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CEBU CITY: If public elementary school teachers cannot make Cebu
City’s children smart, the Cebu City Hall will try to make the
kids “bright” even before they start primary school, reported
the Philippine News Agency.
City Hall consultant on education Joy Augustus
Young will start implementing the “Genius Baby” program to make
sure students can perform well in grade school.
“Genius Babies” will focus on the intensive
training of preschoolers and first graders in the city’s public
schools, as well as children in the daycare centers.
This year, additional 110 daycare centers will
be set up in the different barangays, including the rural areas.
The program also targets to have preschool in
all public elementary schools in the city within two years.
In Cebu City, it is not uncommon for children to
be admitted to grade one without attending preschool, which Young
said could be blamed for their poor performance in elementary.
“Genius Babies” is based on scientific
studies that have proven that the first six years of a child,
considered their formative years, is the most crucial stage of a
child’s mental growth.
He came up with the plan after several test
results showed most of the city’s public school students still
have difficulty in reading and comprehension.
Young wants to use all the city’s extra funds
intended for education to implement the program without sacrificing
school building projects.
“Every year, we are training the teachers and
conducting review classes but the children still don’t perform
well. If we make the babies bright already before Grade One, it
would be easier for them,” Young said.
The method puts emphasis on the role of physical
activity in absorbing academic concepts and practical skills among
the students.
Later this year, the city will also go down to
the grassroots to teach parents how to hone their children’s
speech and reading skills at the earliest time possible.
The depressed communities and the street
children will be their priority to prove that the program and the
theories it is based on works not only for the rich children who
have access to early education but also for those who have to learn
at home, Young added.
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