Public school teachers learn IP basics

By JENNY ROSE DE GUZMAN

GLAN, Sarangani (January 21, 2013) – Teachers gathered at Tangan Integrated School at barangay Datal Bukay for the Indigenous Learning Survival Camp on January 17.

Quality Education for Sarangani Today (QUEST) conducted the training participated in by representative teachers from the different public elementary and high schools across the province.  

The training basically aims to promote and strengthen the culture of the Indigenous People (IP) including those that have slowly been forgotten and less practiced by the younger generation of IPs.

In Sarangani, a huge number of population belongs to the IP but as perceived, their culture are gradually vanishing with “discrimination” as its cause, said Annalie Edday, QUEST program manager.

The three-day learning camp was the first phase of action taken by QUEST with its objective of pursuing the integration of IP culture in the curriculum.

The basic skills taught were fire production, rice pounding, fishing, and root crops gathering. 

Tribal leaders and elders served as the mentors during the immersion. 

The authorship of lesson plans was the second phase. The teachers were tasked to compile lesson plans based on the training taught by tribal leaders and elders that would be verified through further research and interviews. And the defense in the final phase would determine its pursuance or not. (Jenny Rose de Guzman/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)