Draft as of 3 August 2013

Annex 4-A SIP Guide

GUIDE TO THE FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION WITH PARENTS
Preparatory Activities
1.

Get a facilitator who will run the FGD. The facilitator can be a parent leader, teacher or an
NGO representative who has good facilitating and communication skills.

2.

Get a documentor or note taker documentor who will record the discussions during the
FGD.

3. Reproduce copies of the DepEd vision, mission and core values statement to be given to the

key informants. Alternatively, you may have this statement written in a Manila paper and
posted on the board or wall before the start of the FGD, or prepare a Powerpoint presentation.

4. Invite 10 to 15 parents within the community as FGD participants.

FGD Proper
Duration of the FGD
3 hours
Instructions to the Facilitator
1.
2.
3.

Welcome the participants. Thank them for taking time to participate in the FGD.
Ask the participants to introduce themselves.
Explain the rationale and objective of the FGD. Emphasize the following:
4.

The school will be working together with the community to

come up with a School Improvement Plan (SIP) that will
guide us in making quality basic education accessible to all
every school-age children in the community. The objective
of this FGD is to solicit your views and suggestions as
parents on how best to address the major issues concerning
our childrens education. As your insights and recommendations
will be considered for our planning, ree (3) key issues around
which the SIP revolves. One, how do we make sure that every
school-age children in the community are actually enrolled
in school, regularly attending classes and able to complete
schooling? Second, how do we ensure that our children are
learning with mastery and able to imbibe the right values.
Third, how do we strengthen our partnership in governing
our childrens education?

We will be asking a number of questions. There are no right or wrong

answers to these. Wwe encourage you to be open and honest in
your responses and thus be able to guide us in making our SIP. during
the session.

5.

Proceed with the FGD, with the following guide questions:.


One, how do we make sure that every school-age children in the
community are actually enrolled in school, regularly attending classes
and able to complete schooling? Second, how do we ensure that our
children are learning with mastery and able to imbibe the right values.
Third, how do we strengthen our partnership in governing our childrens
education?
GUIDE QUESTIONS
[NOTE: Following are questions on access to education]
1.

All parents would want to send their children to school, but in reality, some children
who are already 5 or 6 years old are not enrolled in kindergarten or Grade 1
respectively.

What do you think are the main reasons for this?

[Please probe the responses with some follow-up questions.
Solicit at most three reasons.]

How can parents be encouraged to enrol their 5 and 6-year-old

children in Kindergarten and Grade 1 respectively?

What would you suggest the school should do to help?

[Please get specific and concrete suggestions.]

2.

All parents would want their children to regularly attend classes and complete
schooling, but in reality, some pupils do not regularly attend classes, drop out and
never go back to school or finish schooling in a later age.

What do you think are the main reasons for these?

[Please probe the responses with some follow-up questions. Solicit at
most three reasons.]

How can parents ensure that children regularly attend classes and also finish
schooling?

What would you suggest the school should do to help?

[Please get specific and concrete suggestions.]
[NOTE: Following are questions on quality of education]
3.

All parents would want their children to perform well in class, be motivated to study
and learn, and get good grades. In reality, some children get low grades, score poorly
in the National Achievement Test, and do not seem to show interest to learn.

What do you think are the main reasons for this?

[Please probe the responses with some follow-up questions.
Solicit at most three reasons.]

What should parents do encourage the children to study and

perform well in class?

What would you suggest the school should do to help?

[Please get specific and concrete suggestions.]

4.

We all want our children to imbibe the right values to become good and productive
citizens. We want them to be maka-Diyos, maka-kalikasan, makatao at makabansa.

How do you gauge the children in terms of these values? Are

they doing well or not?

If NO, what would be the reasons?

What should parents do to ensure the children fully imbibe and

practice these good values?

What would you suggest the school should do?

[Please get specific and concrete suggestions.]
[NOTE: Following are questions on governance of education]

5.

6.
7.
8.
9.

The childrens education is not just the responsibility of the school. Other stakeholders,
including the parents, play equally significant roles, too. Whats important is that we
coordinate our efforts and support each other as partners.

How would you assess our current partnership?

What factors/issues/problems hinder us from working together

closely and effectively?

What specific concrete actions would you suggest to

strengthen/improve our partnership?

As parents, how important or how much do you value the education of

your children?

10.
11.All parents would want to enrol their children to school and finish
schooling, but not all are able to do so. What do you think are the main
reasons why some parents are unable to send their children to school
or unable to sustain their schooling up to graduation?
12.b.1 What are the economic reasons (i.e. reasons related to family
income status, employment, and child labor practice, if any)?
13.b.2 What are the other reasons?
14.[To guide the participants, you may ask the following question: Are
there children in our community who are unable to enrol because of:
15.sickness?
16.distance the school is too far?
17.violent conflicts in the area such as armed conflict or tribal war?
18.effect of a recent natural disaster such as typhoon or earthquake? ]
19.
20.b.3 Do you experience difficulty in making your child go to school
and/or stay in class? If yes, why?
21.
22.b.4 Do you think the school itself has something to do with the
problem? In what way?
23.What is your impression of our school in general?
24.What can you say about:
25.the requirements for enrolment?
26.the school projects?
27.the teachers?
28.the textbooks and learning materials?
29.the extra-curricular activities?
30.the K-to-12 program?
31.
32.NOTE: At this point, be attentive to the responses of the parents.
Listen to their stories and complaints. Encourage them to speak out.
Do not be defensive. Do not argue with them.
33.

34. In what ways can the school help you in ensuring that your children
are enrolled in school, perform well in class and able to complete
schooling? NOTE: Ask for specific and concrete, doable suggestions.
35.
36.In what ways can you as parents help in improving the school to
become an effective learning environment that it is envisioned to be?
37.
38.Is there anything else that you want us to know which you think should
be considered in our school planning and management?
39.
40.To close the FGD:

Recap or summarize the responses of the participants. Stress

that these are valuable inputs to the school planning.
Thank them for their active participation in the FGD.

Tips in Facilitating FGD

Keep participants focused, engaged, attentive and interested.

Monitor time and use limited time effectively.
Use prompts and probes to stimulate discussion.
Use the focus group guide effectively to ensure all topics are covered.
Politely and diplomatically enforce ground rules.
Make sure everyone participates and at a level that is comfortable.
Limit side conversations.
Encourage one person to speak at a time.
Be prepared to explain or restate questions.
Diffuse and pre-empt arguments.