Vidal breaks ground for Lawaan 1 school

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal yesterday led the groundbreaking ceremony of the Lawaan Elementary School in barangay Lawaan I, Talisay City.

Maria Lourdes Mariano, Technical Assistant to the regional director of the Department of Agrarian Reform, said that although it is still a part of the Belgian Integrated Agrarian Reform Project (BIARP), a cooperation between the Belgian government, DAR and the Department of

Education, they will try to source out funds for it since the project has already run out of money.

They will need at least P75 million to complete the project, she said.

The project aims to establish primary and secondary public

schools all over the country, she said.

For this particular part of the country, Lawaan Elementary School was

picked by DAR as its project because of its active participation in the community through its Parent-Teachers Community Association.

Mariano admitted that there are still a lot of places in the country that lack classrooms.

This new project in Lawaan I, she said, will be a three-story building

which will occupy a 1.6-hectare of the school’s property.

It will have 80 classrooms, which the project organizers hope would address the problem.

Once the construction starts, Mariano said it is expected to be completed three to five years from now.

Presently, the school has 20 classrooms, with about 70 pupils.

At least 20 more rooms are needed for the present student population.

And since the BIARP could no longer support this new undertaking

financially, organizers are set to have rummage sales, in which teachers and parents will bring used items such as shirts, bags, jeans, to name a few, to be sold to raise funds.

Vidal blessed the time capsule that was laid on the ground as part of the ceremony that kicked off the construction of the project.

For his part, principal Reynold Singco said he is hoping the money could be raised immediately so that the construction could be started as soon as possible.   (FREEMAN NEWS)