CASE STUDY

V. AREAS OF CONSIDERATION

All kinds of issues in education are big topics of discussion, both in the news

media and among the general public. The current education system is beset by a wide

range of challenges, from cuts in government funding to changes in disciplinary policies

—and much more. Everyone agrees that providing high-quality education for our

citizens is a worthy ideal. However, there are many diverse viewpoints about how that

should be accomplished. And that leads to highly charged debates, with passionate

advocates on both sides.

Understanding education issues is important for students, parents, and

taxpayers. By being well-informed, you can contribute valuable input to the discussion.

You can also make better decisions about what causes you will support or what plans

you will make for your future. There is no shortage of challenges in school education.

Some of the biggest challenges we face can appear frustratingly intractable. Despite

reform efforts, regular government reviews and ongoing calls for change, progress in

addressing our most significant challenges is often slow and solutions continue to

elude us.

It’s not that we don’t know what the challenges are. But their roots sometimes

lie largely outside the reach of schools or in deeply entrenched educational processes

and structures that are difficult to change. Real reform and significant progress in

improving the quality and equity of school depend on tackling our deepest and most

stubborn educational challenges.

Here are school’s challenges:

1. The problem of dropout is a very complex one, concerning all the aspects of the

school community: the educational system, teachers and students, the families and the

society around them

Category: RESEARCH

(ACCORDING TO RESEARCH CONDUCTED IN OUR COUNTRIES-)

A. Reasons related to the school

The malfunctions of the modern educational system combined with old-fashioned

teaching methods and unqualified personnel are creating the circumstances for the

students` dropout. 

 Grade- obsessed educational systems which increase rivalry and

competitiveness at school. Students may become irrationally selfish and the feeling

of loneliness prevails.

 Educational programs and curricula are not challenging, not grabbing students’

attention, not allowing them to be creative.

 Heavy schedules with too many classes result in lack of free time for the

students’ hobbies and personal interests

 Number of students per class (too high)

 Difficult transition between education levels

 Grade retention

 The lack of school social facilities.

 The insufficient number of secondary schools obliges the students in rural areas

where school age population is low to stay in boarding schools away from home, or

carried by bus to remote schools in the province center .

 Administrators’ and teachers’ attitudes

 Teacher- centered learning, when it prevails, promotes parrot learning and more

theoretical than practical knowledge- does not give students the chance to take

active part in the education process and it does not take into consideration any

distinctiveness among students.

 Unfairly applied school rules

 Teachers’ qualifications and teachers’ in service training.

 The intercultural schools do not function properly. The main culture is imposed to

the minorities, the students - belonging to them- feel oppressed.

B Personal reasons

In the school environment these conditions interact with personal reasons of the

students, who are adolescents at the difficult and vulnerable age of 12 till 16 years 

 Violence among schoolmates and bullying at schools

  Fear of failure, failure and apathy against school. Poor students’ performance

combined with repeated academic failure, can reduce the students’ self-esteem.

The disappointment that children feel at school may make them indifferent towards

studying or aggressive to their peers. Also, they may have some discipline

problems.

 Truancy
 Lack of motivation and interest towards school (students find it boring)

 Learning difficulties and school adaptation problems

 Lack of trust in teachers, 

 Friends/ Peer pressure (Bad influences)

 Physical changes and puberty cause disorientation

 Harmful habits - going to internet cafes and playing games

 Health problems

 Marriage

 Teenage pregnancy

 Conflict with the law

 Subcultures

 Low level of competences in the official language of the host country

C. Family problems 

The school-parent collaboration could manage problems such as the ones mentioned

above, but family issues aggravate the situations. 

 Dysfunctional families ( domestic violence, alcoholism) and difficult relationship

between parents (divorce - broken family)

 The child cannot take any responsibilities related to school

 Family attitudes towards education - lack of support from parents. Parents may

be indifferent about their children’s progress and they may also underestimate

education as one of the most important priorities set to students, or they may
 impose too much pressure to their students. Both situations are provoking

children's reaction.

 Low level of parents’ education – it is difficult for them to encourage their children

to learn.

 Concerns of family

 Moral of family

 Family structure

 Lack of positive role models in the family

 Being the eldest child of the house

 Bias of the family

 Illnesses

D. Social reasons

The economical, political and social crisis in our days brought new problems, because

of their effect to the labor market, the relations between social groups and finally to the

school process. 

 The effect of gender differences

 Social environment

 Lack of employment – students claim that they do not have the chance to be

successful in their future life

 Financial support to families in need– some of the students have to work to give

their families financial support

 Difficult integration of families of immigrants or of religious minorities

 Families which live in mountainous, poor, remote or even isolated regions don't

think that the education is among their first priorities.

 Population effect

 Negative effect of community leaders and media

 Child labor. Parents’ unemployment - financial problems lead families to mobility

or urge children to get a job.

 Seasonal migration

E. Political facts

 Distrust of educational policy

 Dress code

 Safety and terror

 Distrust towards the government political opinions

Research on school dropout extends from early 20th-century pioneers until now,

marking trends of causes and prevention. However, specific dropout causes

reported by students from several nationally representative studies have never

been examined together, which, if done, could lead to a better understanding of the

dropout problem. Push, pull, and falling out factors provide a framework for

understanding dropouts. Push factors include school-consequence on attendance

or discipline. Pull factors include out-of-school enticements like jobs and family.

