ILOILO CITY -- Eight pilot schools in Western Visayas region have been given Home Learning Resource Kits (HLRKs) as part of a program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

“We are ensuring the continuity of learning and developing numeracy skills of our early grade learners in the comforts of their home,” said USAID Deputy Director for Education Yvette Malcioln at the recent turnover ceremony at Zarraga Central Elementary School in Zarraga town, Iloilo.
The distribution of 1,000 HLRKs is part of USAID’s Advancing Basic Education in the Philippines (ABC+ Project), a program run by the non-profit RTI International to improve the reading, math, social skills, and emotional skills of students from kindergarten to Grade 3.
The HLRKs are designed to provide support for parents or guardians who act as facilitators for students in the home setting.
The HLRKs were developed through a collaboration with the Department of Education (DepEd) and the University of the Philippines-National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development (UP-NISMED).
“We cannot implement learning continuity without our partners – the local governments and USAID ABC+ which offered technical assistance and expertise to us along with the many initiatives,” said John Arnold Siena, director of the National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP), an attached agency of the DepEd.
Meanwhile, USAID also signed a memorandum of understanding with DepEd-Iloilo City and Uygongco Foundation Inc. for support in the implementation of the ABC+ Beginning Reading Program.