THE recently launched Happy Schools Movement by the Department of Education (DepEd) Region 1, is creating consciousness among kids that the school is a fun and positive place to learn and to create a positive atmosphere for them.

A regional convergence of stakeholders for Happy Schools Movement, a brainchild of DepEd Regional Director Malcolm Garma, was held last week to sustain the interest into creating  an atmosphere of positivity for school kids up to senior high school across the Ilocos Region.

Garma said studies say that the reason why children leave schools “is not because of poverty but boredom.”

“Actually they don’t see the relevance of schools anymore especially among our learners of this generation but probably the way we teach our students the traditional way may not be working anymore for our children of today,” Garma said.

“Make them like school. Make them stay in school because school is somewhere that they can play, somewhere that they can enjoy friends, things that they probably don’t enjoy in their own homes, in their own houses, in their own communities,” he said.

Garma said, if they are able to nurture and develop the well-being of their learners, “then probably the learning motivation will follow, the learning itself will follow”.

While happiness is hard to measure as it involves emotions, Garma said they are trying to develop instruments that will translate the level of satisfaction of happiness of children into more tangible, more measurable learning outcomes.

The movement was inspired by Bhutan that came up with gross national indices that measure the happiness level of its citizens in terms of the different parameters of life—health, education, wealth , among others.

Similarly, the Happy Schools Movement is looking at four key result areas of the happiness level of the school: First, is the school leadership in each school responsive to the needs not only of the learners but also of the teachers and also the community by itself?

Second, the responsiveness of school heads because of the dynamism of time and the elements inside and outside the school.

Third, the authentic assessment trying to relate what the learners are learning in their own lives.

Fourth,  the overall conducive of school environment to learning. “Let us make our classrooms a laboratory for discovery,” he said

“So instead of just measuring the efficiency or effectiveness of our schools in terms of the ratios, then let’s also see if what we have in our schools is relevant to the learning of a child,” he said.

Another important aspect is governance, the level of integrity of school officials, utilizing their resources optimally in the right direction. (PhilStar Wire Service)

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