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Tag: #synergeia

THE POWER OF LEADERSHIP

Posted on by synergeia

Before one reaches the  Central Eementary School in the Muncipality of Taraka, Lanao Del Sur, one has to pass thru a canal located just near the school entrance.  Among the many urban legends connected to that canal is the strange tale that once you throw a coin into it, the water will miraculously turn from brown to  crystal clear .  That is why when the SYNERGEIA team visited the Muncipality of Taraka for a meeting with the different school governing councils,  we did try to throw a coin into the canal, with the hope perhaps of proving the legend true.

Of course, nothing happened. The water remained brown as ever. 

But if one does want to see a sense of transformation in the Muncipality , then one need not throw a coin into that muddied canal. What one needs to do is see how education in the municipality is getting clearer with each passing day, thanks to the imaginative leadership of the Mayor Nashiba G. Sumagayan.

Being a former professor herself, Mayor Nashiba is a hands on Local Chief executive when it comes to making sure that education reforms are carried within her area. She often visits the schools under her care. She makes sure that teachers do come to school and perform their duties. She regularly calls for teacher meetings to assess not only the performance of the learners, but also to monitor the performance of the teachers’ themselves.

She has also taken the initiative of not relying too much on the municipality’s Special Education Fund to fund the education projects of the community.  Knowing full well, the difficulty of collecting real property taxes in the region, she has learned to set aside a portion of the general fund to meet the challenges of improving the state of education. She has also proactively looked for other sources of funds to support their programs.

This type of grounded leadership is one of the main strengths of the Local School Board of the Municipality of Taraka.  Surely it has contributed to Muncipality being awarded as one of the recipients of Synergeia’s 2018 Seal of Good Edication Governance Award.

But Mayor Nashiba’s leadership does not end with herself. She has encouraged every member of the Local school board to be involved and to participate in all the education programs of the Muncipality. She believes that coordination and cooperation are the main ingredients of a functioning school board.

To make this work, regular Local School Board meetings are held . Issues are openly discussed and solutions are vigorously debated upon.

The regularity of the school boards’ meeting and their proactive approach to issues has borne fruit during the Covid19 crisis.   The board took the initiative of distributing relief packs to all the learners of the municipality.  They have also began planning on releasing printed learning and reading materials to address the concerns of parents regarding the availability of study materials this coming school year.

An involved local chief executive and an empowered local school board can indeed transform muddied minds into minds capable of clearer thinking.

So next time, one visits the municipality of Taraka, instead of throwing your coin into the muddied water canal near the Central Elementary School and hope for a miraculous change of color, may I suggest that you go straight to the school itself.

Perhaps, you may be lucky enough to see what transformation is all about.

The Greatness of Mr. Wash SyCip

Posted on by synergeia

Mr. Wash SyCip should have been 99 years old on June 30 this year. He did not live to be 100 perhaps because he had already achieved his mission in life.  Through his example, he taught us that greatness lies in helping others, particularly the poor, so they can overcome the shackles that bind them to poverty.  He dedicated his life in helping children complete, at the very least, basic   education.  He always asked the question of how we can give them the best opportunities that are equal to, if not more than what he experienced when he was a student in Burgos Elementary School.

He brought the need to improve basic education to the center of consciousness of the nation.  He spoke about it in every forum.    He used his influence and gently pressured the leaders of the business community to earmark part of their profit to help children in public schools.  During his birthdays, he requested his friends not to give him gifts but to sponsor learning programs. He cajoled me to overcome my shyness so that I can join his dinners where I was presented as Exhibit A to promote his advocacy. I found myself sitting beside Mr. James Wolfensohn, President of the Word Bank, President B. Aquino, the CEOs of top corporations, and even the beautiful people of Tatler, to talk about our education programs.

 He was equally generous with his own resources.  Even without asking, he funded programs that reduced dropouts, trained teachers, transformed mayors to become education leaders, and helped parents to become more involved with schools.    He agreed to pose for billboards and advertisements on condition that his honoraria would finance programs in education.  He invested in many programs that answered the needs of schoolchildren– food, workbooks, training, and playgrounds.  When relief was withheld from Naga City because of politics, he gave Mayor Jesse Robredo  one million pesos so that school buildings can be rebuilt.

He gave children, their local leaders, parents, and teachers, the most precious gift of all— his presence.  He opened our education program in ARMM by personally going to Marbel in South Cotobato to preside over a meeting with mayors and barangay captains.  He gamely participated in a group dance with parents from Taguig in a rackety-rackety basketball court beside the railroad tracks.  He found it difficult to reconcile how poverty could rise side by side with opulence in BGC.  He walked with informal settlers from Intramuros.  By listening to them, he gave proof that men of power and wealth did genuinely care.  He looked so frail in our last education summit before his passing, but he walked up the stage to rally “his education agents” that their cause was great and sublime. 

In all his greatness, Mr. SyCip was a model of humility and selflessness. Through his examples, he demonstrated that power and wealth are only valuable when they are used to empower those who have less I life.   He demanded no entitlement.  He queued up with all the others to wait for his turn.  He took no offence when ordinary people did not know his name.  He humbly extended his hand and said “I am Wash.”  He refused to be escorted to meetings.  He was uncomfortable every time I walked him to his car and said “you should be doing more important things”.

Mr. SyCip constantly accosted me for not spending more time for visioning and planning.  He said that as CEO of an organization, I should be empowering the staff and trusting them with operations. He made us learn accountability by demanding that targets be set to measure ROIs from our budgets.  He went beyond stories and anecdotes that dramatized our successes.  He demanded not just numbers, but outcomes.  How many children completed the school year?  How have reading and math scores increased?  How many grade one children completed grade six?

