Smart, SM bring ICT to Mabalacat public school

MANILA, Philippines - Dust is everywhere at the Mabalacat Community High School, located near the national highway in a town that was once ravaged by lahar brought about by the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption.

But with the click of a mouse, some 1,662 students are able to transport themselves from their dust-ridden classrooms into a global world via the Internet.

Mabalacat Community High School is one of nine public schools that are beneficiaries of an agreement between Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart), SM Investments Corp. through the SM Foundation and the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP).

Under the agreement, SM Investments Corp. provided P1 million to fund the inclusion of the schools in the Smart Schools Program (SSP), which is being implemented by the PBSP. The SSP is Smart’s flagship community service initiative that promotes the use of ICT in basic education through partnerships with public schools officials, its teachers and parents-teachers-community associations (PTCAs).

“Mabalacat Community High School showcases how stakeholders, working together, are able to pursue education for their students despite limited resources,” said the school’s supervising principal Leonardo Canlas.

He narrated how the school started with 143 students in two classrooms borrowed from the San Joaquin Elementary School in 2006 and with the help of the Municipal Government under the leadership of Mayor Marino Morales, transferred to its present site where the students now attend their classes in two shifts in 12 rooms.

“We want to provide our youngsters with the best education possible and empower them for a brighter and better future. We cannot stop development in Mabalacat; we foresee jobs generation as we continue to attract more investors to our town. Hence, we have to prepare our youth by giving them the skills via globally-competitive education,” said Mayor Morales.

Carmen Linda Atayde, executive director for education of SM Foundation, agreed that “where there is technology, progress cannot be far behind.” She stressed how Internet connectivity can give a school access to a wealth of educational and learning resources.

“With SSP, we are building an online community, a network from which connected public schools can learn from each other, collaborate on projects that achieve common objectives and also contribute to content,” added Darwin Flores, Smart public affairs community partnerships senior manager.

There are 40 computers at the lab, where students from first year to fourth year are given hands-on training and lectures that range from computer basics like word processing and spreadsheets to Web page design and development. The lab is also made available to students and teachers who access the Web for research in their free time.

Jenny Jece Del Mundo, president of the school’s Supreme Student Government is thankful that under the SSP, the school enjoys opportunities for Internet-aided learning since the program seeks to provide teachers with the skills to promote ICT in education.

“Thank you for giving us the capability to use the Internet for learning since it will help us to compete in a globally-competitive environment. We will have access to the same resources available to students all over the world,” she said.

So when Mabalacat becomes “the next Makati north of Manila” as Mayor Morales so boldly predicts, Jenny and students like her are better prepared to shake the lahar dust from their feet and chart their own course in their chosen profession.