DSWD, DepEd: ‘No child will be left behind’

Every child in the Philippines will now have the chance to be schooled.

This is the vision of Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Department of Education (DepEd) as they launch Kariton Klasrum with the theme “Katropa, Edukasyon at Kalusugan Mo’y Sagot ko! Sakay na sa Kariton ng Pagbabago!” today in Ultra Sports Complex, Pasig City.

More than 200 children will be attending the said event to celebrate the start of the drive and to witness the symbolic signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between DSWD and DepEd.

As an alternative delivery mode of education, Kariton Klasrum aims to reach street families and out-of-school children who are beneficiaries of the Modified Conditional Cash Transfer (MCCT), an offshoot of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, a human development program of the national government.

“This is one big push for the street children, one more push for their bright future,” Sec. Corazon Juliano-Soliman of DSWD said.

Through combined efforts, DSWD and DepEd hope to reach and educate every child in the country through traditional and alternative learning systems so that “no child will be left behind.”

“If we work together, there is no excuse for not reaching our goals,” Sec. Br. Armin A. Luistro of DepEd said.

The project initially targets more than 3,000 identified street children in Metro Manila. Kariton Klasrum is made possible through a partnership with the Dynamic Teen Company (DTC), represented by CNN Hero Efren Peñaflorida, and other Civil Society Organizations.

DTC also hopes to lead, train, and develop the youth to enable them to become good, productive, and responsible citizens. They hope to accomplish these by providing youth awareness projects, talent enhancement programs, self-development activities, and community services. Their objective is to introduce the concept of youth importance, self-understanding, and teen moral value.

The Pantawid Pamilya is also a social protection strategy that invests in the health and education of poor children age 0-14 years old. It is widely known as the Philippine conditional cash transfer program. As of April 3, 2013, the program has 3,841,992 household beneficiaries, and operates in 1,627 cities and municipalities in 79 provinces in 17 regions nationwide.