Firms continue donating basic education needs to public schools

MANILA, Philippines - Multinational semiconductor chip maker Intel will fund the construction of new disaster-resilient classrooms in Yolanda-hit communities in Leyte after its employees all over the world raised P16.5 million for the project.

Intel, in partnership with the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), was expected to start building four structures composed of 10 classrooms for Sto. Nino Elementary School in Tanauan, Leyte this month.

Intel’s classroom building project will benefit more than 500 students, Intel-Philippines country manager Calum Chisholm said. 

The facilities will be equipped with teachers’ tables and chairs, armchairs, separate washrooms for boys and girls, and ramps to provide easy access for children with disabilities.

Tanauan is one of the hardest-hit areas by Yolanda, which left over 6,000 people dead.

Chisholm said they expect the project to be completed before the end of the year.

“Intel aims to turn over the new classrooms to DepEd by school-year 2015-2016,” he said.

A total of 4,599 classrooms in the Visayas region and Palawan were totally destroyed while 13,021 were partially damaged by the typhoon which struck Eastern Visayas on Nov. 8 last year.

According to the Department of Education, private firms will shoulder the reconstruction and repair of at least 3,467 classrooms.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), on the other hand, will fund the rehabilitation of approximately 2,000 classrooms, it said.

More partners supply basic needs, computers, including feeding program

DepEd recently signed a memorandum of agreement with Mondelēz Philippines and the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) for the rehabilitation of Panalaron Elementary School in Tacloban City, Leyte.

Mondelēz Philippines allotted approximately P7.3 million for the repair of damaged school buildings, construction of libraries, and conduct of a 180-day feeding program as well as provide psychosocial therapy and debriefing for teachers.

The project, which is being undertaken under the DepEd’s Adopt-A-School program, is expected to be implemented by July this year, DepEd Undersecretary for Partnerships and External Linkages Mario Deriquito said.

The Adopt-A-School project links DepEd to other organizations and partners to help accomplish the basic inputs in education, including classrooms, books, school seats among others.

Last February, Mondelez Philippines donated 2,000 recycled school chairs for 20 schools in Tacloban City.

Earlier, DepEd received P10-million worth of school supplies from the Radiowealth Finance Corp.(RFC) and the National Bookstore Foundation, Inc. (NBSFI) for 50,000 students in Yolanda-hit communities and the Bicol region.

The NBSFI said it aims to bring the school supplies, consist of backpacks, notebooks, pencils, water jugs, to the children-beneficiaries before the school opening on June 2.

NBSFI head Trina Alindogan said they also plan to give the students books.

The United Nations Children’s Fund had said more than 400,000 children were affected by Yolanda, which battered Eastern Visayas on Nov. 8 last year. The typhoon left more than 6,000 people dead.

IBM Philippines has donated more than P3.4 million worth of fun and brightly colored computer stations to the Department of Education (DepEd) to further improve the learning of grade school children in underprivileged schools.

A total of 31 computers, dubbed as IBM Young Explorer stations, will be turned over to 17 public schools in Pasay City and Batangas.

These are computers housed in brightly colored, kid-friendly Little Tikes furniture and equipped with educational software to help children learn and explore concepts in math, science and language, IBM said.

“These computers can also help children learn important socialization skills such as working together and sharing,” the American multinational technology and consulting corporation said.

Since 2000, IBM has donated 400 Young Explorer Learning units to 375 schools/ day care centers and 16 institutions and museums in the Philippines under its KidSmart Early Learning Program.

The program aims to inspire, enable and prepare young learners for future success in school, helping level the playing field and ensure all children have access to educational tools through the latest technology, it said.

A global IBM corporate citizenship initiative, the KidSmart Early Learning Program encourages student achievement and give equal opportunity to those who do not have access to technology.

It integrates new interactive teaching and learning activities using the latest technology into the early learning curricula.

The project has already benefited more than 800,000 poor school children in the country.

The Asia Pacific College (APC), which serves as the official training partner for the IBM KidSmart Early Learning program in the Philippines, has trained almost 1,700 public teachers and administrators to date.