In keeping with its advocacy of promoting inclusive and quality education to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), LRT-1 private operator Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC) addresses gaps in education through an intervention program aimed at improving the foundational skills of students in their early school years.
Started in School Year 2020–2021, the ongoing partnership of LRMC with Binhi English Literacy Foundation has benefited almost 75 scholars from its partner school Marcela Marcelo Elementary School (MMES) in Malibay, Pasay City by providing support to non and struggling readers enrolled in the Binhi English Literacy Program. Binhi English Literacy Foundation, Inc. is a non-governmental organization founded in Manila in 2008 to help children ages 5 to 11 who are out-of-school or in school but at risk of dropping out.
The primary objectives of the intervention program are to improve the student’s comprehension skills and develop love for reading that will inspire students to do better in school and subsequently, improve their economic situation.
LRMC believes that just a house would not be built without solid foundations, one cannot expect a child to thrive without solid foundational skills such as reading and writing considered as the building blocks for a life of learning.
Through the years, the program has resulted to an improvement in the average scores for the reading progress of students. For School Year 2021 – 2022, the performance rate for Beginning Reading English Post-Test recorded an average score of 81% compared to the Pre-Test average score of 45%, highlighting the improvement of LRMC scholars since the time they were assessed before the program started.
LRMC’s support for its scholars doesn’t simply end by providing financial assistance to the intervention program. The company, together with Binhi English Literacy Foundation staff, also regularly checks progress of students by having a series of assessment tests conducted by LRMC employee volunteers.
This School Year 2022 – 2023, more students of MMES will benefit as LRMC has renewed its support for the third straight year, by sponsoring a class of Grade 2 students aged 7 to 8 years old who will undergo the reading intervention program.
What’s more, the partnership with Binhi Foundation has expanded to cover additional classes in different schools through the participation and additional support from LRMC’s technical partners. Alstom and Bouygues Travaux Publics are providing support to two Grade 2 classes in F. Serrano Sr. Elementary School in Paranaque City, and RATP Dev is sponsoring a Grade 2 class in Jose Rizal Elementary School in Pasay City.
LRMC also commits to nurturing its relations with Marcela Marcelo Elementary School (MMES) through a variety of engagement activities such as the Safety Awareness Advocacy Program facilitated by LRMC Health, Safety, Environment, and Quality (HSEQ) Team aimed at instilling the values of safety and discipline; annual Christmas gift giving, among others.
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