Finally, falling out factors refer to disengagement in students not caused by school

or outside pulling factors. Since 1966, most nationally representative studies

depicted pull factors as ranking the highest. Also, administrators in one study

corroborated pull out factors for younger dropouts, not older ones, while most

recent research cites push factors as highest overall. One rationale for this change

is a response to rising standards from No Child Left Behind (NCLB), which can be

ultimately tested only by future dropout research .

The cause of a student dropping out is often termed as the antecedent of dropout

because it refers to the pivotal event which leads to dropout. This event, however,

is the culmination of a much longer process of leaving school that began long

before the date that a student actually discontinues attendance. Historic

scholarship on school dropout spans from as early as a 1927 monograph that

labeled it “school leaving” and associated those at risk with possible mental

inferiority (Fuller, 1927, p. 1). At the same time, previous research has explained

dropout causes and even cataloged dropout scholarship from the ensuing decades

in terms of content and empirical merit (Dorn, 1993; Rumberger & Lim, 2008; Short

& Fitzsimmons, 2007). However, never before have reports of students who

dropped out been compared from all the available nationally representative dropout

studies and then analyzed. What follows will describe seven nationally

representative studies on school dropout and their findings. Also, these studies will

be analyzed using the framework of push, pull, and falling out factors, as set forth

by Jordan, Lara, and McPartland (1994) and Watt and Roessingh (1994), to

determine which types of factors were most prominent. The discussion section will

posit potential reasons for predominant types of factors, and the implications this

has on dropout scholarship in the past, present, and future.

2.Struggling readers/ poor comprehension.

Developing strong reading skills in students is one of the key goals of every early

education program. It is through reading that students expand their vocabulary and

learn about the world. Reading is also the key to success in spelling and writing.

Sometimes there may be an undiagnosed learning difficulty to blame – as is the case

for students who struggle with dyslexia or slow processing. In these situations parents

and educators are tasked with understanding the root of the problem and providing

children with appropriate coping strategies, to ensure they continue to progress and

achieve reading milestones.

Over the past few decades, research has revealed a great deal of information

about how readers get meaning from what they read and about the kinds of instructional

activities and procedures that are most successful in helping students to become good

readers.

For many years, reading instruction was based on a concept of reading as the

application of a set of isolated skills such as identifying words, finding main ideas,

identifying cause and effect relationships, comparing and contrasting and sequencing.

Comprehension was viewed as the mastery of these skills.

One important classroom study conducted during the 1970s found that typical

comprehension instruction followed what the study called a mentioning, practicing, and
assessing procedure. That is, teachers mentioned a specific skill that students were to

apply, had students practice the skill by completing workbook pages, then assessed

them to find out if they could use the skill correctly. 2 Such instruction did little to help

students learn how or when to use the skills, nor was it ever established that this

particular set of skills enabled comprehension.

At about this time, a group of psychologists, linguists, and computer scientists

began to focus research attention on how the mind works — how people think and

learn. A goal of this new research movement, called cognitive science, was to produce

an applied science of learning.In the field of reading, a number of cognitive scientists

focused their attention on how readers construct meaning as they read. Specifically,

they studied the mental activities that good readers engage in to achieve

comprehension. From these studies an entirely new concept emerged about what

reading is. According to the new concept, reading is a complex, active process of

constructing meaning — not skill application.3

3. High percentage of non-numerates.

Mathematics is the forebearer of the very tag – “difficult”.In fact, it has become

acceptable for certain students to perform badly in this subject. If examined carefully,

one cannot deny that it is a very negative trend. Why should any student be poor in any

subject?

Especially when that subject deals with logic and reasoning!

Here we are going to discuss 10 significant reasons as to why students fail in

Mathematics.
1. Attitude Towards Learning The Subject

Everything depends on one’s attitude towards the subject in question. The student

mindset plays an important role.

If a student thinks from the beginning that he will not be able to perform well in the

subject, he will end up developing a phobia towards Mathematics.

This in turn will affect his learning ability and performance. The positive attitude can

bring about a lot of difference. It will act as a confidence booster.

2. Method of Teaching

Ideally, Mathematics should be taught in a way that is easy to comprehend.

The technique should be such that students can relate to it even after the class is over.

If the method of teaching is proper, the students will be able to add, subtract, divide, and

multiply without using a calculator.

But, more often than not, mathematics teachers rely on methods that are difficult to

grasp.

They might appear all right on pen and paper. But when its application comes to the

world outside the classroom, problems starts to arise.

3. A Lack of Connection Between The Subject and Students

One of the many reasons why students fail in mathematics! Students are unable

to develop a connection between the subject and themselves.

They treat the subject as something alien to them. Something that is unknown and

scary!
Such students remain absent from the mathematics class. This hampers their learning

ability.

They cannot keep a track between the previous class and the one that they are

attending.

4. Self Doubt

Peer pressure is another reason why students fail in mathematics. They are

unable to cope up with the pressure to perform at school.

