In Cagayan de Oro City, southern Philippines, a young teacher has become a viral hit after someone posted a photo of him providing free tutorials to a number of street kids in the city.
According to Cath Libarnes-Bagayna (Instagram user @thatdarncath), she has seen the young man in many places across the city, teaching these grubby kids, unmindful of his own health or safety.
Rain or shine, this young man could be seen spending time with the kids, providing them with coloring materials to answer the workbooks he gave them or reading them stories! After seeing this kind guy doing this a number of times, Cath finally approached him to ask a few questions.
She learned that his name is Kerneil Baranda Balaga, a young graduate from Xavier University (Ateneo de Cagayan) who earned a degree in special education. At the time she met him, Kerneil did not have a job yet that did not stop him from dedicating his time and money to these street kids.
He would bring them reading and writing materials he bought out of his own money – for he was not connected with any organization.
Photo credit: ABS-CBN News
Giving free tutorials for the street kids, Kerneil did not expect anything in return. After all, as he pointed out, what can a street kid give back in return but smiles and their attention?
When Cath’s post went viral, a lot of netizens donated various school supplies to Kerneil. Although he now works as a full-time teacher at his alma mater, he continues to dedicate a few hours a day for his street kid students.
Kerneil has a very positive outlook in life, saying he was inspired by these street kids’ dedication to learning despite the streets being a place not conducive for learning. And the best reward he has received from all these? Seeing his students learning new things after each lesson!
What amazing dedication!
Special Education
Special education is the type of learning mostly focused on educating students with special needs, such as those with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, developmental disabilities, emotional and behavioral disorders, and communication disorders.
To cater to the needs of these special students, special techniques are used in each lesson – often with a different approach than those used in “regular” classes in general education.