means developmental rather than dole-out. Our government agencies resort to a participatory planning model which attracts the uniformed rabble rouser. What is wanting are knowledgeable leaders who can train and inform people properly.

The predominant economic criterion is cost-effectiveness. This criterion can lead to the choice of program models that are the most cost-effective, regardless of whether they are the best choice for the population they serve. The economic criterion may trade off against a political criterion of reaching the most number of people possible.

The predominant technical criteria are quality and improved results. The application of a technical criterion is often influenced by fad and lately has manifested in the desire to apply the latest technology. Note that the tendency of DECS to push computer education can be self-defeating since computer teachers are not culturally oriented. This does not also necessarily best serve the children at risk or even improve results.

Education, social and health welfare should be considered more productive than non-productive

The World Bank study adds: "The education, social and health sectors are often associated as areas of consumption rather than of production and get low priority in the government investment. On crisis periods, the ECCE budget is likely to be cut-off."

It is because the benefits of their services are regarded not tangible and immediate. In this regard, ECCE of which effects are difficult to measure and prove in the short-term, can become one of the dispensable investment options.

Socially and geographically disadvantaged children as well as children under three are proportionally more deprived of the early learning opportunities. For the disadvantaged groups, non-formal approaches have been introduced, of which tenet is to mobilize parents and communities. Can parents and communities mobilize the resources of the public sector?

How the Pagsasarili projects for infants up to age six sustain themselves

Under the motto: "Teach a Mother, Teach the Nation" the Pagsasarili provides two services: the Mothercraft or home-based literacy program for mothers and children from aged zero to three, and the Pagsasarili preschool program for the threes to sixes.

The first empowers the mother with the literacy course to understand child psychology for children aged zero to three. The training will help her condition her children for independence in caring for himself and his environment. The course consists of Personal Grooming (convertible to beautician’s skill), Cooking and Nutrition (extended to carinderia business), Good Housekeeping and Child Care (transform one into a well-paid housekeeper or yaya) plus refresher course in the three R’s, History, Geography, and Science using Montessori apparata.

The training of Mothercraft trainors are paid for by the sponsoring agency, like DILG, or NGO partners (Soroptimist, Rotary Club, etc.) They can send five social workers or community leaders. The cost of the eight-day training at the Literacy Center in OB Montessori, Greenhills is P18,000 (P3,600 x 5 @ P450 per training session). Putting up a Mothercraft Literacy School House would cost P12,000 for Practical Life materials and P10,000 for the Literacy materials. The barangay hall/community center is usually provided by the DILG or the sponsoring agency.

The operation of a Pagsasarili preschool program is also in a rent-free barangay hall. An NGO or a private company supports financially one set of Montessori classroom materials and furniture used in three sessions every day, thus servicing a hundred students.

During its first year, the tuition fee of P300 per month for a class of 30 children, plus registration and miscellaneous fees total to an annual income of P105,000. This is enough to pay for honorarium/salaries (partly subsidized by the NGOs, etc.) maintenance of the classroom and utilities. The P136,000 training, management and supervisory fees would be financially staggered in the first and second years, by the sponsor agency or NGO.

On its second year, the total annual income from tuition fees would be P210,000 (one classroom, two sessions, 60 children). Maintaining the same furniture and materials, with the training of teachers still being subsidized by the NGOs, savings can now materialize.

On the third year, the full enrollment of 180 children, using two classrooms would gain an income from annual tuition fees of P630,000. If total expenses of P595,591 is deducted, the net income would be P34,409. This could very well pay for the training, supervisory and other incidental expenses making it self-sufficient.

A Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences speaks

Mr. Robert W. Fogel, a Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences said, "At the dawn of the 20th century, human capital represented a small fraction of the total investment of business, far overshadowed by the investment in land, structures and machinery. At the dawn of the 21st century, however, human capital represents the bulk of assets of modern businesses. Human capital takes the form of labor skills, knowledge and physiological endowments. Both for individuals and businesses it is the size and quality of these immaterial assets that determine success in competitive markets."

(For more information, please e-mail at obmci@mozcom.com)