ABSTRACT
The public secondary schools are faced with several issues that need to be addressed in order to improve the quality of education. This study determined the levels of implementation of Adopt-a-School Program, community engagement and school improvement so as attempted to establish whether the Adopt-A-School Program and community engagement are both significantly correlated to school improvement. This inquiry made use of the descriptive-correlation design to determine the relationship between the variables. The study was conducted in the nine divisions of Caraga Region which involved 480 high school principals, teachers, parents and students. Purposive sampling was used since the respondents were selected for the intent of this research. The statistical tools used were mean, pearson r and multiple regression. The instruments utilized correspondingly for the mentioned variables were all researcher-made with reliability coefficients of .90, .70 and .82 respectively. The findings of the study revealed all very high ratings in the donated school facilities and technology for Adopt-A-School Program, Brigada Eskwela activities for community engagement, and stakeholder’s collaborative effort for school improvement. Furthermore, there is a significant relationship between Adopt-A-School Program and community enagement to school improvement. Meanwhile, Adopt-A-School Program has a significant influence to school improvement while community engagement has no influene. The results suggested an enhancement plan to be formulated and implemented in order to address the perennial needs of the schools.
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The present situation of the public secondary schools in the Philippines is still characterized by alarming issues such as the shortage of classrooms and learning materials, insufficient health services for the students, high student-teacher ratio, insufficient educator’s training, and the low salary of teachers. These dilemmas directly affect the quality of education, which made our country academically lagged behind when compared to the neighboring nations in Asia. A number of programs were already made to remedy these situations, but problems on the implemetation are the main reasons that encumber the eradication thereto.
The (UNESCO, 2006) stated that the Department of Education has pursued several school improvement plans through funding with economic cooperation. The steps include review of the basic education policies, universal access to quality education, provision of alternative delivery modalities, management training for school heads, research and development, improvement learning resource centers and teachers’ well-being. Technical and vocational educational programs were also revised to cope with fast technological advancements and to provide learners with more meaningful experiences for their future employment. Relatively (Manalang, 2012) emphasized that to boost and improve the academic performance of the students making them globally competitive, K to 12 Program was implemented by the givernment.
However, many problems are still hindering school improvements in the country. These constitute the unqualified and poorly trained teachers, scarcity in facilities and equipment, and insufficient instructional materials. Other factors include poverty, low educational attainment and illiteracy of parents, and poor health and nutrition (UNESCO, 2006). The aforementioned are the reasons why some of our potential and skilled professionals may not have the chance to pursue their dreams. The state alloted the biggest national budget to public basic education, but still is not tantamount to level up with the increasing leaarners population. Moreover, there are some children who are leaving on the streets and need to be encourage to go to schools, but government resources are still not enough to provide all of them the free, quality education they deserved (DedEd Advisory, 2012).
Locally, Caraga Region is one of the regions most affected by past typhoons (Casas, 2012). In fact, most school buildings and learning materials were damaged by the powerful storms like typhoon Pablo and Yolanda. Also, some large public schools in the region are having difficulty of accommodating its ballooning enrolees. Aside from shortage of learning spaces, they are always having issues student seat ratio. These instances truly impair the school improvement of the region (Roperos, 2012). Apparently, these setting are also present in the researcher’s locality. Though flocks of donations were given, these are not enough to improve the quality of education that the learners are supposed to gain.
Good thing, private sector in the country invested for education due to problems in infrastructure, increasing drop-out rates, poor health and nutrition, poverty and the decreasing quality of education. For this reason, the Adopt-A-School Program of DepEd was created (Philippine Defense Forum, 2007). The program is legally instituted by the RA 8525 or Adopt-A-School Program, allow private entities, either local or overseas to assist public schools, whether elementary, secondary, or tertiary preferably located in any twenty poorest provinces but not limited to, the following areas: staff and faculty development for training and further education, construction of facilities, upgrading of existing facilities, provision of books, publications and other instructional material, and modernization of instructional technologies. In return, they are to enjoy additional tax incentives (150 percent) as they implement their project (PhilippineLaw.info, 2014).
Yet, not all public schools are given the opportunity to be the recipient of the Adopt-A-School Program. In fact, some schools from far flung areas where aid and support are much needed, are not reached by this program. Evidently, the quality of donated school buildings and supplies are poor. Monitoring and evaluation on the implementation of this program is also lacking. Moreover, some school heads are lack knowledge in utilizing the assistance given. On the same context, parents and community collaborations are inefficient resulting to worthless projects and meaningless activities.
The school and the government may not be in a position to provide direct solution without external assistance. Thus, partnership and volunteerism in school through community engagement are important to actively participate in improving and sustaining the quality of public education (Ministry of Education Jamaica, 2014). Hence, community engagement promotes collaboration where the school, families and the community actively work together in creating networks of shared responsibility for student success and improving the school as a whole (Stuart, 2014).
The annual Brigada Eskwela or the National School’s Maintenance Week of DepEd is an example of genuine community engagement since it is a voluntary participation of parents, teachers, students and the various stakeholders to ensure that safety and readiness of schools (Ramos, 2014). Over the years, this partnership has improved better learning environment like presentable classrooms and facilities. With conducive learning setting, students are able to focus on their studies and learn more effectively (PTCA, 2010).
With this scenario, the researcher was challenged to conduct a study on Adopt-A-School Program and community engagement in relation to school improvement in Caraga Region as basis for the enhancement of school improvement plan (SIP). The researcher believed that through this inquiry, concerns of each school would be addressed through the enhanced SIP proposal. Hopefully, this research study would provide schools opportunities and ideas on how to increase resources which have direct effect on student achievements and teacher’s performance. This investigation would also help bring the issues to the public to invite more individuals to help boost education advantages for all regardless of their demographic profile.
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