The Tribal Children's Literacy Program - how it all began, and where it's going

TCLP started as an outreach program of MCN International to the Mamanwa people in 1988.

Upon realizing that the Mamanwa tribal people were nearly 100% illiterate MCN began to investigate ways to teach them to read and write. Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) had produced literacy material for the Mamanwa in 1976, but it had gone mostly unused for more than two decades.

The Mamanwa often settled near towns and cities where public schools were available, however few ever went to these schools due to the lack of any aid to assist in enrolling, the general lack of experience of their parents in the value of education. 

The Mamanwa also feel shame because they’re being called “kongkings”, a derogatory term about their kinky, curly  hair and dark skins directed towards these Negrito-looking people in that area in Mindanao. The Mamanwa is one of the few tribal groups in the Philippines who don’t have the same features of the most Filipinos who have brown skins, straight hairs and who mostly have the Malay features.

In 1994 MCN began a Pre-school program to better prepare Mamanwa children for the 1st grade. In 2001, a two-story dormitory/dining hall/pre-school classroom building was constructed to house Mamanwa children whose parents lived far into the mountains for their children to attend any kind of school.


In the video link here, Byron walks you through the dormitory area and the playground that needs to be repaired.

Since 1993 MCN, through TCLP has aided over 2,000 Mamanwa and Manobo children to enter Philippine public schools. 

We have seen a majority of these complete elementary school (grades 1-6) and most of those who complete elementary school enter high school. To date over 50 Mamanwa children have completed high school through TCLP and 4 have graduated from college. This is quite a change for them as fifteen years ago you could not find a Mamanwa who had completed elementary school.

TCLP has set for it’s objectives in 2012 the following goals:

1.      Encourage the children in TCLP to apply themselves more especially by not missing school often.

It’s very easy for the kids to miss school because their parents bring them when they go to the mountains to haul wood, to tend to their small farms or to pan for gold. Also, they miss school because the children are asked to babysit their younger siblings while the parents go to the mountains.

TCLP will continue to educate the parents to see the value of education that their children are getting.

2.      Weed  out the children in the program who don’t really want to go to school but who just enjoy the benefits given to them without doing their part of the agreement.

3.      Encourage the parents  and their children  to attend Sunday Services.

4.      Foster better relationships between the TCLP staff and the teachers in the different schools where the TCLP children attend for proper monitoring of the children’s attendance and performance in school.

5.      Expand TCLP sponsorship so more children can be given a chance to go to school.