Provincial Rabies Education Consultative Workshop Held In Palawan, Philippines
20 Feb 13
GARC’s goal to empower communities through advocacy and education reached another milestone as we, in partnership with the Palawan Provincial Health Office (PHO), Provincial Department of Education (DepEd) and Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO), conducted a two-day Provincial Rabies Education Consultative Workshop on January 15-16, 2013 in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines. The event aimed to provide an overview of the proposed integration of rabies prevention education into the school curriculum as well as to elicit suggestions from the participants on developing a rabies education curriculum and teachers’ manual suitable for the province of Palawan.
More than thirty participants including district supervisors, central principals, and master teachers from the various municipalities in the province attended the workshop. Representatives from the Palawan PHO and PVO gave background presentations on rabies and the status of human rabies incidence in the province. GARC Asia Coordinator, Dr. Mary Elizabeth Miranda and GARC Asia Community Education Head, Ms. Elaine Llarena spoke about GARC’s projects and the importance of rabies education in communities, respectively. The five master teachers from El Nido, Palawan, where the curriculum integration of rabies education was first implemented, also shared their experiences in developing the manual and briefly discussed the curriculum of each of the five subjects (Filipino, English, Science, Mathematics, and Makabayan).
A workshop on the development of the Rabies Prevention Program Manual was held on the second day. Attendees were placed in five groups, focusing on each of the subject areas and were tasked to review and comment on the respective sections of the manual used in El Nido. Each group then presented their feedback on how to further improve the manual and actions that could be carried out to ensure the success of the provincial adoption of the curriculum integration.
The participants recognized the importance of their role as educators to be involved in the rabies elimination program and the impact that they have on their students to encourage them to be responsible pet owners and help eliminate rabies in Palawan. Similarly, they also identified that the establishment of linkages and strengthening of cooperation among LGUs, NGOs, and other concerned agencies are critical for the success of the program implementation. Extending the worthwhile CARe (Children Against Rabies) Project in El Nido, GARC believes in the potential of integrating rabies education into the curriculum of elementary schools to uphold a sustainable rabies-free community. The final version of the teachers’ manual is expected to be used in elementary schools in the province by June 2014.
Submitted by Dane Medina, Communications Officer for GARC, based in the Philippines office.