Financial stability was the main reason why Jaimiely Monedo Dionglay decided to leave the Philippines.
As someone who lived in the province, not owning a place, meant spending a huge percentage of her salary on rent, food, laundry, and transportation. For her, saving enough money for emergency situations and for her future was not a priority because tending to her needs and her parents was her prime concern.
When Jaimiely joined a radio station, she became a media practitioner. This also paved the way for her to work for ABS-CBN as a production assistant for a non-primetime drama show. Due to a health-related concern, she had to let go of the career that she wanted to have.
“I was frustrated but life must go on,” she said.
Fortunately, a radio station in the University of the Philippines Diliman, DZUP 1602, was in need of a news reporter. When she returned to the profession she thought would complete her, she felt like her heart and desire were no longer in the media industry.
That was when her fate led her to meet a high-ranking government official who advised her that if teaching preschool-aged children was her goal, she should apply for the Master of Family Life at UP Diliman.
Following her senior’s advice, she passed the admissions assessment of the program and went on to study different theories of child development as a full-time student from 2012 to 2014. While she was studying, she was granted the UP presidential scholarship which helped her with her finances.
With the frustration of not being able to provide for her parents while they were already senior citizens at that time, Jaimiely worked full-time as a preschool teacher while finishing her last year in Grad School.
After finishing her master’s degree and culminating a year of experience as an early childhood teacher, her sister processed all the required travel documents to be able to come to Dubai.
Settling in a different country, away from her loved ones, including her then-boyfriend, now-husband, was one of the biggest struggles that she had to cope with.
When she arrived in the emirate, she immediately worked as a foundation teacher for an institution that follows the UK national curriculum and was promoted to the head of the early years section. In her eight years of experience as an early childhood educator, there were many occasions when she felt like she was not up to par with the expertise of her colleagues. It was a silent battle she endured internally. The school trusted her capacity as an educator and supported her professional growth by sending her to various courses that shaped a big part of her consciousness and knowledge in the field of early childhood education.
When the pandemic happened, Jaimiely decided to step down to become a teacher again to focus on her family.
The aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic had crushed many dreams, but the case was different for Jaimiely. The biggest plot twist of her 2022 was when she was approved by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) to be the founding center manager and principal of Le Eskolar Early Childhood Centre.
“If you’d asked me 10 years ago, if I see myself leading a school as a principal, I would probably have laughed at you because when I was in elementary, whenever I hear the word principal, I instantly get scared because of the level of authority that is associated with her,” she quipped.
As the principal, her role is the provision of professional leadership and management of the whole center and its academic and administrative staff on behalf of the school’s owners.
“I enjoy every bit of my stay at Le Eskolar because of the ethos that is established by the owners early on. With my current job, I am capable of implementing changes and conceptualizing initiatives that will benefit the students and their families, with the goal of moving our center forward in the field of early childhood education,” she said.
“As the principal, just like a mother, I always keep myself available to all staff, students, and their families, and to the governing bodies of the UAE should they require anything from Le Eskolar.”
The Filipina principal takes pride in finally having a learning center that is patterned after the Philippines’ Department of Education’s K-12 curriculum. The center has been granted to provide education and services to children aged 4 to 6 years old.
“Amidst the busy city, our humble center keeps our students engaged and on-task by providing them with fun and stimulating activities in a safe and happy space. We value and celebrate our students’ uniqueness and place our learners at the center of our curriculum,” she said.
Jaimiely envisions having her own preschool or play school in the Philippines.
“To our Kabayans who are facing difficulties in life right now, please try to look at the positive side of the struggles that you are thrown with. I know that on most difficult occasions, we are tempted to just give up because our fear overpowers our faith. I’ve also been in difficult situations, yes, I cried, I got scared, and I doubted myself, but I didn’t let these circumstances define me, instead, I pick up bits and pieces of a painful/difficult experience and regard them as daily reminders that life can be harsh, but with faith, determination, and support from people who matter, I can bounce back stronger with a greater conviction to succeed,” she concluded.