This along with a constant comparison with other good students leads to the rise of self-

doubt.

Once self-doubt sets in, it becomes difficult to recover. Eventually, the student’s ability

to perform well in mathematics is hampered forever.

Students might not voice out but in reality, they are very scared of the subject. They

look out for ways to avoid learning the subject.

5. Low IQ

Many might not agree. But one cannot overlook the role one’s IQ plays in

learning mathematics.This area is kept under wraps because no one wants to accept

that his or her child has low IQ.But the fact remains, some kids don’t have the ability to

grasps numbers as easily as others. Thus their low IQ affects their learning graph.

6. Short Attention Span

 Some students get easily distracted. They cannot remain attentive throughout the

math’s class.Their attention wanders and they stop paying any interest. When asked to

solve a problem in class they falter and become the center of jokes.

Parents should make sure that their child pays more attention in the classroom.

Both the teacher and parents can use different learning aids to make mathematics

appear interesting.

7. Lack of Understanding About Signs and Symbols

Mathematics is a tricky subject. Especially when it comes to the signs, symbols

and significance.There are many adults who are not very good at it as well.

For a below average student in mathematics, the chances of getting confused between

the different mathematical signs and symbols is quite high.

If the student fails to put the degree sign in geometrical problems or the right unit after

solving a sum, his marks are deducted.

Knowing where to put what sign and symbol is a vital part of learning mathematics.

8. Teacher Student Ratio

Generally, a classroom has 15-20 students with a single teacher teaching the

subject. This results in poor teacher student ratio.

The teacher in his desire to teach the topic fails to pay attention to every student. He

has only a vague idea as to which student is good and which is below average.

Only after class tests are conducted, the teacher gets a clear idea of his students’

abilities.
9. Many Mathematics Teachers are not well versed In the Subject

This might appear as a bit of out of the box reason, but it cannot be ignored

completely.

There are many teachers who do not have an in-depth knowledge of the subject.

There are many teachers who perform well in mathematics but when asked to teach,

they somehow falter.

Not all teachers can teach well. Teaching is an art. Not everyone is well versed in it.

10. Accessible Textbooks

There are many schools where the students cannot afford to buy the textbooks.

If the textbook-pupil ratio is in order, it is not difficult to teach the subject.

If the scenario is reversed, where the students have to depend on the school to access

the textbooks, it will hamper the performance power of the students.

This problem of poor performance in mathematics is not only in Philippines

alone, in South Africa it has been reported that out-dated teaching practices and lack of

basic content knowledge have resulted in poor teaching standards .South Africa

participated in the Third World International mathematics study conducted in 1995 and

came out last with a mean score of three hundred and fifty one .This mean score was

significantly lower than the international bench mark of five hundred and thirteen. The

study was carried out again in 1999 and revealed that Ordinary level learners once

again performed poorly .Their mean score was found to be lower than that of

Morocco ,Tunisia and other developing countries like Chile ,Indonesia, Malaysia and

Philippines . Kour (2004) discovered that in Singapore the problem of teaching

mathematics needed qualified teachers for students to perform better and

recommended that the Ministry of education could do better to equip mathematics

teachers with necessary skills through in-service courses. This came as a result of

under qualified teachers who were producing poor results at Ordinary level.

Odhiambo (2006) also pointed out that there is a shortage of mathematics teachers in

Kenya .He further revealed that the student ‘teacher ratio in many secondary schools in

Kenya is also contributing to the high failure rate. Huebler , (2008) agrees with the

above notion and said that, the pupil teacher ratio is an indicator of education quality

and in crowded classrooms with a high number of pupils per teacher the quality of

education suffers. In Zimbabwe ,a number of mathematics graduates join the teaching

service while hunting for something better to do and as soon as an opportunity arises

they leave without giving notice to enable another teacher to be found hence affecting

the students ‘performance negative as these pupils will be left without a teacher for a

long time .Since mathematics teachers can be employed elsewhere ,the problem is

going to continue to plaque the education sector unless the employer manages to

match the level of remuneration with that offered elsewhere and with the current state of

our economy the government will not manage to do so .

4. Teachers performance and skills

When it comes to learning, experts are always looking for the best tools and tactics for

educating children. While many of these trends are actually strong and worthy of

implementation, adoption of them within schools can be haphazard. Some believe that

public education in the United States is broken, which often drives schools to look at
ways to reform, sometimes too rapidly. Teachers can be faced with mandated changes

in tools, curriculum, and best practices as administrators race to adopt the latest and

greatest trends. However, these constant changes can lead to inconsistency and

frustration, making teachers' lives more difficult. Adequate training isn't always made

available, and many teachers are left to fend for themselves to figure out how to

implement whatever has been adopted.

On the flip side, some schools are resistant to change, and teachers who are educated

about learning trends may not receive funding or support to adopt them. This can lead

to a lack of job satisfaction and teacher turnover, and it can hold students back from

delving into a new way to learn that may actually help.

