SUGPAT co-organizes Galing Pook’s #BagoTayo webisode
Ateneo de Zamboanga University’s SUGPAT Program co-organizes #BagoTayo Webisode on December 16, 2020. The 9th webisode entitled “Youth Innovation in Strengthening the Alternative Learning System in the New Normal,” featured the innovations of the SUGPAT program to address some gaps in the education sector, particularly in the alternative learning system, and the youth development alliance in Zamboanga del Norte in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Galing Pook Foundation Executive Director Dr. Eddie Dorotan opened the discussion emphasizing the importance of continuing education despite the challenges brought about by the pandemic. He said, “Dito sa Bago Tayo, gusto natin na kahit merong pandemya, merong kalamidad, patuloy dapat ang edukasyon ng kabataan lalo na sa mga out-of-school youth. Palagi nating sinasabi na ang edukasyon ay ang vehicle towards eradicating poverty. Kaya may magagawa ba tayo? Marami po! Kaya itong kwento niyo sa SUGPAT ay napaka importante.”
Highlighting the innovations in delivering trainings for ALS implementers in Region 9, Assistant Training Officer Abmel Immid talked about the activities of the education component since the first quarter of 2019, working closely with the Department of Education’s Alternative Learning System in Region 9, and up until recent activities in 2020. Immid discussed the changes in the programming of the activities because of the limitations imposed during community quarantine.
“We still have so many dreams for our youth, our ALS learners, and even for our teachers. In this project, because the bulk of our activities were on training and coaching ALS implementers, we realize that our teachers are as important as our learners. When we train our teachers and see them improve, it will eventually affect or inspire the lives of our ALS learners,” Immid said.
Establishing the first provincial-wide youth development alliance was not impossible despite the global health outbreak; this was discussed by SUGPAT Project Officer Jan Cutin in his presentation on how the Zamboanga del Norte Youth Development Alliance (ZNYDA) was established.
“Kahit nasa gitna tayo ng pandemic, naitatag natin ang Youth Development Alliance. We are confronted with the limitations to mobilize, but ZNYDA was not halted. We did not stop to ensure that the alliance will continue to perform. With the help of UNICEF, we formulated the ZNYDA Core group.”
#BagoTayo: Children and Youth in Innovative Governance is a project of Galing Pook Foundation in partnership with UNICEF Philippines and ING, in collaboration with the National Youth Commission, SUGPAT, Siklab Pilipinas, Positive Youth Development Network, and Y-PEER Pilipinas
Hosted by SUGPAT Advocacy and Communications Officer Shekinah Benitez, the webinar was live streamed on Galing Pook’s Facebook page.
Galing Pook Webisode 9 may be watched here: https://www.facebook.com/616829188357191/videos/396761411383907/