Thoughts on Reading Crisis

 I recently visited the community library of Lavezares Central Elementary School and was truly amazed at how my cousin, Teacher Randy Canales, was able to rehabilitate it after years of inactivity. Thanks, of course, to the local government unit for the funding it provided for the much-needed repairs and for the purchase of essential furniture and equipment.

The construction of the two-story library building was completed in 2013 using solely local funds from the municipal government. Most of the books were donated by Bagong Kultura Pilipino (BKP), a non-governmental organization that works closely with Filipino expatriates in the United States. The shipment of books—donated by schools in the US—was shouldered by the Filipino diaspora and a retired American serviceman, Mr. John Snow.

A few months after the library opened, the US Peace Corps assigned a volunteer, Amy Allen, to the site. She was a godsend. Amy designed the interiors, fixed the furniture, and arranged the books, assisted by Mylene Madayag, a parent-volunteer with a background in library science. The library eventually became a model for other schools. In fact, it received recognition at both the provincial and regional levels of the Department of Education.

I was fortunate to facilitate the partnership with Mr. John Snow and BKP. Through this collaboration, we helped barangay schools establish connections with these donors, leading to the creation of mini-libraries in all public schools in the municipality. I also organized the Lavezares Reading Core Group, and together, we launched annual reading competitions—especially during the National Reading Month in November, which we dubbed the Reading Festival. We also conduct periodic in-progress conferences to monitor the literacy status of schools and districts. In partnership with BKP, we have organized teacher training on effective reading strategies.

In light of the recent dismal performance of Filipino students in international reading assessments and local surveys, I can say that our town had already taken proactive steps long before this reading crisis became widespread. Our efforts may have been small ripples in the vast ocean of literacy challenges, but each initiative made a meaningful impact on our learners.

Still, we face many challenges in the fight against illiteracy. I hope education planners begin to recognize the urgent need to demand accountability—not only from teachers and school officials but also from learners and their parents. We must consider the policy of not promoting non-readers to the next grade level while ensuring that educators are held accountable for their students’ reading outcomes. The problem persists partly because we continue using the same approaches, expecting different results.

Addressing illiteracy requires a whole-of-community approach. It takes everyone to make every child a reader. Playing the blame game won’t help. Learners, parents, teachers, school administrators, and the government each have crucial roles to play—and they must play them well. After all, what kind of present and future generations can we expect if we become a nation of poor readers?