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If the Department of Education launched the Third Elementary Education Project a few years ago to improve on the quality of elementary education, now it is focusing on the next level – secondary education, with the eventual completion of the long-running Secondary Education Development and Improvement Project this month. Despite the project’s conclusion, it goes without saying that the implementation of its gains and opportunities should go on without fail, with its ability to stand on its own regardless of the absence of the project management team.

Education, after all, is a lifetime undertaking that knows no boundaries and limitations. So long as there are pupils and students, they are surely worth the nation’s investment any way you look at it. After all, our educational institutions would be nothing without these learners, our clientele.

Thus, it was a welcome move by the Asian Development Bank to be benefactor to the identified recipients of SEDIP, composed of 15 public secondary schools all over the country.

Visayas cluster schools are represented by the provinces of Antique, Guimaras, Negros Oriental. Biliran, Leyte, and Southern Leyte. Guimaras posted the highest percent of accomplishment in terms of SEDIP schools with complete interventions for the improvement of the system.

In terms of application of the learning gained from training programs and strategic planning, Visayas cluster schools tend to be most appreciative of the skills in training needs analysis and those that made an impact on developing teaching strategies of teachers and student performance.

Of the various program components, the Visayas cluster schools show most appreciation for the component on secondary schooling alternatives; in fact, plans are underway to expand this component.

Many are grateful for the intervention because they were able to qualitatively see the improvement in their drop-out rates and the performance of their SARDOs, or Students at Risk of Dropping Out,. The other project components were also lauded but not as much as they did for the component on secondary schooling alternatives, whose primary aim is to keep students from dropping out and for those who have strayed away, to let them come back into the fold.

Some of these initiatives are: tapping local government units for scholarships in various schools for SARDOs; cross monitoring; “Sagip Tanghalian,” a project supported by NGOs and donors to prepare lunch for the kids during remedial classes; IKOT-P, a project of the provincial governor which generates income for students by raising money from seedlings they are able to sell; bi-monthly conferences on SARDOs; putting up of clubs for SARDOs, utilizing students clubs for peer monitoring; projects such as “Share a Blessing: Manga at Niyog Kabalikat sa Pag-aaral,” variety stores, attendance incentives, and “Pera sa Basura.”

The school heads in Oriental Negros, for one, showed much promise in terms of applying what they have learned. The innovations and activities in their respective schools reflected a sense of commitment to putting their learning into practice. Their outputs, such as their school improvement plans, demonstrated basic knowledge in terms of expected content.

School heads in the past have been exposed to various practices that would help enhance their school management. Under the SEDIP program, those cited as new knowledge in terms of improving management of their schools are school-based management where school heads have said that the decentralized aspect of school-based management was a big eye-opener for them; just as students are to be mentored, school heads were made to realize the importance of mentoring also to their teachers; instructional consultancy was also done since most teachers are non-majors in the core subject areas taught in schools; and, keeping records in a systematized and accessible manner, which most school heads have taken for granted in the past.

Changes in behavior were also perceived and observed, mostly related to better management of schools. Many school heads expressed a renewed confidence in their ability to do tasks they thought they could not do before. Others point to a feeling of being “re-born” into roles they would not have dreamed of performing before.

Better rapport with community stakeholders, especially with local government units, was also evident. Much had been said about how they are now able to maximize their learned skills in order to tap the community stakeholders’ cooperation and interest in their schools. These have resulted in projects for schools and innovations they once felt was impossible to do. Generally, too, the sentiment is that their functioning as school heads or coordinators have been radically redefined as they now feel empowered.

Of all the SEDIP programs for school heads, school-based management in a decentralized setting took on a new dimension for the Visayas cluster school heads. Their testimonies bespeak of how they managed to apply what they have learned despite tight schedules of training activities and demands of school administration.

Some school heads from far-flung, small schools and who are advanced in age tend to have a lesser grasp of the concepts and show fewer accomplishments in terms of innovations and networking. Teachers-in-charge also tend to be overwhelmed by their work as school administrator and their respective teaching loads.

All site visits showed how stakeholders value the interventions introduced by the SEDIP Program. The mere attendance in focus group discussions bespeaks of the linkage the school heads have nurtured over these years. What was noticeable though is that not all stakeholders are conscious of the fact that their inputs (whether they are in the PTCA board meetings or in their regular interactions with the school principal) were actually part of the school improvement plans designed by the school head.

The community participants are more cognizant of the fact that they are being consulted and changes have been noticeable in their respective schools. But some are not aware of a formal forum done in the past where the PTCA had brainstorming sessions to come up with projects and plans for the school.

This shows that for some school, the board meetings of the PTCA and the consultations done with the school heads may have been the basis of much of their school improvement plans and that these were not necessarily the result of a formal form where the PTCA and other community stakeholders were gathered together for each and everyone to contribute in the making of the school improvement plans.

Community focus group discussions also revealed changes observed among teachers and school heads. Most refer to improvements on teaching strategies, increased student interests, and better management of schools as well as greater networking with community stakeholders.

In terms of school visitations, the school visited in Southern Leyte, according to the ADB monitoring and consulting team, was most impressive. Support from stakeholders was very evident and the school had done many innovations not observed in other Visayas cluster schools visited. The charting of performance in every classroom for every major subject for every student shows the determination to push students and teachers to reach their utmost potential to excel. The vivid display of SEDIP projects and interventions in every classroom reflects the importance placed by the school on this program.

What the schools should be thankful about are the equipment, materials, and textbooks handed out through the SEDIP. Concerns were raised, however, regarding the equipment, materials, and textbooks they received in light of future projects, which will undertake efforts to give them more of such things.

As a testimony of one school head in the province of Negros Oriental goes: “As long as we have stakeholders’ support, we can guarantee sustaining positive results.”

With the assumption of a new Schools Division Superintendent for Negros Oriental in the person of Mr. Licerio Napao, the gains, accomplishments, and opportunities gathered from the implementation of strategies of SEDIP for the past few years should not come to naught. It is really up to everyone concerned — particularly the school heads, principals, teachers-in-charge, and the teachers themselves – to get our act together towards a far better education division, surpassing no one else’s but itself.