THE DEPARTMENT of Education said that it is monitoring data on the enrollment of indigenous learners as it maintained that modular learning is the best mode of education for IP communities.

During the webinar “Advancing Indigenous Peoples’ Rights to a Sustainable, Quality and Culture-based Education” held last week, Maria Lourie Victor of the DepEd’s IP Education Office said that there had been improvements in the education of indigenous learners.

“There have been inroads in the DepEd’s National Indigenous Peoples’ Education program since 2017. We have been able to serve 121,250 IP learners and around 2,177 teachers were hired and trained in culture-based education and most of them are members of the indigenous communities. Sadly, the pandemic derailed our IP programs, and we are studying how to better reach our IP learners this school year as education for all should not be hampered even by a pandemic,” she said.

The webinar was launched by E-Net Philippines in partnership with ChildFund to mark National Indigenous Peoples’ Month.

Bae Jennifer ‘Limpayen’ Sibug-las, Commissioner for Central Mindanao of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, shared that basic and culture-based education is important to the 41 percent of IP communities aged 0-14 years old. She added that the other members aged 15 to 64 should have access to continuing educational opportunities.

“Let us help our IP communities by providing more schools. In the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) alone, out of 2,490 barangays, there are only 1,730 with established schools. A deficit of 760 barangays without elementary schools as 547 are served by adjacent barangays, leaving 213 with no access to any learning facilities, translating to 45,508 IP children with no access to school,” Sibug-las said.

In the case of Aeta communities in Botolan, Zambales, the Lubos na Alyansa ng mga Katutubong Aeta sa Zambales established its own high school in June 2013, as approved by the DepEd Division of Zambales. For school year 2020, the Lakas High School has around 300 students, mostly Aeta.

“We were able to create our own curricula. We have Aeta teachers who teach indigenous knowledge systems and practices, IP rights and sustainable agriculture. We also wear our traditional costumes when teaching to promote our culture. Aeta customs and traditions, including dances, music and sports, are included in our subjects; including survival skills,” shared Lito “Jubag” Jugatan, a tribal leader and teacher at Lakas High School.

Chita Sultan of Lake Sebu’s T’boli women organization, Klubi Kestifun Kehebol Yom Ketengan, underscored the importance of education for T’boli women and children.

She claimed that Tboli women and children who enrolled into the DepEd’s Alternative Learning System program gained valuable knowledge, not only in numeracy and literacy, and confidence in pursuing their livelihood.

The webinar was attended by representatives of different ethnic groups such as Dumagat or Agta of North Quezon, Kankanaey/Igorot tribe of North Luzon, Aeta in Zambales, and Ubo, Teduray, Tboli and Manobo tribes of Mindanao.

Professor Flora Arellano, president of E-Net Philippines, a network of 130 partners and organization that advocate for education reforms, asked the government to provide bigger budget for the implementation of programs under the National Indigenous Peoples Education.

“Provide for the establishment of community learning centers in 100-identified IP communities without access to government schools. Consequently, hire, train and deploy IP teachers to teach in these IP community schools. We call on all stakeholders to work together in advancing the rights of our Indigenous Peoples,” Arellano said.