One study determined the influence of teachers’ classroom effectiveness on

students academic performance in public secondary schools in Delta State, Nigeria. It

was descriptive in nature and involved 979 teachers, made up of 450 males and 519

females, drawn from 72 out of the total of 361 public secondary schools in the State by

stratified random sampling technique. Academic performance records of 50 students

per teacher, which is 48,950 students’ scores were also used. Two questionnaires and

a rating scale were used to collect data for the study. Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.98

and 0.79 respectively were obtained from the two questionnaires used for the study.

Four hypotheses were tested at the 0.05 level of significance using correlation, simple

regression, t-test, and single factor analysis of variance. The results showed that

effective teachers produced better performing students. However, the observed

differences in students’ performance were statistically not significant. This could be due

to the influence of student and school environment related factors which were not
included in this study. It was concluded that teachers’ effect is not the only determinant

on students’ academic achievement.

5. Pupils participation in co -curricular activities.

The real and practical experiences received by the people with help of games,

sports, arts, literary, culture, etc are known as co-curricular activities earlier known

as Extra-curricular Activities.  To a greater extent, the theoretical knowledge gets

strengthened and supplemented with relevant co-curricular activities related to the

content taught in the classroom. Academic aspects of personality are solely

accomplished by classroom, while aesthetic development, character building, spiritual

growth, physical growth, moral values, creativity, etc.  are supported by co-curricular

activities. The execution of academic contents like frankness and clarity in language,

creativity and innovation, and overall personality development is supported by co-

curricular activities. It helps to develop co-ordination, adjustment, speech fluency,

extempore expressions, etc. among students both at the college as well as in the

society.

Besides academics, co-curricular and extra co-curricular activities play

instrumental role in shaping and making overall growth and development of human

mind. No doubt, one should primarily focus on academic activities to learn and excel the

scholarly qualities. However, it is extra co-curricular activities like sports, games, art and

culture, etc that provide a good platform for a child/student to outshine his/her latent

potentials to compete with the challenges that come on his/her way. In fact, it enables

the children/students to enter into the unopened doors of their lives and become wise
enough to go on the ways of the world. The co-curricular activities such as their

participation in group activities like debates, quizzes, group discussion, essay

completions, brain storming sessions, their interaction with peer groups, etc. make them

learn practically and enter into the real life challenges and overcome them by their

knowledge and competence.   The co-curricular activities facilitate in the multi-facets

development of various domains of mind and personality such as intellectual

development, emotional development, social development, moral development and

aesthetic development. Creativity, enthusiasm, energetic, and positive thinking are

some of the important outcomes of the personality development achieved by co-

curricular activities.

In the 21 st century, the pure academic type of education students are introduced

to is gradually giving way to the type of education that seek to incorporate the three

taxonomies of education; cognitive, psychomotor and affective. Co-curricular activities

have been linked to intellectual, emotional, social and moral development of the child. It

is based on this that this study sought to establish a functional relationship between

students' involvement in co-curricular activities and their performance in economics. The

study employed the causal comparative design and used a total of 920 economics

students from the Ashanti region of Ghana. Two instruments were used for the study; a

Test of Economics Understanding (TEU) and a questionnaire. The results of the logistic

regression indicated that involvement in co-curricular activities impacts positively on

students' performance. It is recommended that school authorities identify specific co-

curricular activities and assign teachers as coordinators so that some level of

seriousness would be attached to such activities by the students.

6.Teachers misconception on the use of instructional materials.

Many teachers are not knowledgeable or find it difficult to use instructional

materials when teaching because of lack of training on it’s application for effective use

and dissemination of knowledge. Some teachers do not see the instructional materials

for use. Hence, teachers are faced with the problem of talking about instructional

materials without making bold attempts.

It is virtually important that teachers keep in mind the purpose for which

instructional materials are used. The characteristics and special need for pupils to be

taught by them and the bases for selecting the materials most likely use to help learners

achieve the objective of their study. For example, teachers must know when to use a

film to clarify important concepts rather than explaining it in a text book. When to use

discussion alone, when to embark on a field trip with the showing and discussion of a

related film strip, when to assign outside viewing of television programme of self-study

of a programmed filmstrip or when to have the class produce diagrams or flannel boards

illustrations as part of summarizing oral report on one aspect of class work.

The modern method of teaching is known as formal process. Therefore whether

in a formal or informal situation, knowledge are easily assimilated. Some learning takes

place from the things that learners hear; more learning takes place from the things that

learners see; and, still more learning transpires from what learners do. Hence, the

importance of providing adequate, appropriate and varied instructional materials to

concretize and substantiate learning. This study is a descriptive research that

ascertained the extent of usage of instructional materials of teacher education faculty

members of the Nueva Vizcaya State University, School Year 2011-2012. A structured

questionnaire was used to gather data from randomly selected teacher education

students and teachers. Frequency counts, means, percentages and correlation

procedures were employed to treat the collected data. The students thought that

teachers use all kinds of instructional materials from time to time while the teachers

perceived themselves to habitually use all kinds of instructional materials. Both teachers

and students viewed that teachers remarkably consider the characteristics of the

different instructional materials when utilizing them in the teaching-learning process.

The teachers consider the age and year level of their students as well as their

attendance to relevant seminars when using different kinds of instructional materials in

facilitating learning. Additionally, the students’ age and gender contribute to the

teachers’ effective use of instructional materials with consideration to their

characteristics.

