Friday, July 25, 2008 Roperos: ‘Updating’ school kids By Godofredo M. Roperos Politics Also
WHERE I come from in the northwestern part of the province, some school children are still holding classes under the shade of trees like mangoes, or in makeshift bamboo and nipa schoolrooms.
Lucky, indeed, are the high school kids of Barangay Gun-ob of Lapu-Lapu City for they were able to find a Good Samaritan who readily gave them a 9-room building in addition to a 12-room one given many years earlier. But then, it is quite rare nowadays to find someone like 85-year old Ramon Chiu.
Mr. Chiu also got a rare treat in return. No less than President Arroyo herself attended the turnover of the schoolrooms to the education department and barangay officials.
A couple of years ago, I attended a turnover of a school building in Barangay Nangka in my hometown. It was donated by a contractor, who, I believe gave the community a share of his earnings from projects he undertook in our place.
Ironically, the engineer-contractor eventually became mayor of the next town, Asturias, where I heard he is doing great things building schools in the barangays of his area.
The reason I am talking about schools and donors is the fact that I come from a family of teachers and acquired my ABC from my parents. I taught Grade VI in Asturias in 1949 as a fresh UP High School graduate. One of my pupils is now a bishop.
Which is why, right now I feel that our present children in school are quite far behind in the advances of global education. While children of other nations are deeply savvy in the use of computers, ours have hardly touched one in their schools.
Sadly, right now school kids in Balamban are encouraged to enroll in computer classes and pay P50 a month for one class a week.
I would like to think the high school kids of Caubian island in Lapu-Lapu City really did make use of the 30 computers that were subject of heated controversy as being overpriced. The 140 students that used it reportedly did improve their standing in two national tests.
If that be so, and despite their having power from a generator to make their PCs work, then there must be something really to exerting real effort to update the skills of our high school kids in current education facilities.
What is important is the result of such efforts on the school kids regardless of the politics involve in doing so.
