Angara kicks off school feeding, literacy drive in Nueva Ecija

MANILA, Philippines — Education Secretary Sonny Angara on Monday led a simultaneous hot meal distribution and reading campaign in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija, to kick off the drive of the Department of Education (DepEd) to counter undernutrition and boost foundational literacy.

According to a DepEd statement, the twin initiatives serve as the department’s response to mitigating the effects of hunger on learning.

Angara led the supplemental feeding program at the Pantabangan National Child Development Center (NCDC) in Barangay Villarica in anticipation of Nutrition Month in July.

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The facility, which accommodates 37 enrolled learners, serves as an operational model for early childhood education and nutrition services.

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“On the instructions of President [Ferdinand] Bongbong Marcos [Jr.], we are striving to widen the supplemental feeding program to ensure that each student will have enough nutrition while studying,” Angara said in Filipino.

“A healthy body is the foundation of our reform because we know it will be hard for a child who is hungry to study and focus.”

After the nutrition drive, the DepEd contingent went to Marikit Integrated School in Barangay Marikit to lead a literacy campaign for kindergarten to grade three learners.

Angara led the distribution of age-appropriate storybooks and school bags filled with learning supplies to 193 students on the campus, which has a total enrollment of 466 learners, before engaging the children in an interactive storytelling session.

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The storybook distribution is part of a nationwide project targeting over 6.8 million young public school learners.

The Office of the President funded the special provision of bags and classroom items to directly support early childhood education.

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“Reading materials like these are valuable because they form the foundation of critical thinking for children. Through reading, we give the ability to be creative and critical while growing up,” Angara said.

During the school visit, Angara had a dialogue with tutors from the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program to assess the school’s implementation of the learning recovery framework.

The early literacy initiative focuses on the kindergarten-to-grade three transition, guiding children from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” new concepts.

Leading publishing partners donated curated titles promoting reading comprehension, numeracy, values formation, environmental awareness, and life skills, while DepEd shouldered the printing and reproduction costs.

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According to DepEd, these simultaneous projects showcase the Marcos administration’s holistic approach to elevating academic performance by systematically addressing physical hunger and resource gaps at the same time. /atm