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A Mini Case Study on Using ECARP in Banza Elementary School

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Why the Research Was Conducted?
Juan Miguel Luz discussed in an article titled A Nation of Nonreaders that, Metro Manila
shows a higher literacy level than the rest of the country but low levels of reading competence, one
can only expect even lower reading scores in other regions of the country with less endowments and
educational facilities than the National Capital Region. (Luz, 2014) This is the reason why I went
to Banza Elementary School aside from the fact that it is just near my place to see how Every
Child A Reader Program is being implemented.
There is a serious reading problem in the Philippines specially in public schools in the rural
areas. We are a nation of non-readers because we are storytellers. Our culture is reliant on oral
history or word of mouth passed from generation to generation. Hence, we prefer to watch T.V.
more than reading newspapers and books: most of the information people receive today is gathered
from television (62 percent) and radio (57 percent). Newspapers and magazines are read by only 47
percent and 36 percent of the population respectively, according to a 2003 government survey.
(Luz, 2007/ Retrieved from: http://pcij.org/stories/a-nation-of-nonreaders/) A research on the
reading issues of early learners in the provinces is the most interesting because they represent
majority of the young learners in our country.

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Every Child A Reader Program: Goals, ojectives, demographics and history
In a memorandum issued by the Department of Education on October 25, 2011, the
administration of President Benigno Aquino institutionalized the Every Child A Reader Program.
It aims to:

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a. promote reading and literacy among the pupils and students;

b. motivate our youth to learn from the lives and works of eminent Filipinos;
c. uphold ones own heritage and values; and
d. make reading a shared physical experience, specifically among the youth, thereby
increasing its relevance amidst the growing reliance on the internet and inclination to on-line
activities.
This program has been implemented for more than 2 years by the Department of Education.
On September 18, 2013, the Department of Education issued DO 40, s. 2013- Guidelines on the
Utilization of Funds for the Every Child a Reader Program (ECARP) Under 2013 General
Appropriations Act that states: Learning to read, write, and count is critical to a childs success in
school and later in life. One of the best predictors of whether or not a child will function
competently in school and go on to contribute actively in the knowledge-based society is the level
to which the child progresses in these foundational and predictive skills. Although reading, writing,
and numeracy abilities continue to develop throughout the life span, the early childhood years, from
birth to age eight, is the most important period for literacy and numeracy development. The ability
to read, write, and count does not develop naturally, nor without careful planning and instruction.
The availability and accessibility of age-appropriate and culturally sensitive materials for children
are extremely important to encourage the regular practice of reading and counting. It further states
that, In line with the implementation of the K to 12 Basic Education Program, the Department of
Education (DepEd) has strengthened the implementation of Every Child a Reader Program
(ECARP). This Program is envisioned to establish and institutionalize, through a Multi-literacy and
Numeracy Program, a continuous, sustainable and cost-effective professional development system
(school-based mentoring or learning partnership program for technology transfer) to primary school
teachers and thereby produce Filipino children with literacy and numeracy skills for lifelong
learning There will be: Orientation and Planning Workshop on the Multiliteracy and Numeracy
Program for Chiefs and Coordinators, Capacity Building of Teachers Trainers (Training of
Trainers) on Pedagogical Approaches to Developing Literacy and Numeracy and to Providing

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Appropriate Assessment and Intervention. The above activities to be undertaken by DepEd Central
Office (CO) aim to capacitate and establish a pool of region and division trainers who will, in turn,
train selected Grade 1 teachers who will serve as mentors/learning partners in school-based
mentoring/learning partnership program. The above activities to be undertaken by DepEd Central
Office (CO) aim to capacitate and establish a pool of region and division trainers who will, in turn,
train selected Grade 1 teachers who will serve as mentors/learning partners in school-based
mentoring/learning partnership program. The support funds shall be downloaded to the regions in
the total amount of Eighteen Million Seven Hundred Thousand Pesos (P 18,700,000.00) to fully
implement the initiated reading and numeracy program interventions of the Department. Upon
release of the allotment by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to the DepEd CO,
the Budget Division-Financial and Management Service (FMS) shall issue the Sub-Allotment
Release Order (Sub-ARO) to the regional offices (ROs). After receipt of Sub-ARO, the
implementing units (IUs) and the ROs shall request from the DBM-Regional Office (RO) the
corresponding cash requirements or Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA). Management and
disbursement of the funds, including the submission of quarterly physical and financial
accomplishment reports every third day of the succeeding quarter (April 3, July 3, October 3 and
January 3) using the prescribed template in Enclosure No. 2 to the Schools DO concerned, shall be
the responsibility of the SHs of the implementing schools subject to the usual accounting and
auditing rules and regulations.The DO shall conduct progress monitoring of the implementation of
the planned activities of the program and consolidate and submit the consolidated Physical and
Financial Accomplishments using Enclosure No. 3 every fifth day of the month of the succeeding
quarter (April 5, July 5, October 5 and January 5) to the DepEd RO concerned, copy furnished the
BEE, DepEd CO at bee.sdd.2013@gmail.com and Office of the Planning Service-Planning and
Programming Division at opsppd.deped@gmail.com, DepEd Complex, Meralco Avenue, Pasig

