Mandaue LSB allocates over P20M to upgrade Day Care centers
Atty. August Lizer Malate /FILE PHOTO
MANDAUE CITY, Cebu – The Mandaue City Local School Board (LSB) has allocated over P20 million to enhance day care centers across the city.
As part of this initiative, these centers will be equipped with playsets, televisions, refrigerators, laptops, and other educational materials to improve early childhood learning.
The improvements will be implemented under the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) program, which is funded through the Special Education Fund.
The ECCD program aims to foster the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development of young children, typically aged 3 to 6, by providing a nurturing environment that encourages learning through play, hands-on activities, and interaction with peers and teachers.
LSB Secretariat Atty. Lizer Malate emphasized the importance of early education in shaping children’s development.
“We have identified that education should start at a very early stage, even before elementary school. This is what we call ECCD—it levels up our day care system,” Malate explained.
Malate also highlighted the benefits of introducing play-based and interactive educational materials.
“This will give them more avenue kay based on studies kuno, the earlier nga ma-introduce nato ang mga bata ani’ng play and educational materials that are not really the normal structured sa elementary, mas diha ang development. Instead karun, cellphone, TV,” Malate added. (Studies show that the earlier children are exposed to play and educational materials that are not traditionally structured like elementary learning, the better their development. Otherwise, they are mostly exposed to cellphones and television).
The city initially allocated P2.5 million for the program last year. This year, the budget has significantly increased to P19.6 million.
Under this expansion, day care centers will be equipped with play areas and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) toys, as well as essential resources like refrigerators, laptops, and televisions.
Malate confirmed that materials and facilities have already been procured for the first two barangays, Centro and Umapad. Eventually, all 12 clustered day care centers in the city will benefit from the upgrades.
The first ECCD-equipped centers in Centro and Umapad are expected to be operational by the end of the month.
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