Red Flags and Red Alert

Red, red everywhere. 

Red was the dominant color in San Beda College Alabang, whose color is red for bravery and whose emblem is the Red Lion. Here I was invited to speak on “Nurturing Lifelong Readers.” 

It was uncanny that the premise of my talk was all about the color red—red flags and red alert, but neither has anything to do with the school’s red.   

It all began when Ms.Tere Ismaela, head of IBED-K Library, invited me to facilitate a seminar-workshop for middle-school teachers about instilling among students the love of reading.  

Immediately, I mined the topic and what I unearthed was not gold, but scum. The learning poverty of Filipino children ages 10 and below is dismal at 91% and in the lowest five out of 80 countries (World Bank and PISA reports) in reading literacy. Indeed, these are red flags that should put us on red alert.  

It’s heartbreaking; agonizingly painful for a children’s book writer like me. 

My dilemma: Will my talk be just a band-aid solution for a cosmetic change? This deep wound has been festering for years. Academic analysts point to these as culprits: poverty, schools without access to basic amenities (electricity, water, adequate classrooms and books). Worse, parents of these children who cannot read are under-educated and therefore do not regard reading as essential. 

My slides then dwelt on suggestions, instead of long-term solutions to a multi-dimensional problem. 

For our workshop, each of the five groups was to present in context the three vital values students need to learn from a reading program and the three most important attitude set that teachers need to implement it. 

Passionate. Inspiring. Committed. 

These came through loudly in all the presentations: rap, skit, musicale, role-play, and satire. As judge, I had no losers, only winners. So I begged Ms. Tere and her staff to please award all five groups equal prizes—and not just the top three as planned.

They agreed and what came next were spirited photo ops, book signing, and chats about students today. 

My last slide was a dream, wishful thinking:   

“Reading is my advocacy. From today, we are partners.” 

After the presentations and our chats, I felt that this dream has come true. Gigantic the problem may be, together we will do our share to nurture lifelong readers.

Beyond question, the San Beda red stands for bravery. The middle-school teachers embody the red lion.