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City. The RO shall conduct quality assurance and monitor pertinent DO activities and provide the
latter with appropriate technical assistance.
In Memorandum No. 244 declaring November as the National Reading Month every year
the schools are enjoined to hold the following activities:
a. Read-A-Thon. This activity seeks to foster a reading culture among pupils. It aims to determine
the most outstanding individual and team readers among elementary pupils in public schools;
b. Drop Everything and Read (DEAR). This is a fifteen to twenty (15-20) minute daily activity
devoted to reading books or any materials available in the school;
c. Big Brother/ Big Sister / Kaklase Ko, Sagot Ko / Shared Reading. In this activity, older students
or independent readers mentor pupils who are at the frustration reading level or non-reading level;
d. Pull-Out Remedial Class / Reading Assistance Program/ Remediation Classes / Intensified
Remedial Reading. Remedial lessons are given to children in the frustration reading level by
teachers or class advisers;
e. Five Words A Week (FWAW)/A Paragraph A Day (APAD)/Library Hour A Week. In this activity,
the pupils are encouraged to learn and master one word a day, five days a week, and to read aloud
one or two paragraphs a day before classes starts to develop oral communication; and
f. Reading Camp. This activity aims to highlight the pupils talents in communication arts through
competitions.

It was also stated that, DepED officials (regional, division and school levels) are directed to

lead a nationwide synchronized reading program conducted every first Monday of November from
9:00 to 10:00 in the morning.

The Data Gathering

After gathering data about the memorandum on online, I sent a letter to the Department of
Education Butuan City Division to ask for permission on my investigation. I resorted to online
research on the documents pertaining to ECARP because the administrators could not locate the
pertinent documents. After getting the nod from the Division Superintendent of Department of
Education Butuan City Divsion, I went to Banza Elemntary School to interview the principal and 2

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grade one teachers, and some parents. My plan was to interview the principal and observe how the
FWOW, DEAR, Remedial Class are implented.
The good thing was when I went to their school I was able to observe how they celebrated
the Reading Month. The principal also allowed me to observe the grade One classes where I got to
see how the ECARP was implemented, and also the MTB-MLE.
In observing the Remedial Class for reading, I was also given the privilege of looking into
their reading materials. Using the components of a Balanced Literacy Program, I made an
observation on their reading classes and with The Essential Guide to Selecting and Using Core
Reading Programs by Peter Dewitz, I also made an observation on their reading materials which in
reality discouraged me to go further in this research because the school have no quality or proper
reading materials to speak of, except for some obsolete textbooks, an MTB-MLE module, and
visual aids.

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The Interviews and Observations
Mrs. Bonglay is the principal of Banza Elementary School. In our interview she emphasized
that her school observes the Drop Everything and Read, Five Word A Week, and Remedial Reading.
Before the start of the classes at 8:00 A.M., each student in all grade levels can have a time to read
anything aside from their given textbooks. But she also said there are days this is not observed
because the students are too busy cleaning the school rooms, grounds and gardens.
Indeed, when I went there on November 26-28, 2014, I did not see the kids read anything at
8 A.M. Instead I saw kids playing hide and seek, sweeping their classrooms, and tending the plants.
The children spent their first hour in the morningfor those who are obedient to the teachers with
brooms, for those who are playful with game cards and rubber bands.

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The parents in Banza Elementary School know nothing about the reading program of the
government. But they are aware that it is important for their children to learn reading and writing.
So far their concern is with the new curriculum which is the K-12 because they are worried about
their childrens learning and progress.

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The Reading Month
On November 28, 2014 Banza Elementary School celebrated the Reading Month through a
Reading Camp and I went there to observe. It was a well-prepared program because the parents and
teachers worked hand in hand. The parents worked on the gifts and prizes, while the teacher worked
on training the students for their presentation.
The remarkable points during the Reading Camp were the participation of the selected
students. Although their diction was not as audible as those students educated in exclusive/private
school, they showed enthusiasm in performing their parts.
If it was an effective way of promoting love for reading, I cannot say so. But it was an
effective way of encouraging students to particpate and perform staged activities. The Reading
Camp was supposed to highlight the pupils talents in communication arts through competitions.
The Reading Camp was supposed to be just a portion of the activities for the Reading Month
since there are other activies namely:
a. Read-A-Thon. This activity seeks to foster a reading culture among pupils. It aims to
determine the most outstanding individual and team readers among elementary pupils in public
schools;
b. Drop Everything and Read (DEAR). This is a fifteen to twenty (15-20) minute daily activity
devoted to reading books or any materials available in the school;
c. Big Brother/ Big Sister / Kaklase Ko, Sagot Ko / Shared Reading. In this activity, older
students or independent readers mentor pupils who are at the frustration reading level or nonreading level;
d. Pull-Out Remedial Class / Reading Assistance Program/ Remediation Classes / Intensified
Remedial Reading. Remedial lessons are given to children in the frustration reading level by
teachers or class advisers; and

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e. Five Words A Week (FWAW)/A Paragraph A Day (APAD)/Library Hour A Week. In this
activity, the pupils are encouraged to learn and master one word a day, five days a week, and to
read aloud one or two paragraphs a day before classes starts to develop oral communication.

