Concep-Montessori Pagsasarili System - Philippines

Program Image

Program

  • Type of Program: Early Childhood Educational System for underpriviledged children of Metro Manila
  • Age Served: 3 to 6 years
  • Funding Sources: Civic Organizations/Local Government
  • Presenter: Preciosa S. Soliven (President and Chief Executive Officer)
  • Address: #3 Eisenhower Street
    Greenhills, San Juan, Philippines 1502
  • Telephone: (632) 722-0019, (632) 722-1776
  • Fax: (632) 721-2763
  • Email: [email protected]

Program Purpose

To satisfy the rights of the child to quality education as provided by the Concep-Montessori Pagsasarili System.

Program Description

Since 1983, the OB Montessori Pagsasarili Preschool has been established in slum areas of Metro Manila. Seeing the success of the Pagsasarili Preschools, the OB Montessori Child and Community Foundation, Inc. launched the Mothercraft Literacy Program in 1987 in the Visayas as its twin project. This is a parallel training program for the adults in the community which aims to continue the education of rural mothers. The end goal is to train them to teach their children at home during the first three years.

Between 1986 and 2000, UNESCO focused on the eradication of illiteracy in the world, focusing on women and children in the rural areas. Dr. Soliven, Philippine representative to the UNESCO Executive Board in Paris from 1986 to 1987, then exhibited the Montessori Pagsasarili Preschool Literacy to the UNESCO Secretariat in the first year and the O.B. Pagsasarili Mothercraft Literacy Course the following year. In 1993, the project won the UNESCO International Literacy Award in New Delhi, India.

By 1999, CONCEP, Inc. signed a Memorandum of Agreement. These Pagsasarili (help me to help myself) Preschools have repeatedly conditioned Filipino children to be orderly, love work, be self-confident and independent. They are usually in the top ten of their classes when they go to public or parochial grade schools. Today, they are not only outstanding students in state colleges but also help run their small family businesses.

Most Unique Program Feature

The conventional philosophy of education believes that the child is an empty vessel to be filled up or a soft clay to be molded. The Montessori System states that: "the child is in the process of development whereas the adult has reached the norm of the species." Therefore, a nation can only be powerful if it employs the right education that can help the child become independent.

The Traditional System of education is a simple affair, consisting of two factors: the teacher who teaches and the children who listen. It is a matter of indifference where this process takes place as it centers chiefly on the teacher's lectures vis-à-vis the children using pencil and paper, blackboard and book exercises. The Montessori System, on the other hand, introduces a third factor of equal importance as the teacher and the child - the Prepared Environment. The child takes an active role in learning with his own "inner teacher" and makes use of the scientifically prepared materials to teach himself. The "passive role" of the teacher is necessary to allow self-motivation and self-education in the child within the Prepared Environment.

Edited by Michael Kalinowski