MANILA, Philippines - A local foundation has donated P600,000 worth of used bicycles to a public high school in Bohol to help decrease dropout rates in the province.
Education Secretary Armin Luistro said the donation from the Bikes for the Philippines Foundation Inc. (BPFI) will provide 150 poor students of Baclayon National High School suitable means of transportation and teach them road safety and environmentalism.
“The students have a hard time going to school due to lack of suitable transportation and they are at high risk of dropping out,†Luistro said. “These bikes will bring them to school and back to their homes.â€
DepEd data showed that the drop-out rate among high school students in Bohol was high at 5.63 percent in 2011.
BPFI president Joel Uichico said they are looking into expanding the project to cover more areas.
“I have asked the field offices to evaluate their areas to see if their students can be beneficiaries as well,†Luistro said.
Luistro said 100 used bikes from the US have been distributed to Grades 7 to 12 students.