Education is a fundamental human right of every Filipino. However, the country’s educational system continues to face unequal opportunities for students and limited access to quality education, especially for children from underprivileged families and communities. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, reported data show that the Philippines is experiencing a “learning crisis,” which hinders the development of children and prevents them from reaching their full educational potential. This results in an ongoing critique of education that will persist until every Filipino child, every student, and every individual attains this human right.

The Rotaract Club of UP Baguio honors the value of education not only as an essential part of human development but also as a right tied to the privileges of Filipino citizenship. Education carries the weight of every individual’s ability to be a critical and active participant in society, emphasizing how learning equips individuals to become conscious and intentional about their role in the community.

Acknowledging the existing challenges in education, the Rotaract Club of UP Baguio has taken part in addressing these issues through programs that support students’ learning journeys. In 2021, the Free Literacy Intervention Program (Project F.L.I.P.)—headed by then Community Service Director Patricia Nicole Choy—was launched in response to the demand for learning interventions, as many households struggled with the sudden shift to remote learning during the height of the pandemic. Tutorial sessions and the distribution of FLIP kits were implemented. These efforts continued in the following two terms as part of the project’s sustainability. School kit distributions were conducted in 2022, while modified storytelling sessions were held at the Baguio City Public Library in 2023.

Project F.L.I.P. continues to expand access to knowledge and quality education for underprivileged children. Recently, in its fourth year of implementation, the club launched Project F.L.I.P. v4: Phase 1, beginning with the rehabilitation of the Breakfast Feeding for Learning Inc. (BFLI) center, in partnership with the center’s head, Ma’am Pacita Panaguiton. The primary goal of this phase was to create a welcoming and resourceful learning area where educational books and art materials would be readily available to children. At the same time, the club also organized a donation drive in March 2025 to gather materials and books that could enrich and inspire children to read.

What the club can proudly attest to is that the transformation of a better and more conducive learning center through this rehabilitation was not the work of a single individual. Rather, it was the collective effort of Rotaractors, Interactors, youth volunteers, and working mothers who came together and labored to make it possible. This stands as proof that we, along with the entire BFLI community, are deeply committed to the cause of education.

The weight of education lies here: it is not merely important—it is the very lifeline of society. One chapter at a time, we flip the pages with Project F.L.I.P.

PROJECT F.L.I.P. FLIPS CHAPTERS ONE AT A TIME (Ilokano Version)

Ti edukasion ket kangrunaan a karbengan ti tunggal Filipino. Ngem agnanaed latta ti sistema ti edukasion iti pagilian iti saan a patas a gundaway para kadagiti estudiante ken iti limitado a pannakagun-od iti de-kalidad nga edukasion, nangruna kadagiti ubbing nga aggapu kadagiti nakurapay a pamilia ken komunidad. Sigun iti United Nations Children’s Fund, ipakita dagiti naipadamag a datos a mapaspasaran ti pagilian ti “krisis iti panagsursuro,” a manglapad iti panagdur-as dagiti ubbing tapno maragpatda ti naan-anay a kabaelanda iti eskuela. Gapuna, agtultuloy latta ti panagkamakam agingga a maragpat ti tunggal ubing a Filipino, tunggal estudiante, ken tunggal indibidual daytoy nataoan a karbengan iti edukasion.

Padayawan ti Rotaract Club ti UP Baguio ti pateg ti edukasion—saan laeng a kas nasken a paset ti panagdur-as ti tao no di ket kas pribilehio ti tunggal Pilipino. Ti edukasion ket mangited iti kabaelan ti tunggal maysa nga agbalin a kritikal ken aktibo a makipaset iti kagimongan, a mangpabigbig a ti panagsursuro ket makatulong tapno agbalin nga sipupuot ken napateg ti indibidual iti panangiturong iti nakemna iti kagimongan.

Kas bigbigenmi dagiti adda a parikut iti edukasion, makipaset ti Rotaract Club ti UP Baguio iti panangsungbat iti daytoy a karit babaen kadagiti programa a naibagi iti panangsuporta kadagiti estudiante. Idi 2021, nairugi ti Project Free Literacy Intervention Program (Project F.L.I.P.), nga indauluan idi ni Community Service Director Patricia Nicole Choy, kas sungbat iti panagkasapulan kadagiti learning interventions, gapu iti kellaat a panagbalbaliw manipud iti tradisional a klase agingga iti remote learning idi pandemia. Naipatungpal dagiti tutorial sessions ken naiyaw-awis dagiti FLIP kits. Naituloy pay daytoy iti sumaganad a dua a termino kas paset ti panangsustenir ti proyekto. Naipatumpal ti pannaiwaras dagiti school kits idi 2022, idinto a naisayangkat met dagiti naiduma a storytelling sessions iti Baguio City Public Library idi 2023.

Agtultuloy ti Project F.L.I.P. a mangpalawa iti pannakaammo ken pannakagun-od iti de-kalidad nga edukasion para kadagiti nakurapay nga ubbing. Iti maikapat a tawen ti pannakaipatungpalna, inrugi ti club ti Project F.L.I.P. v4: Phase 1, a nangidaulo iti rehabilitasion ti sentro ti Breakfast Feeding for Learning Inc. (BFLI), iti pannakikoordinar iti pangulo ti sentro, ni Ma’am Pacita Panaguiton. Ti kangrunaan a panggep ket ti panangpataud iti maysa a maaw-awagan ken naindagaan a lugar-pagadalan nga addaan kadagiti edukasional a libro ken materiales iti arte a nalaka a magun-odan dagiti ubbing. Kas kadua iti dayta, nangidaulo met ti club iti donation drive idi Marso 2025 tapno makaurnong kadagiti materiales ken libro a mangpabaknang ken mangparigta iti kinaayat dagiti ubbing iti panagbasbasa.

Paneknekan ti club nga ti panagbalin ti sentro a nasaysayaat ken naurnos babaen ti rehabilitasion ket saan nga aramid ti maysa a tao wenno grupo. No di ket panagipakita a naurnos babaen ti panagkaykaysa dagiti Rotaractors, Interactors, agtutubo a boluntario, ken dagiti nagannak a nangted iti orasda ken pwersada tapno agbalin a posible daytoy. Ipakita daytoy no kasano a datayo, agraman ti intero a komunidad ti BFLI, ket isuamin naikumit iti panggep ti edukasion.

Ditoy ti kinadagsen ti edukasion: saan laeng a napateg, no di ket mismo a biag ti kagimongan. Maysa a kapitulo iti tunggal gundaway, i-F.L.I.P. tayo dagiti panid babaen ti Project F.L.I.P.