7.Malnutrition in Children

According to the World Health Organization's World Food Programme, one of the

most detrimental effects of malnutrition is the inability to resist diseases.

In fact, the United Nations' Standing Committee on Malnutrition reports that malnutrition

is the largest single contributor to the spread of diseases worldwide. If children do not

get adequate amounts of vital minerals, their bodies become weak, and their immune

systems can be compromised.Although a lack of food is one of the most common

causes of malnutrition, vulnerable children in developing nations also face threats to

their nutritional intake from disease. According to the World Health Organization,
secondary malnutrition is a serious problem in many countries. This refers to instances

when the body cannot properly process minerals and nutrients in food due to health

problems such as diarrhea. This is a serious issue in developing nations where a lack of

clean water and poor sanitation are common.

The 8th National Nutrition Survey (NNS) data collected by the Food and Nutrition

Research Institute, Department of Science and Technology (FNRI-DOST) was used in

the study. There were 13,423 young children and 16,398 schoolchildren participants for

anthropometry component. The World Health Organization Child Growth Standards

(WHO-CGS) was used to assess the nutritional status of the young children while the

WHO Growth Reference 2007 was used for schoolchildren. Occupational groups were

categorized based on the 1992 Philippine Standard Occupational Classification

(PSOC). Descriptive statistics were used for the profiling of the different variables while

bivariate analysis, logistic regression and odds ratios were used to correlate the

different variables to the nutrition status of the children. Data were analyzed using Stata

12.0.

Results showed that households headed by fisherfolks (HHF) were one of the

occupational groups with highest malnutrition among young and school-aged children.

The HHF had higher prevalence of malnutrition among young children compared to the

overall prevalence of malnutrition among young children in the Philippines, except for

overweight. This is also true for schoolchildren, except for wasting. Age of child, sex,

household size, age, fishermen and farmer as household head and type of toilet (water-

sealed) were correlated to stunting, underweight, overweight and obesity among

children.
 8.. Production of too much waste

One of the major waste disposal problems is attributed to the generation of too much

waste. America alone is responsible for the producing of about 220 million tons of waste

annually. In 2007 for instance, it’s recorded that Americans generated nearly 260 million

tons of municipal solid waste. This is about 2.1 kg per person each day. The point is; if

these are only figures in America, let’s try to imagine the amount of waste produced by

the rest of the population across the globe.

According to the World Bank report, the average global municipal solid waste (MSW)

generation per person on daily basis is about 1.2 kg and the figure is expected to rise

up to 1.5 kg by 2025. It therefore means that every state and local authority suffer the

problem of effective waste disposal due to the generation of too much waste. The

problem is that the present era is driven by a throw-away consumerism with companies

and producers striving to maximize profits by producing one-time use products without

prioritizing on reuse, recycling or the use of environmentally friendly materials.

One of the most common problem in the Mojon Tampoy is the improper waste

disposal, which could affect the current living of the residents of the barangay. The type

of research approach is a qualitative research. In this study the researchers aim to

create a solution for the main problem that the researchers found out by interviewing the

residents. The Theory on Waste Management (2004) by E. Pongrácz, P. S. Phillips, and

R. L. Keiski is used as a reference through the progression of the study. An interview

was conducted with (9) willingly residents of the chosen community, barangay Mojon
Tampoy. The question asked to the respondents were their basic information, source of

income and the problems that they encountered in the community.

According to the result, improper waste disposal is the major problem of the

residents in Mojon Tampoy. These problems were defined as incinerating, throwing

their garbage on the well and the lack of garbage collection. These problems could

harm not only the residents but also the environment itself. The knowledge of the

residents about their current situation is based on their own experiences. Although they

were able to give advice to people that might experience the same situation by

segregating their waste properly but since they don’t have enough funds to support

garbage truck collection they resulted to the incinerating of their garbage.

9..Uncovered pathwlks.

As we all know too much exposure to the rough weather can cause a lot of

problems and sickness to us. In fact, researches have shown that too much exposure to

the sun can cause serious problems like skin cancer as well.

Covered walkways and canopies for schools and nurseries are, increasingly,

recognised as essential weather protection installations for students, staff and visitors.

School shelters and covered walkways not only help to create a more professional and

aesthetically pleasing appearance, but also provide a practical shelter for students to

move around during adverse weather conditions.

10. Lack of hand wash areas.

For any organisation, implementing and maintaining appropriate hand hygiene

practices is going to be a daily challenge as there are inconsistent hand hygiene

habits across the population.   However, employers have a responsibility to provide

adequate facilities for workers and addressing hand hygiene is an important part of

this responsibility. 

A report reveals that more than 60% of people feel that the toilet is the most

unhygienic place visited on a daily basis.  