The other mandated activities were not emphasized during their celebration for reasons I
was not able to ask the School Principal, Mrs. Bonglay. They focused on the Reading Camp as the
main activity when the other parts are very important. When I went there I did not see any activity
that looks like a Read-A-Thon, DEAR, or FWAW.
The activities the principal told me to observe was the DEAR and Remedial Reading. As I
have mentioned on the time alloted for DEAR, the students were busy cleaning and playing.
The Remedial Reading is every 1:00 to 1:30. I observed two classes. The teachers call
students who are in the frustration reading level or non-reading level. The teachers let each nonreading student sit beside her while the rest of the class performs other activities.

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Balanced Literacy Program and the Guide in Selecting and Using Core Reading Programs
Using the components of a Balanced Literacy Program, my observation showed that the
teachers are well aware about their duties as reading teachers. They do read alouds during their
reading classes and thus it stimulates the imagination and help students develop an eary for the
vocabulary and stuctures of language in print. Reading aloud also allowed the teachers to introduce
new reading strategies, and to model or demonstrate those strategies by thining aloud. The two
classes I observed had fun reading a story in Visayan dialect. After the read aloud, the teacher read
the text together with the students. Some of the students just followed how the teacher would open
her mouth and make a sound, while of them could actually read on their own.
As far as this study is concerned, I used Part 1: Examining Texts for Reading by Peter
Dewitz to know about the quality of their reading materials. They are using the English This Way

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textbook for Grade One, published by DepEd. The textbook had adequate genre balance because the
nonfiction mostly contained narratives, and the fiction mostly contained poetry.
The Every Child A Reacher Program has not yet developed its own reading materials. It
relies on existing textbooks which has already become obsolete and boring for children at this
flatworld era where children mostly enjoy watching T.V. or play computer games rather than read. A
good reading program must have a balanced genre because it is not good to focus on poetry and
miss out on informational books. A good reading program must provide enough reading experiences
using different genres so that students have wide understanding of text structures and features.

Findings and Conclusion

It was frustrating, yet inspiring to discover that there is much to be done in the
implementation of Every Child A Reader.
The vision of the government is to make a reader out of every Filipino child. However, this
vision must be implemented with ernestness. It is not the lack of proper budjet that is crippling this
program but the lack of proper information dessimination and motivation on the parents, educators
and students.
A reading program with no sufficient reading materials is like a car with an empty tank. The
budget for this program was increasd to 21M last 2011, but how come they have not yet developed
a balanced genre student anthology? There is a need to develop a stable reading materials for the
students so that they will appreciate reading more and not get bored. Although, the teachers are
giving their best to cooperate in the implementation of this program, still there is the vitality factor
that is lacking.

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References:
DepEd Memorandum No. 70, (September 08, 2011) Department of Educatin. Retrieved from:
h t t p : / / w w w. d e p e d . g o v. p h / s i t e s / d e f a u l t / f i l e s / o r d e r / 2 0 11 / D O % 2 0 N o . % 2 0 7 0 , % 2 0 s .
%202011%20new.pdf)

DepEd Memorandum No. 121 s. 2014. (October 23, 2014) Retrieved from: http://
www.deped.gov.ph/sites/default/files/memo/2014/DM_s2014_121.pdf
DepEd Memorandum No. 244 s. 2011. (October 2, 2011) Retrieved from: http://www.gov.ph/
2011/10/02/memorandum-no-244-s-2011/
Department Order No. 40 s. 2013. (September 18, 2013) Retrieved from: http://www.deped.gov.ph/
orders/do-40-s-2013
Dewitz, P. et al. (2012) The Essental Guide to Selecting and Using Core Reading Programs.
Internation Reading Assocation
Luz, JM. (June 7, 2007). A nation of nonreders. iReport. Retrieved from: http://pcij.org/
stories/a-nation-of-nonreaders/

Mendoza, Shielo. (September 28, 2011). DepEd to improve students' reading and writing
skills. Yahoo! Southeast Asia Newsroom. Retrieved from: https://ph.news.yahoo.com/deped-to-improve-students--reading-and-writing-skills-.html
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Online Periodical,
volume number(issue number if available). Retrieved from: http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/