And he did not mince a word when we failed to meet our targets or prepare our reports on time.  And then, he would make up by giving us chocolates and things that caught his fancy.  During our first Synergeia Christmas, he distributed cash-gifts to the staff saying that we should never fail to appreciate their valuable contribution.

Mr. SyCip had great accomplishments and was sought by the high and mighty all over the world for his advice and wisdom.  But for me, the greatness of Mr. SyCip was in seeing with his heart, in loving the poor, and in many ways, being childlike.  He gave us the gifts of trust, faith, wonder, and devotion.

by Milwida Guevara

Our North Star

Posted on by synergeia
North Luzon Regional Education Council officers are sworn in by Synergeia Mentor and Former Mayor Mary Jane Ortega

As early as March 2019, Mayors of Northern Luzon were already talking about ways to sustain the education reforms they have started.  They do not want to let their efforts fade away.  And so, on October 11, 2019 or after just seven months, they gathered together in Baguio City to formally launch the North Luzon Regional Education Council with lead convenor, Former Mayor and Synergeia Mayor, Mary Jane Ortega.   They agreed that their REC will be their vehicle to sustain and scale up education governance reforms.  They will provide leadership to LGUs in the region and come up with programs that will provide capacity building, sharing of lessons and best practices.  Overall, through their REC, they want to promote a brotherhood of Education LCEs in Northern Luzon.  

Their first meeting was productive, eventful and inspiring.  They invited 2 private sector leaders whose companies have made Northern Luzon their home base.  Mr. Carlos Aboitiz of the Aboitiz Group and Mr. Tommy Valdez of San Roque Power Corporation talked about what keeps their respective firms devoted to helping the education of children.  Mr. Aboitiz said that the Aboitiz Group and Hedcor, Inc. believe in advancing business and communities in its drive to change for a better world. “We win only when we see also that our community wins.”  This principle is shared by Mr. Valdez.  He said their company aim is to build better communities.  He is proud to be part of the effort to develop workbooks in English, Science and Math in partnership with LGUs and through the help of Synergeia.   He said everyone should join hands to help others especially the poor so that through education, we can help our fellowmen especially the poor.  This was followed by Local Chief Executives – Mayor Juan Carlo Medina of Vigan City, Mayor Stefanie Eriguel of Agoo, Mayor Francis Fontanilla of Bacnotan and Mayor Hermie Velasco of San Gabriel who shared their experiences in pushing forward the education agenda in their respective LGUs.

This REC is one proud REC.  It has among its ranks 12 winners of the Seal of Good Education Governance, a prestigious award handed out to LGUs who display a strong commitment to improving education.  The magnificent 12 include Vigan City, Ilocos Sur; Agoo, Bacnotan, San Gabriel and Santol, in La Union Province; Solano, Kayapa, Villaverde, Sante Fe and Diadi in Nueva Vizcaya; Diffun, Quirino and Tuba in Benguet. 

With the Northern Luzon LGUs now inspired and energized, they held a session to discuss their proposed by-laws and to elect the following as officers of their REC:

Chairman:                                     Mayor Juan Carlo Medina (Vigan City)

Vice Chairman:                            Mayor Stefanie Anne Eriguel (Agoo, La Union)

Secretary:                                      Mayor Eufemia Dacayo (Solano, Nueva Vizcaya)

Treasurer:                                      Mayor Alicia Enrique (San Nicolas, Pangasinan)

Auditor:                                         Mayor Francisco Fontanilla (Bacnotan, La Union)

Communications Officer:         Mayor Victorio Palangdan (Itogon, Benguet)

CAR Representative:                  Mayor Manuel Munar, Jr. (Sablan, Benguet)

Region I Representative:          Mayor Herminigildo Velasco (San Gabriel, La Union)

Region II Representative:         Mayor Elizabeth Balasya (Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya)

They agreed that capacitating the LSBs is their topmost agenda.  And they walk the talk.  They held 2 training workshops for Local School Boards in November 2019 – one for Region I and CAR members and the second was for Region II members.   The participating LSBs crafted their individual action plans based on their desired outcomes, and identified specific tasks, timelines and responsible persons.        

In its first quarterly meeting this February 2020, the REC members talked about their experiences in reinventing the LSB.  New members shared how they expanded their membership, created programs on reading remediation, included principals in planning the utilization of the Special Education Fund (SEF), hired LSB teachers, used the Phil-IRI in looking into reading skills of children, and attempted to activate their School Governing Councils (SGCs).   

Older members reported how they have federated their SGCs, hired reading teachers and expanded their reading programs.  The Municipality of Bacnotan and the barangays in Santol, La Union have allocated funds to create reading centers in the sitios.   In San Fernando, La Union, the DepEd has incorporated values formation in their lesson plans.  In Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya, the LSB has created Little Free Libraries in each school.  

Tuba, Benguet said it uses the “mother tongue” instruction only in classrooms where it applies.   Agoo, La Union has tapped the NSTP students in helping teachers in conducting remedial reading sessions to poor readers.   Villaverde, Nueva Vizcaya worked on improving the collection of the Real Property Tax (RPT) to increase the Special Education Fund (SEF).   Vigan City LSB has invested on a massive Summer Reading Camp for frustrated and instructional readers.  And Solano, Nueva Vizcaya LSB has been paying the salaries of daycare workers.   

The North Luzon REC is leading the way among the six RECs and is first to meet again since the onslaught of the covid19 pandemic.  They did it via zoom last July 17.  They talked about how they can continue to share information and access trainings for the LSBs, SGCs, parents and teachers under the new normal set-up.  Many were eager and interested to get hold of the learning resources produced by Synergeia.

Like the north star which lights the northern sky and gives direction towards one’s destination, the North Luzon REC is our north star that shines brightly among the RECs, and inspires and leads our LGU partners through their journey towards effective education governance.    

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