In India, a handwashing awareness-raising campaign, the Great WASH Yatra,

increased knowledge about the benefits of handwashing, but had little effect on

changing intention to wash hands with soap.6

The knowledge-practice gap is more narrow for handwashing than for treatment of

drinking water and sanitation.7 In Kenya, evaluation of a water, sanitation, and hygiene

(WASH) program showed that the knowledge-behavior gap (the percent of respondents

who were aware of the importance of the behavior practiced the behavior) in the

communities with regard to personal hygiene was smaller (85%) than the gap in

treatment of drinking water (49%) and sanitation (37%). The program significantly

improved the proportion of handwashing after defecation, but there was a decrease in

the proportion of respondents who washed their hands after attending to a child who

had defecated.7

Hospitalization for cholera can serve as a teachable moment for behavior change in

WASH, including handwashing.8 In Bangladesh, researchers developed and assessed

the week-long Cholera Hospital-Based Information for 7 Days (CHoBI7) intervention

program. Household members in the intervention arm had significantly higher odds than

households in the control arms of handwashing with soap at key times (50% vs. 18%;

OR = 4.71; 95% CI = 2.61,8.49) and preparing and using soapy water (71% vs. 9%,

respectively).8

11.Disasters awareness and preparedness

If the worst happened — an earthquake, a tornado, extensive flooding, or some

other large-scale natural disaster — would you be prepared?In recent years, more and

moreAmericans are following the example of doomsday preppers, some who have

stockpiled emergency supplies and created elaborate escape plans for years.

Disaster is a natural or human-caused hazard that causes 'a serious disruption of

the functioning of a community or a society involving widespread human, material,

economic or environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the ability of the

affected community or society to cope using its own resources' (UNISDR). The concern

over natural disasters is increasing globally. During the last two decades, loss of life and

property due to disasters has increased. Disasters like floods, earthquakes, fire, etc

pose serious threat to people. Disaster education, which includes education on disaster

risks, mitigation and preparedness strategies, is one approach to reducing the negative

consequences of disasters (Smith 1993; Mulyasari et.al. 2011). It is imperative to

increase the knowledge and attitude of people regarding the natural and man-made

disasters in order to make them able to cope up with their adverse effects. In this paper

an attempt has been made to access the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of college
students studying in district Ganderbal of Kashmir valley regarding disaster

preparedness. The results obtained showed that there is a general lack of information

among students regarding disaster awareness and preparedness. This highlights the

need for disaster safety education. The level of practice was largely negative with

acceptable knowledge and positive attitude regarding disaster preparedness among

college students of district Ganderbal Kashmir valley. It is concluded that disaster never

happened does not mean, it cannot happen. Students can be proving useful workforce

in disaster situation. College students need to know basic strategies carried out in

disaster.

VI.ALTERNATIVE COURSE OF ACTION (ACA)

School describes how the key improvement strategies and significant projects

will be put into operation and how they will be monitored. The general academic target

is to improve pupil’s performance in all learning areas and maintain a safe and clean

school environment as its general non-academic target. Through systematic planning

and communicating, the school’s target is to achieve the realization of its projects and

goals. The topmost school’s improvement project are as follows:

1. DREAM: Drop-Out Recovery through Evidence-based Assessment

and Mentoring to decrease the number of drop-out from 50 to 20 is the

project objective, expected output is to decreased drop-out from 50 to 20

 pupils, target activities are Meeting with the parents, Home Visitation

,School Head, Teachers, Parents and pupils are the persons involve ,

schedule every quarter with a budget of Php 5,000 from PTA Fund.

2. MFR: May Forever sa Reading is another project title, objective is to

achieve zero non-reader in all grade levels through the help of peers,

expected output is zero non-reader in all Grade levels, propose activities

are Meeting with the parents of non-reader, Meeting with the volunteer

parents ,and Sustain MMK2,personnel involve are the School Head, CIP

TWG, Teachers,Parents and Pupils, target to achieve from June 2019-

March 2020 with a budget of Php 15,000 from MOOE.

3. SNN (Swap Non- Numerates to Numerates) to decrease number of non-

numerates in Grades II-VI is the main objective of the project, output for

the year is decreased number of non-numerates in Grades II-VI from 388

to 0 pupils, suggested activities are Conduct Numeracy Test, Meet the

parents of the non-numerates pupils, and Provide interventions for the

non-numerates ,persons committed with this are the School Head,

Teachers, project schedule every Quarterly with a budget of Php 11,000

from MOOE

All the above-mentioned problems can be solved if they are detected at the right time.

Parents and teachers need to make a joint effort to improve a student’s performance.

This will help them deal with anxiety, peer pressure, and self-doubt. The student in

question will be able to improve his performance gradually.

Parents can appoint tutors who will be able to give personalized attention. Proper

guidance and regular practice will turn the tide in the favor of the student.If your child is

afraid of math, it is time to have a serious discussion with him.Look out for the above-

mentioned factors.

Does your child suffer from any of it? Try to find out what is bothering him and work

around it.Together you can help your children overcome their fears and make them

confident about the subject.

