THE UNITED States Agency for International Development partnered with Bicol University and West Visayas State University to improve the quality of instruction and learning outcomes in Kindergarten to Grade 3 students.

The ABC+: Advancing Basic Education in the Philippines project aims to develop and deliver a curriculum for pre-service education focusing on early literacy, foundational math, and social and emotional learning in Regions V, VI and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanaoin.

The project adopts the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education Program.

“USAID supports pre-service teacher education to ensure that incoming early grade teachers are equipped with practical knowledge and skills to address the needs of K-3 learners,” Tom LeBlanc, Director of USAID Philippines Office of Education, said.

“With the shift in learning delivery, these future teachers will be introduced to performance-based modules, rather than lecture-based approaches, giving them more opportunities to practice their new learning through targeted micro-teaching and demonstration,” he added.

He said BU and WVSU were chosen because both are public universities recognized by the Commission on Higher Education as Center of Excellence in teacher education.

The schools also produce the most teachers in their respective regions.

“This intervention builds upon both universities’ existing practices and the work that CHED and the Teacher Education Council have already undertaken to align the pre-service curricula to DepEd’s Early Language, Literacy and Numeracy Program for K-3,” LeBlanc said.

The two universities will work with the Florida State University to develop and improve their respective syllabi for Bachelor in Elementary Education and Bachelor in Early Childhood Education.

BU’s Early Childhood Education Division pilot tested the Literacy Development Course for pre-service students.

Meanwhile, preparatory work is underway at WVSU for the course implementation for the next semester, which will run from February to July 2021.

The initial implementation results, including key findings, insights, and lessons learned, will be shared with DepEd and other Teacher Education Institutions in Bicol, Western Visayas, and BARMM.

ABC+: Advancing Basic Education in the Philippines is a five-year DepEd project funded by the USAID that started in July 2019.