Responding to the Literacy Challenge Amidst its Resource-hungry Realities: The Case of Southern Mindanao, Philippines

Abstract

Addressing the challenge of literacy is formidable for countries faced with chronic problems on finance. In Southern Mindanao, one of the most culturally diverse regions in the Philippines, scores of public school children remain with very limited access to libraries and other information infrastructures. Textbook ratio lies steadily between 1:3 to 1:7. Despite its resource-hungry realities, there are laudable moves by the local Departments of Education to boldly initiate development intervention programs at the level of the grassroots to combat the problem of illiteracy. The Province of Sultan Kudarat has the Drop Everything And Read (DEAR) and the Reading – At Reader’s Reach (REARER) Programs while South Cotabato boasts of its School and Home Advocacy Reading Program (SHARP), and the Education Summit it recently convened. These initiatives showcase the “bayanihan” spirit wherein Filipinos collectively contribute towards narrowing the local-level divide that separates those with access to technology, information and information infrastructures in the mainstream from those in far-flung portions of Southern Mindanao.