Through the KAIN Project, the school gathered vegetables, fruits, and other products from the government, NGOs, and parents who sometimes also help cook meals for the feeding program.
The school believes that the holistic development of students is necessary, so they have also launched programs such as Project LETRA (Learn, Enhance, Teach Reading Advocacy) which is a literacy program, SIGA Program (School In a Garden), Gulayan at School, Come and Enroll Project, Project END (Encouraging No Dropout), Project BEPS (Back to School Psychosocial Support), and activities related to Brigada Eskwela and Brigada Pagbasa.
Since a large part of the school’s success comes from the collective collaboration of stakeholders, Mrs. Ana Maria Garcia, Principal of GLDMIS for all their assistance for the benefit of the students.
“The school is very grateful to all workforce, partners, and stakeholders of G.L. David Memorial Integrated School that offered their support. To all the parents, government officials, NGOs, and private individuals, thank you for joining us in this endeavor. We implore everyone to continue to extend their help to the school. We will ensure that quality education will still be delivered to our learners, ”he said.
Taking a village to raise a child
G.L David Memorial Integrated School, a public school in Balanga City, Philippines, believes that no child should be left behind and brought the whole community together to ensure their welfare.
Inspired by the African proverbs “it takes a village to raise a child”, the school has brought parents, community members, local government, and businesses establishments together to cultivate pupils’ social, intellectual, and emotional wellbeing and tackle barriers to their education.
One of the major problems the school identified was that the majority of its students came from low-income backgrounds with families having financial difficulties and many students were malnourished. Apart from special literacy and emotional development programs, the school launched the KAIN PA project to help provide daily free meals to its students. The initiative procures vegetables, fruits and other goods from government officials, NGOs and parents who buy ingredients from the market and sometimes help cook the meals themselves.
The KAIN project was a resounding success with malnutrition rates falling from 12.11% in 2019 to 2.13% in 2020. The school also gets free eye screening through the Essilor Company, which also donates glasses to pupils and teachers.
If G.L David Memorial Integrated School were to win the World’s Best School Prize for Community Collaboration, it would use the funds to improve the school’s library and laboratory. The money would also be used to continue supporting the KAIN PA project and other pupil’s wellbeing programs.
Top 10 World’s Best School for Community Collaboration
- Beaconhouse School System Gulshan Middle 1 – Karachi, Pakistan
- Community School “Johann Wolfgang von Goethe” – Schalkau, Germany
- Dunoon Grammar School – Dunoon, Scotland, United Kingdom
- EMEB Profª Adolfina J. M. Diefenthäler – Novo Hamburgo, Brazil
- G.L. David Memorial Integrated School – Balanga, Philippines
- I.E.D. Instituto Técnico Comercial José de San Martín – Tabio, Colombia
- Khoj School – Mumbai, India
- PCMC English Medium School, Bopkhel – Pune, India
- Still I Rise International School – Nairobi, Kenya
- Westside Elementary – Sun Prairie, United States of America
These schools will be showcasing their expertise at World Education Week, the biggest online school celebration hosted by T4 Education, in October 2022.
