(Part 1)
O.B. Montes-sori alumnus Eric Africa is currently Lipa City Mayor. He and his wife Rowena, a board member of the city enrolled their eldest and second child in the Pagsasarili Preschool in Marawoy City Hall. They were delighted to observe their children so organized in fixing their things at home, and being conscious of grooming themselves before going out of the house. They particularly enjoyed setting the table for meals. As an experiment, they enrolled their third child in a private preschool in Lipa. They immediately saw how their third child’s personality was different compared to their older children because he was less refined in movement and needed more encouragement to be diligent with his studies. Having proven that the Pagsasarili Preschool Program develops children’s enthusiasm to learn and to work, they have since enrolled their two succeeding children in the Pagsasarili Preschool. By summer of 2020 Mayor Eric Africa co-hosts with Governor Hermilando Mandanas the convention celebrating the milestone anniversary of Pagsasarili preschools of the province of Batangas .
Transforming day care centers into Pagsasarili preschools
It was summer 2005 when Governor Vilma Santos Recto (then mayor of Lipa City) sent 15 DSWD day care workers to train for the OB Pagsasarili preschool program at the O.B. Montessori headquarters in Greenhills, San Juan. Gov. Vilma and her husband, Ralph Recto decided to provide a quality preschool program for the city of Lipa and agreed to use the OB Pagsasarili preschool program in the city under the coordination of then CSWD head Tess Pesa.
Being former preschool students themselves at the first O.B. Montessori school in Escoda, Paco Manila, (circa 1968) Ralph Recto and his brother Vincent have fond memories of their Montessori experience.
Every year for three years, Gov. Vilma Santos had DSWD day care workers have to pass a battery of tests for maturity, intelligence and teaching aptitude given the Pagsasarili proficiency preschool teacher training program at the OB Montessori Center in Greenhills. The succeeding mayors of Lipa also continued this program. When she became governor of Batangas, Vilma implemented the OB Pagsasarili preschool program in the different municipalities. To date, there are 25 municipalities (Malvar, Cuenca, Padre Garcia, San Pascual, Taal, Tuy, San Luis, Sta. Teresita,Ibaan, San Nicolas, Calatagan, Lobo, Mataas na Kahoy, Mabini, Rosario, Calaca, Balete, San Juan, Talisay, and Nasugbu) and 72 barangays in Lipa (with 99 day care centers) using the OB Pagsasarili system in their DSWD Day Care Centers.
The OB Pagsasarili training program contrasts with the traditional preschool teacher training
The Batangas day care workers undergo the five-week intensive Operation Brotherhood Pagsasarili Montessori Training mastering the internationally standardized materials for Practical Life, Sensorial Arts, Language, Math and Cultural Arts (geography, history, botany, zoology) and write their apparatus book, whereas the conventional preschool teacher lets children follow a simpler routine, of workbook time, play time, snacks, singing, and storytelling sessions.
A set of OB Pagsasarili materials is used by 25 to 30 children (for 2 ½ hours) per class. A classroom may have three sessions per day. Each Practical Life, Sensorial Arts, Language, Math and Cultural Arts materials have containers conditioning the child to follow the cycle of work practice of returning things to their proper place. They are classified and kept in the same place in open shelves, low enough for the preschoolers to reach.
The DSWD day care centers using the OB Pagsasarili preschool program is financially sustainable by proper funding of the city government and parent contributions averaging P200 monthly and increasing gradually. The 30-year-old Pagsasarili in Metro Manila has the maximum contribution of P1,500 monthly. We observe that parents’ income increases as they are inspired by their children’s acquiring Gr. III competence and at ease speaking English.
The pleasant discovery of the ‘new teachers’
Here are some anecdotes from the Lipa teacher trainees and children:
VILMA (San Sebastian): “As early as March 2005, Ms. Tess Pesa, Social Welfare city officer, brought us to Manila to meet Ambassador Soliven and the Pagsasarili teacher trainors. We didn’t expect to be subjected to a battery of tests for IQ, teaching aptitude and maturity. We started training a month after.
“We felt lonely because it was the first time we were apart from our families. Since the training was conducted in English, we struggled reading the Montessori books and writing essays up to 2 a.m. By 6 a.m., we had to start preparing for the Monday to Friday 8 a.m. sessions that lasted the whole day.”
“The Pagsasarili materials (practical laundry, sweeping, dressing frames, Geography puzzle maps, classified Botany and Zoology picture cards) were like toys, that had to be assembled with precision. Apparatus books had to be compiled with like written ‘recipes’ for each material. Practical exams required oral presentation. Hindi pala basta basta ang maging Pagsasarili Montessori teacher.”
MARY ANNE (Antipolo Del Norte 1): “Noong unang araw ay napakadaming tanong and nabuo sa isip ko – mahirap ba o madali? Kinabukasan nasagot kaagad ito - Sumabak kami sa ‘essay writing’ on the Life and Works of Maria Montessori and impromptu public speaking with the Dale Carnegie course.
“Sa aming pag-uwi ng weekend sa Lipa ay sumalubong and mga problema – may sakit na anak, naaksidenteng anak – mabilis naubos ang allowance na bigay ni Mayor. Tila ba nagkaroon kami ng dahilan upang huwag bumalik sa OB Montessori pagsapit ng Lunes. Pero, dahil ito ang aming tungkulin, at sa pagtitiwala ng aming mahal na Mayor Vilma, walang anuman ang maaring humadlang sa amin at nagpatuloy kami sa training.”
How the milestone influence of Pagsasarili education ignite the sustainable development of the country
Some Pagsasarili teachers in Batangas have integrated the Pagsasarili materials with the ECCD curriculum. Some have even had their centers accredited by ECCD Council using only the Pagsasarili materials. This suggests that the two programs can be integrated.
We have reached a milestone in Batangas after the Pagsasarili project has been implemented for the past 15 years. Students who studied preschool are now in college or even working. Many of them are hardworking and confident they stand out as they work with others. They attribute these characteristics to their training in the Pagsasarili. We have planted the seed in Batangas, and other provinces of Luzon, from Ifugao, down to Tacloban and Mati, Davao. We are due to reap our harvest of hope for our country. The new children who are independent and will use their talents to make a difference not only in their community but anywhere they may go in the country or abroad. Some of the Pagsasarili teachers are now in the public school conditioning the students to help themselves instead of merely dictating them.
“They are the keepers of the flame. It is the flame of the Almighty Father. From them will shine forth the destiny of the nation.”
(Part II “Adapting Pagsasarili into the Public Elementary School”)
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