DepEd: 1.1 M students go to schools without electricity

MANILA, Philippines - Over 1.1 million students are enrolled in 5,954 public schools that have no access to electricity, according to the Department of Education (DepEd).

During the launch of the LightEd PH campaign yesterday, Education Secretary Armin Luistro gave a commitment that the agency and its partners will work toward energizing these schools to provide a conducive learning environment to the students.

“Personally, I would want it to happen before Christmas,” he said. “If not, hopefully before the start of classes in June 2016.”

Based on the data released by DepEd, 2,414 of the schools have been identified to be “on grid” or in areas that can be reached by the National Electrification Administration (NEA).

Some 1,308 schools, on the other hand, are in remote or “off-grid” areas, while the remaining 2,232 have yet to be classified.

The number of schools without electricity has decreased from 7,817 in 2011.

Luistro said DepEd has laid out plans to electrify the schools that have been classified, saying it has partnered with NEA and the Department of Energy (DOE) to provide solutions through conventional and alternative sources of energy.

DepEd and NEA officials signed a memorandum of understanding yesterday, in which the latter agreed to build its new posts near “on-grid but unenergized” schools.

The education secretary said they also requested the DOE to establish alternative energy hubs near or within schools in off-grid areas.

“Light makes vision possible. In the realm of education, let us be the light that will help our children realize their vision for themselves, their families and our country,” said Luistro.

“We call on everyone to be part of this LightEd PH campaign and to bring light to those who need it and to help in extending the hours of quality learning,” he said.

One Child, One Lamp

In addition to providing electricity sources to schools, DepEd also launched yesterday the “One Child, One Lamp” project, which seeks to provide students in off-grid areas with solar-powered lamps that they can bring to their homes.

“Students in off-grid barangays have limited time to study at night. Providing them electricity or solar lamps will help them extend their study time, thus increasing the chance to improve their academic performance,” said DepEd undersecretary for partnership and external linkages Mario Deriquito.