EDUCATION BLUES: A bULATLAT Special Report

Determined Students and Teachers Face Challenges in Remote Schools

Students and teachers in remote interior villages in Samar province walk at least 10 kilometers to reach remote, upland schools, all for the sake of pursuing education.  

BY JOHANN HEINN B. ARPON
Bulatlat

Cherrie Anne Lario, 15, is one impressive student. Cherrie is an incoming freshman at the University of the Philippines in Tacloban City, Leyte province (575 kms from Manila).  But it’s not her having passed the UP College Admission Test which makes her special. Cherrie and her family live in a farming community in Sitio (sub-village) Rawis, Guirang village, in Basey town in Samar province (575 kms from Manila). Every school day, during her four years in high school, she walked 10 kilometers to and from the Integrated School in Burgos village.

She said the school is accessible by boat, but she had no money to pay for the boat fare.  She would usually arrive home late in the evening because of the distance she had to cover. There were also times she went hungry, having no lunch to bring to school.

In 1998, Cherrie’s father lost his job at a construction firm in Manila that closed down. The next year, it was her mother who lost her job at a factory which also closed shop. A poor aunt shouldered her studies, with money loaned from her friends.

Cherrie observed many shortcomings in the school. The 12 teachers for 300 to 400 students were not enough. Most of the teachers were municipal-paid and had not even passed the teachers’ board exam. Because of the shortage of teachers, an instructor would usually teach three to four subjects even if it is not his field of specialization.

Assessing her high school life, Cherrie said she could have learned more if the government gave priority to education, particularly on schools in the interior villages. Qualified and well-compensated teacher, updated books, as well as other facilities like computers and laboratory equipment are needed. Cherrie said she finished high school without having seen a real microscope.

Cherrie is hopeful about finishing college though she admits that most college graduates hardly find jobs.

For now, Cherrie knows her sacrifice has brought her well, and she vowed that in college, she will not limit herself to books and school.

She said, “My education in the barrio has raised many questions as to what the education system of our government. I’ll also try to study our society and be involved in shaping our future – one that is liberating for the poor.”

Cherrie finished elementary at the Rawis Elementary School, also in Sitio Rawis, Guirang village.  The school lies beside the Golden River of Basey, some 15 kms. from Basey town proper, which is also the nearest urban center. Aside from farming, Guirang peasants earn their living from “pan-uway” (rattan gathering) and wild boar hunting.

There are eight teachers for grades one to six, with an average student population of 300. The main mode of transportation to the town proper is the motorized banca. There is now a road passable by a vehicle but there are no public vehicles plying the route, other than what is called the “habal-habal” (motorcycle).  A habal-habal ride costs P50 to P100 ($1 to $2) depending on the number of passengers and condition of the road.

Mothers’ woes

Poor peasant families just do not earn enough to send their children through high school. Three mothers shared their concerns with Bulatlat.

Fe Guimbaulibot cried when she talked of plight of her six children. Two were supposed to enroll in grades one and four this class opening, but until now, she has no money for enrollment. She is afraid they will meet the same fate as her four other children. Her two children who finished high school became household helpers while the two others in high school had to stop going school. The small land her family cultivates produces barely enough for their food.

Belen Bacliayan on the other hand has earned enough from her farm to enroll her two children in grades one and five. But she hopes the government would give a bigger subsidy to the school because she feels her children are not learning enough. There is a perennial book shortage, and the school buildings are dilapidated. The school has no library.

Jurica Tardo has seven children but only two were able to reach high school. One is a 2^nd year high school scholar in Cebu and another finished high school last year and would have wanted to major in education in college. Tardo however couldn’t afford to pay for a college education.

Sacrificing teacher

Wilfredo Tayag is the lone teacher at the upland farming village of Canlobo in Pinabacdao town. He walks twice a week to the Canlobo Primary School (CPS), which is 17 kilometers from the nearest road that is accessible to vehicles. The distance is not easy to cover for the polio-stricken teacher and who needs a cane to walk.

CPS is a one-room school with an average of 35 students for grades one and two. A large number of students drop out by the end of the school year, with only 10 students often remaining. Many would also usually be absent during harvest and planting seasons because they have to help their parents in the farm.

But those who finish the second grade and wish to continue studying face a bigger challenge. The nearest school, the Parasanon Elementary School, is in Pinabacdao, a village 17 kms. from Canlobo.

Rivers to cross

Meanwhile, the Bagong Silang Elementary School in Guirang village is located in an upland area called “Dyes” (diez or 10), referring to the number of kilometers between the village and the nearest lowland community which is Sitio Rawis. There is a former logging road but logging has been stopped and the main mode of travel is walking or riding on any farm animal, if one has any.

The school has only one classroom, catering to the 50 students from grades one to six, taught by only two teachers.

Rolando Barrientos’ place, on the other hand, is called Kinse (quince or 15). Barrientos is the captain of Sitio San Isidro and has two children studying in Bagong Silang. Kinse is 15 kilometers away from Sitio Rawis, and five kilometers from the Bagong Silang Elementary School.

He said that the multi-grade system is really affecting the learning process of his children. Aside from the financial cost of schooling, he said travel from the sitio to the school poses danger to the children. Children walk for a total of 10 kms. to and from school on the same day. They also have to cross two bridges where children have already fallen in the past and drowned in the river.

Two of the teachers of Bagong Silang are from the town proper of Basey, Samar which is 30 kms. away. They walk the first 15 kilometers and travel the next 15 kms. by motorized banca. Ideally, the teachers leave the area every Friday and go back up on Mondays. However, only two to three days a week are usually devoted to the classes.

Another problem is the books for the students. In most subjects, only the teacher has the reference material.  If ever there are books, two to three students share the use of a book. Bulatlat