ERLINDA CABARLES is a parent leader of the Neighborhood Parent Support Group . She enjoys reading with her daughter.
Erlinda is one of eight women behind the neighborhood parent support group of Barangay Tugbo in Masbate, an out-of-the-way coastal town off the southeastern peninsula of Luzon, where the closest urban center is a 30-minute tricycle ride away. This was something the NPSG felt they had to solve on their own. And so these women, their own education limited to the elementary level, took up the mantle of literacy champions with the help of their barangay, who made the initial call for volunteers to receive training.
It started with the newly constructed Barangay Learning Center, which functions principally as the main space for the NPSG. For two hours, children read. They’re free to ask about words, stories, or everyday life. They work their way up on meanings, enunciation, and critical thinking day by day, story through story.
The most surprising improvement is that it changed their dynamics at home. “Reading was really bonding for me and my kids. We got closer at home. Because here, you really have to be friendly with the children so the environment is lighter,” she says. The community action of NPSG demonstrates the importance of partnerships and shared accountability between families, schools and communities to build conducive learning environments.THE mothers have broached the idea of tapping publishing houses for printing books and nearby private sector to provide resources. The mothers envision a future where education is not a privilege like it was for them but an accessible right. “As long as we’re here, our weekends will continue.