4. TEA-Performance: Teachers Exposure and Achievement towards

Performance is a project to enhance the professional and personal growth of

teachers by attending seminars, trainings, workshops, conferences, graduate

studies, Teachers joined cooperatively in all activities and developed their talents

and skills are the major objectives, activities for the realization is to motivate

teachers to attend seminars, trainings and other related studies, GAD LAC

Session, INSET, Fun Run, the persons responsible are School Head and

Teachers scheduled from May 2019-March 2020 with a budget of Php 30,000

from MOOE

5.TIN: Tara Ipagdiwang Natin, this project aims to let pupils attend

seminars, training to enhance their talents and skills in all learning areas even in

extra curricular activities, output for this is Pupils joined cooperatively in school

activities from lower to highest level and developed their talents and skills,

suggested activities are Conducting the following celebrations; Long Green Line

(GSP),TRIAPACKS (BSP),PLTC-Patrol Leaders ,Training Course ,School

Investiture and Encampment ,Jamborette, Kabsayahan , Math Fair,Tag-isip/

Tagsining ,SPG Seminar ,Tree Planting ,Athletic Meet ,SPED-GT/FL

Competition, Nutrition Month, Buwan ng Wika ,United Nations Day ,Boys and

Girls Week, Mr. & Ms. Valentine, persons committed are the School Head

Teachers and Pupils target to achieve from June 2019-March 2020 with a budget

of Php 15,000 from MOOE. SCCS 4P’s: Pagsayaw, Pag-awit, Pagtugtog

at Paglalaro is another project title which aims to organize the SCCS dance

troupe, Choir, Rondalla and Lyre band and to participate in sports that will

develop and expose talents, skills, abilities and self-esteem among SCCS pupils,

target output is to Organized the SCCS dance troupe, Choir, Rondalla and Lyre

band and Pupils joined the Athletic Meet cooperatively, activities prescribe are

Meeting with the parents and pupils, Talk with the trainor, Audition, Practice,

persons involve are School Head, Teacher-Organizer, Trainor and Pupils ,target

schedule is June 2019-March 2020 Php. 5, 000 is the allotted budget from

MOOE.

6.AIMTRAP: Acquired Instructional Materials To Raise Academic

Performance project, its goal is to provide additional instructional materials such

as LED TV suited to the learners to help increase academic performance in all

learning areas, required output is to Increased MPS by 5% in Periodical

Examination, proposed activities are Meeting with the parents/ teachers and

pupils Coordinates with the District/School Property Custodian, persons in-

charge are School Head, Teachers, PTA, Pupils, Property Custodian to be done

Quarterly with a budget of Php 10,000 from MOOE.

7. S3-FEED: Sustainable School Support on Free Eating Everyday is

another project that aims to achieve zero malnourish in Sta. Catalina Sur,

expected output is Zero- malnourish, activities to be done are Meeting with the

parents of wasted and severely wasted pupils and Sustain School-base Feeding

Program, persons committed to serve are Teachers, Feeding Coordinator and

Parents, target from June 2019-March 2020 ,Php 360,000 is the amount allotted

from DepEd and SBFPF.

8. SWAM: Segregation of Waste And Management to keep surroundings

clean, safe and healthy is another meaningful project,output is to make

surrounding safe and clean activities for this are meeting with the

PTA/LGU/teachers and pupils, Collecting of garbage every week and

Symposium ,Inviting MENRO as resource speaker is necessary from June 2019-

March 2020 with a budget of Php 5,000.00 from MOOE.

Eco-responsibility pertains to the three Rs mantra of Re-use, Reduce, and

Recycle. Local communities, authorities and states need to put more efforts

towards the education of waste management. Essentially, the slogan can help

reduce the levels of unsustainable waste that prove problematic in various

environments across the globe. With the implementation and consistent practice

of the three Rs, communities and local authorities as well as states will not only

be able to manage waste but also move in the direction of achieving zero waste.

More emphasis should be placed on responsible resource use with an objective

of avoidance, maximizing recycling and waste reduction methods. Avoidance and

waste reduction involves techniques such as repair of broken things instead of

buying new, purchasing and re-using second-hand items, and designing reusable

and recyclable products.

9. .SOW (Shade our Way ) to construct covered path walk from main gate to

back gate of the school is another beneficial plan project, output is to

constructed covered path walk from main gate to back gate of the school, plan

activities are meeting with the parents and teachers, persons involve are the

School Head, Teachers, LGU,PTA Officers and Parents, target schedule is by

Dec. 2019 ,Php 500,000 is the estimated amount from fund raising. The first and

the most obvious benefit of the covered walkways is the protection that it

provides against the sun and other harsh weather conditions. As we all know too

much exposure to the rough weather can cause a lot of problems and sickness

to us. The covered walkways are very nice way to avoid it. In fact, researches

have shown that too much exposure to the sun can cause serious problems like

skin cancer as well. So, the covered walkways will protect you from that.

This is one of the reasons why the schools are installing the covered

walkways. These days, walkways are available that will offer you complete

protection against the UV rays and other harmful elements of the weather. So,

they are a great means of protection for the little children as well as for the

adults.

However, there are plenty of other reasons why the schools are using these

walkways so frequently. After all, with the growth of the population, these days

the schools are facing problems to accommodate the students. The covered
walkways offer them an opportunity to expand their school premise by linking it

to a remote area. Of course, the cost is one major factor that encourages them in

this decision. After all, the covered walkways are much cheaper than brick and

mortar roads.

This is something that is encouraging even the home owners to install covered

walkways in their houses. After all, they are stylish and beautiful and in addition,

you will save some money as well. Also, they will greatly enhance the appeal of

your house.

