READING IS DYING
KARLA T. SANCHEZ
Learners today are different from yesterday. They lack various skills they should learn in school reading. Based on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), the Philippines landed in the bottom 10 out of 81 countries in reading comprehension, mathematics, and science for the second time. This means that, Filipino students are having hard time in reading. We can tell that children from our generation do not have skills in reading. A learner who can comprehend what he is reading is considered a reader. But in our scenarios today, we cannot deny that most of our learners are struggling. There are several factors that cause poor results in terms of reading. An example is being unaware of the grapheme (letter symbol) and phoneme (sounds of the letters). Students in Kindergarten to Grade Three are the primary concern regarding this matter, because they are expected to know the alphabetic principle in their stage. Mastering the sounds of the letters is the first step to learning how to read. Reading is the most powerful way to learn the different subject areas. But, when COVID-19 pandemic occurs, children are stucked in their homes and do distance learning as an alternative learning modality. During those days, most of them do not have an equal opportunity to learn because they could not afford to buy a gadget or internet access. Hence, they are the only ones who are answering the given modules. When schools are reopened and students come back in a face-to-face teaching and learning setting, learners get along again on track, but there are still children who have insufficient parental support and guidance. These youngsters tend to be categorized as frustrated readers. It is because their parents are either illiterate or do not follow-up the progress of their child in reading. These scenarios are common with families that came from poverty. As a teacher or the parent, how can you help the young minds to learn how to read? Let us not let reading die, nevertheless let us help them recover from what they do not have - the reading.
-oOoThe author is Teacher I at Bancal Elementary School