Editors Note: The following is a news release from non-profit Teach for the Philippines. DNX publishes it in full.
In time for National Teachers’ Month, non-profit organization Teach for the Philippines (TFP) celebrates its 10th year anniversary with the release of Kilapsaw, a 30-minute documentary film that features the inspiring stories of public school teachers and students from all over the country, especially during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
TFP aims to ensure that no student gets left behind through excellent, inclusive, and relevant education. TFP’s Fellowship, Ambassadors, and Public School Teacher Pathways programs have deployed more than 300 highly-skilled and multi-talented young professionals and leaders across 100 public schools in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
The organization has reached 82,000 public school students in the last 10 years to meet Philippine public schools’ concerns and supply the system with more highly-trained and skilled teachers.
Anchored on the theme “Ripples of Impact”, which aims to honor and recognize small contributions that create meaningful and sustained change, “Kilapsaw” pays tribute to the country’s education frontliners: teachers who go above and beyond, cross rivers, and travel far to give each student access to quality education.
“The documentary hopes to honor the connections that we have built and nurtured throughout our ten-year journey, our teachers and partners who have made a dent in our society to ensure that no student gets left behind,” said Mavie Ungco, TFP’s Chief Operations Officer. “This project is a token of our deep appreciation for our teachers and the support that we have received from our partners in the past years.”
Kilapsaw, which is the Filipino translation of “ripples”, was produced by Independent Minds Productions and echoes the experiences and stories of public school teachers and students during the time when learning became difficult and challenging, especially in far flung areas where most students do not have proper access to reliable internet.
The documentary also showed the need to address the learning crisis in the country. However, despite these realities, the film anchored on stories of resilience and gave snippets of hope for a better and reformed educational system in the Philippines.
