Experiences in Child Mapping Activity

The hand of the dropped out learner is being checked by his uncle. The teenager had blackening of his fingers. 

It is now the season of revisiting and updating of School Improvement Plan. School- Based Management has this element which helps the principal and teachers cater quality education. There are several activities to be done like child mapping. This activity is not new anymore for me. I was able to try when I was in Anda Integrated School. It was fun yet reflective for me as I explored some parts of the barangay where my school is located, and I met people in all walks of life. I realized that the community needs me in helping the children to attain their dreams, and I need its people to fulfill my duty.  

Our school slated child mapping activity yesterday afternoon. After the classes and school tasks, we were deployed into groups based on purok of the barangay Tondol and Imbo. I was assigned in the Purok 5 and 6 of Caniogan, a sitio of Tondol. Together with my co- teacher and kabagis, Ma'am Melaida, we braved the roads of the sitio. It was still hot that time and so the warm welcome of the residents.

Talking to people is a challenge for me. Believe it or not, I am an introvert guy. It is strange to hear this statement because the expectation is that a teacher knows how to mingle with lots of people. It takes courage to knock on the doors and do interview.

The first house we went through has a big, female dog. The way it looked at me made me nervous. It started to bark. Thank God, the owner had time talking to us. He is the father of one of our senior high school learners. The early part of our mapping was easy as houses are not apart. We were able to interview more than fifteen respondents, most of them are our learners. I had also talked with the elementary learners of Caniogan Elementary School. Conversing with them showed their innocence. One of them called me uncle. I was not offended. I just smiled and continued the chit- chat.

As we moved within the community, the houses are getting distant. Families in Purok 6 are separated by wide farmland. Crossing the road is relaxing because of the picturesque, idyllic view of the place. In the last house we visited, we found a Grade- seven dropped out learner who is sick. His hands had blackened. His condition was already consulted to doctors, but it is not getting better. I hope that the lad will receive treatment as soon as possible. 

We concluded our journey through eating halo- halo. It was our cool down. We had short conversation with the vendor about our job as a teacher. 

Child mapping again made me realized how blessed I am in my life. I saw different situations of our learners that some are struggling daily. I had the chance to find the houses of my learners. I commend them and their parents for valuing education by defying the distance going to school. I feel anew the responsibilities of being a teacher. I have a big part in shaping the community. The one hour immersion ignited the flame of my profession. 

Our activity is stipulated in DepEd Order No. 44, s. 2015 or Guidelines on the Enhanced School Improvement Planning (SIP) Process and the School Report Card (SRC). Child mapping is included in planning phase. The teachers need to accomplish the Child Mapping Tool found in Annex 1A. 

Here are the instructions found in the annex: 

Before you go around your community to conduct your early registration activities, coordinate with the District or Division office and your barangay. If there are other schools in your barangay, coordinate with them as well.

Distribute this child mapping tool to your team of teachers and volunteers. They should fill this up as they move from house to house in the barangay. This will help you get important basic information on the status of 4-17 year old children in your community which you can use in school planning. You only need to cover your barangay unless majority of your students come from nearby communities, in which case, you need to conduct child mapping in those barangays as well. If there are no schools in a barangay, the District or Division office will initiate the child mapping in that area (following DO. No. 1 s. 2015).

Child mapping should be done at least every 3 years (preferably at the start of the SIP cycle), assuming that there are no major changes in the population of your community. After events causing major population changes (e.g. disasters), child mapping should be conducted to account for the children in your community.

After mapping, consolidate the data. You can encode it in the School-Community Data Template for easy reference. Share the data with your District and Division offices, barangay, and with nearby schools and communities.

What is your child mapping experience? You may share it here.