The benefits of covered walkways are endless. Covered walkways are a

necessary addition to any business because they create an area that protects

those people walking into your business from natural elements such as snow,

rain, and UV rays.

The amount of protection that covered walkways offer also makes them

very appealing to homeowners who want to fight back against the perils of

nature. Installing covered walkways takes away the need to shovel every time a

snow storm hits and also provides you with a welcoming entrance to your home.

10. WinS (Wash in School) is a project that targets to install/ improve hand-

wash area for every grade level with water supply, output will be constructed

handwashing facilities with water supply, activities to be done are meeting with

the PTA Officers/ Parents and Teachers Budget allocation, Construction of

handwashing facilities, person in authority are School Head, Teachers, PTA

Officers, Parents and Pupils from April-June 2019 Php 50,000 from MOOE. A

washroom environment should actively promote good personal hygiene

practices; it is imperative that the washroom facilities are kept clean and in good

condition, with an adequate supply of the basics such as washroom

consumables and hand drying facilities.So, in addition to providing adequate

washroom facilities, what can employers do to educate employees on the

importance of adopting good hand hygiene practices?

Employers can encourage good hand hygiene practice by providing easy-

to-understand awareness materials such as posters, stickers for use in the

washrooms, on floors, mirrors and doors as well as reminders on company

intranets of the importance of keeping hands clean.  With modern day substrates,

such as removable wall vinyls, stickers can be used and replaced without leaving

any residue on walls, floors or mirrors. Employers can also work with their

washroom services suppliers to create a communications campaign to educate

people why they should keep their hands clean.  Free downloadable posters are

readily available from established suppliers to help promote good hand hygiene

practices. So, by having a systemized approach to skin care, combined with

programmes to educate employees about their skin, employers can provide a

simple yet cost-effective solution to help all employees adopt good hand hygiene

practices.

11. Gamit ko, Ligtas Ako project’s goal is to keep pupils and teachers/ school

community safe in times of disaster/ calamity, to procure/ provide first aid e.g.

flashlight, whistle and medicine for emergency cases, to install fire alarm and fire

extinguisher in every school building ,Safe environment is the output, activities

 needed are Basic Life Support Training, Student–Led orientation, inviting

personnel from BFP (Bureau of Fire Protection),persons involve are School

head, Teachers, SDRRM Coordinators, Pupils, Resource Person, BFP

Personnel from August 2019 with an Php 18,000 budget from MOOE.

We believe in preparing knowledgeable, responsive teachers committed to

educating all learners in a diverse and changing world. At Augsburg, developing a

greater understanding of your vocation as a teacher is as important as developing the

knowledge, skills, and practice of a teacher. Frederick Buechner once wrote “Vocation

is where our greatest passion meets the world’s greatest need.”  Developing a deeper

understanding of your vocation, of your strengths and weaknesses, your ability to think

critically as you respond to others, of your leadership and sense of justice and

inclusiveness, your ability to create authentic relationships and mentor students, all

become themes around which we focus our courses, our practice, and your experience.

VII.RECOMMENDATION

Although schools can play a major role in improving activity among the nation’s

children, schools alone cannot implement the changes across systems that will be

required to foster a healthy and educated future generation. The involvement of many

more institutional players and supports will be necessary to make and sustain the

needed changes. The school applied systems thinking to delineate the elements of the

overall system of policies and regulations at multiple levels that can influence activity

and education in the school environment.

 The vast majority of youth are in school for many hours, thus schools have

important infrastructure for activity and are critical to the education and welfare of

children. Project and programs should be a priority for all schools, particularly if there is

an opportunity to improve academic achievement. Strengthening and improving

programs and policies for education in the school environment is highly recommended

to provide access, encouragement, and programs that enable all students to engage

in holistic education.

VIII.ACTION PLANS

The school develops a detailed plan, projects and programs with encompassing

actions, roles, responsibilities, timelines and success criteria leading to the achievement

of target goals and improving student outcomes. School should describe how the key

improvement strategies and significant projects will be put into operation and how they

will be monitored. . The general academic target is to improve pupil’s performance in all

learning areas and maintain a safe and clean school environment as its general non-

academic target. Through systematic planning ang communicating, the school’s target

is to achieve the realization of its projects and goals.

The following are the topmost action plans for the success of the programs and

projects:

 Projects should be implemented to build the capacities of the different levels,

particularly the schools

 adopting and/or strengthening education and recess policies so they align with

existing recommendations 

 working with national- and state-level parent-teacher organizations to mobilize

and create engagement in this effort.

 working with parent groups and parent-teacher associations to create a demand

for and mobilize efforts

 Provide adequate and stable public funding for the attainment of goals. Adoption

of funding framework for basic education that combines the national and local

government funding to support the most cost-effective local efforts to attain

quality outcomes

 Create a network of community-based groups for attainment of goals. A

knowledge-based group which reach, engage and organize in advocating and

supporting attainment of goals

 Monitor progress in efforts towards attainment of goals.

 The program should also have the authority to make sustained investments in

training activities for both new and experienced teachers

 Comprehensive evaluations should be scheduled to provide reliable information

about program and projects success