EDITORIAL - Let there be light

What can electricity do? It lights up areas that cannot be reached directly by sunlight, making it easier to read textbooks and lessons on blackboards. It allows reading at night. It powers electric fans, making learning more comfortable especially in crowded classrooms. The breeze generated by the fans also helps shoo away mosquitoes that transmit diseases such as dengue.

Electricity powers water pumps to bring piped water to school lavatories, allowing pupils to wash their hands regularly and flush toilets with ease. Electricity is needed to charge mobile phones, power computers, and make food last longer through refrigeration. It allows teachers and pupils alike to boil water for cup noodles, tea or coffee.

Such amenities are taken for granted by the average Filipino, who may be stunned to find out that an estimated 1.1 million students are enrolled in 5,954 schools nationwide without access to electricity. This is according to officials of the Department of Education, who launched a campaign the other day to correct the problem within this school year.

The number is actually down from the 7,817 schools in 2011, but 5,954 is still a lot. DepEd records show that 2,414 of the schools are in areas within the service grid of the National Electrification Administration. But 1,308 of the schools are in remote areas outside the NEA grid, while 2,232 have not yet been classified.

DepEd officials are working to have alternative energy hubs set up near off-grid areas. Under the “One Child, One Lamp” project that was launched the other day together with the LightEd PH campaign, students in off-grid areas will also be given solar lamps that they can use in class and bring home so they can study even at night. DepEd needs 682,000 lamps that will cost an estimated P270 million; the department hopes it can raise contributions from the private sector. This is a worthy undertaking that deserves support. Clear vision is essential for learning, and over a million students are impaired by lack of electricity.