Luistro lauds free birth registration project

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Education (DepEd) expressed its support to the Free Birth Registration project of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), saying the project will help DepEd prepare the infrastructure for “universal kindergarten” for all five year-olds in the country.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro said that proper birth documentation is very important especially now when it has made kindergarten mandatory to entry to Grade 1 as the initial phase of their ambitious K (Kindergarten) + 12 Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) plan.

“This project is very timely especially in preparation for the forthcoming enrolment of students in our public schools. Birth certificate is a very important document in securing student’s 0p;/identity,” said Luistro.

Luistro also emphasized that this effort supports the Education For All (EFA) goal that the country pledged to meet by 2015.

The Free Birth Registration project advocates the protection of every child’s basic rights, more particularly in keeping children in school. Thus, he encouraged parents to grab the opportunity of registering their children for free.

This joint project is initiated to cover the registration of Indigenous Peoples (IP), children of indigent parents, children who are enrolled and will be enrolled in public schools and all beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program who have no birth certificates yet.

The project also responds to the difficulty in complying with the basic documentary requirements such as birth certificates of children in tribal communities.

Alongside with DepEd and DSWD, the Free Birth Registration project under Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, is in collaboration with the National Statistics Office (NSO) and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Registration and processing fees of birth certificates will be shouldered by government funds for the month-long registration from May 3 to 31, 2011 in the Local Civil Registrar’s Office of every municipality.