TARA, BASA! Some 700 college student beneficiaries of the Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) wait for their turn to receive their cash-for-work (CFW) at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela on Thursday (Oct. 26, 2023). Qualified parents and guardians also received payouts for the same program. (Photo courtesy of DSWD)
MANILA – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Thursday started giving the cash-for-work (CFW) payouts under its Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program to some 2,800 more parents and guardians.
A batch of 1,065 similar beneficiaries already received their CFW during the initial payout distribution held at the Valenzuela City People’s Park, Valenzuela City on Wednesday.
Each parent and guardian are given PHP235 fees per session in exchange for attending the Nanay-Tatay sessions. They receive an amount ranging from PHP705 equivalent to three sessions for the month of September up to PHP2,585 for the combined 11 sessions for the months of August and September.
Apart from attending 20 learning sessions, they are also required to assist their children in preparing their needs for learning and reading sessions and assist them in their after-reading session assignments.
“The Nanay-Tatay session is one of the components of the tutoring program to strengthen the family and community support systems of the struggling and non-reader elementary students,” Assistant Secretary for Strategic Communications Romel Lopez said.
On Thursday, some 700 college student-beneficiaries of the Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program also received CFW at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela.
The 2nd to 4th year college students were trained to become tutors and youth development workers (YDWs) to conduct reading sessions to struggling and non-reader elementary learners and Nanay-Tatay sessions to parents and guardians of the grade school beneficiaries of the program, respectively.
In conducting reading and parenting sessions, the students use the “Guide for Learning Facilitators” and “Nanay-Tatay Modules”, crafted by the DSWD and Ateneo Center for Educational Development (ACED).
Avenger Charles, 39, from Caloocan City, said he is thankful to be part of the Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program.
“Maraming salamat po sa DSWD dahil bukod sa natulungan kaming mga magulang, natuto pang magbasa ang aking anak. Natutunan ko rin yung mga mabubuting pangangaral sa mga anak bilang isang magulang (Thank you very much to DSWD because apart from helping us parents, my son also learned how to read. I also learned how to raise my children well as a parent),” Avenger said.
“Gagamitin ko po ang natanggap kong cash-for-work sa pang araw-araw na pangangailangan ng aking anak tulad ng baon niya at tsaka para sa lapis, ballpen, notebook, tsaka bag (I will use the cash-for-work I received for my son's daily needs such as his allowance and also for pencils, ballpens, notebooks, and bag),” Avenger added.
Javinette, a 22-year-old recipient, said she will use the PHP1,180 she received, which is equivalent to eight Nanay-Tatay sessions, for the vitamins and school supplies of her children.
“Malaking tulong po ang Nanay-Tatay sessions kasi marami pong ibang magulang na hindi alam kung paano disiplinahin ang mga anak nila, hindi alam kung paano pasunurin yung bata, hindi alam kung paano i-approach yung anak nila. Kaya napakalaking tulong po nito para matutunan din ng magulang kung paano nila maa-approach yung anak nila (The Nanay-Tatay sessions are very helpful because some parents do not know how to discipline their children, do not know how to teach their children to be obedient, or do not know how to approach their children. So it is very helpful for parents because we learned how to approach our children),” Javinette explained.
The Tara, BASA! Tutoring Program is a holistic social welfare and development model that creates an ecosystem of learning wherein college students will be capacitated and deployed as tutors to teach poor and non- or struggling readers in elementary.
College students can also act as Youth Development Workers (YDWs) who will conduct parenting and learning sessions for parents and guardians of the elementary learners.
The Tara, Basa! is the reformatted educational assistance program of the DSWD that gives college students PHP610 a day for 20 days in exchange for being tutors or youth development workers and will provide PHP235 per day for parents who will attend the teaching sessions. (PNA)
