Multiply-Ed Phase 2 begins, Tools for the 2nd Round of Nationwide School-Level Monitoring Pilot-Tested in Pasig

13 April 2024

Multiply-Ed Phase 2 is officially on the move at all levels of public education governance!

Multiply-Ed is a national initiative of the Center for Youth Advocacy and Networking (CYAN) and Government Watch (G-Watch) in cooperation with various youth and student organizations and with support from Education Out Loud of the Global Partnership for Education. Multiply-Ed or X-Ed aims to improve transparency, participation, and accountability in various levels of education governance, particularly in ensuring learning continuity and recovery in Senior High Schools towards a public education system that is resilient, gender-responsive, accessible and accountable to education stakeholders, especially for marginalized learners.

Last April 12, Friday, the tools for the second round of the nationwide school-level monitoring of Multiply-Ed has been pilot-tested in three senior high schools in Pasig City, namely: Rizal High School, Kapitolyo and San Lorenzo Ruiz. Thirteen (13) volunteer-monitors from G-Watch Center, G-Watch Pasig, CYAN and Multiply-Ed Pasig school accountabiliteams conducted the pilot monitoring. It is the first-ever field monitoring activity of the newly-formed core group of G-Watch Pasig that just had their meeting last April 5 at Pasig City Hall.

Coverage

A total of 18 students from the 3 senior high schools were interviewed using the student feedback monitoring tool that aims to generate feedback on services and entitlements especially for marginalized learners.

Six (6) teachers were interviewed using the teacher feedback monitoring tool that aims to general feedback on support programs for teachers, especially whether the recent policy announcement on the removal of administrative tasks from all teaching staff is being followed.

Actual observation of the schools and interview with the school heads were conducted to fill up the school unit monitoring tool that covers the school profile, services and mechanisms that Multiply-Ed deems crucial to advance a resilient, inclusive, gender responsive and accountable public education system.

The monitoring tools were developed by G-Watch following its strategic approach to accountability in consideration of the monitoring findings from Phase 1, the organizing design of Phase 2 and the mapping of critical standards from relevant and pertinent policies and reports. Feedback on the pilot run are being considered in revising and finalizing the tools to be officially launched at the kick-off of the X-Ed 2.0 Briefing-Orientation Seminar Series in Brooke’s Point Palawan on April 16-18 and in El Nido on April 19-21, 2024.

Phase 1 Recap: Gains to be Sustained and Expanded

Through the first phase, from 2021-2023, Multiply-Ed has been able to mobilize and capacitate around 300 volunteer-monitors to form accountability teams that monitored 53 schools and 10 divisions/ local governments using the Multiply-Ed approach to accountability  that is multi-level, multi-sectoral and youth-led.

Based on the X-Ed monitoring results, including its baselining and standards mapping research, and through follow-up advocacy and engagement activities, X-Ed on phase 1 has been able to:

  • generate around 133 commitments from duty-bearers in response to its monitoring findings that aim to address critical resource gaps in schools, undertake needed policy actions and identify possible multi-sectoral endeavors, among others;
  • craft an 8-point education reform agenda;
  • develop 5 draft proposed policy documents on expanding representation in local school board, supporting participatory monitoring, reaffirming social accountability in education governance and enhancing resiliency of public education system;
  • promote re-opening of education governance to citizen action for accountability, reviving participation of civil society in procurement and enabling citizen-led monitoring at all levels after years of hiatus as well as supporting the reactivation and strengthening of School Governance Councils;
  • win government response and actions towards specific critical campaigns on issues most crucial to the youth and students, such as the removal of a garbage dump site in front of a school in Marawi, integration of gender sensitivity in the student manual in Pasig, passage of mental health ordinances in Quezon City and Puerto Princesa, passage of Wifi Ordinance in Naga City, strengthening of the feeding program at the national level and addressing issues on potable water.

Phase 1 of Multiply-Ed was filled with fun and meaningful partnership and learning towards the common goal of making quality public education accessible and resilient.

Phase 2 Focus

For phase 2, the focus of Multiply-Ed is on further facilitating and enabling the Multiply-Ed movement in leveraging Multiply-Ed evidence and proposals to generate action and response from duty-bearers from school to international levels in addressing key gaps and issues towards a resilient, inclusive, gender responsive and accountable public education system.

Multiply-Ed 2.0 also aims to continue strengthening and expanding the Multiply-Ed, G-Watch and CYAN education reform network and advocacies. Specifically, the focus of Multiply-Ed 2.0 monitoring, advocacy and organizing will be on three areas that are to be checked through the monitoring tools pilot-tested in Pasig, namely:

  1. most basic services needed in schools (classrooms, textbooks);
  2. support to teachers;
  3. support to marginalized learners, namely indigenous people, LGBTQIA+, female and poorest learners and learners with special needs.

G-Watch and CYAN also aim to strengthen learning and knowledge development on youth-led organizing and advocacy, vertical integration as a strategic approach to accountability and education reforms in Phase 2 of Multiply-Ed. 

To join and support Multiply-Ed, please see the contact information provided below.

 

X-Ed Contact Information:

33G Mabait Street, Teacher’s Village East, Diliman, Quezon City

Email: multiply-ed [at] cyanpilipinas.org
Tellphone number: (+63) 917 879 3279
Facebook: Multiply-Ed Philippines

Twitter/Instagram: @MultiplyEdPH