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TUBA, BENGUET, Philippines – Two schools in an underdeveloped outlying sitio outside of the Padcal Mine of Philex Mining Corp. will soon enjoy electricity for the first time.
The mining firm – the biggest in the country – is set to install solar power energy in Sioco Cariño Elementary School and Piminggan Elementary School, both of which are located in Ansagan, the remotest barangay in this municipality.
Sioco Cariño is a mono-grade school with 151 students and eight teachers, while Piminggan Elementary School has 107 grade school students and eight teachers. In the previous school year, Piminggan opened its doors to accommodate the first batch of 38 high school students.
From 2009 to 2011, both schools achieved an average of 62.5 percent in the National Achievement Test. The schools’ location is already a challenge for the students, compounded by the lack of electricity to run basic audio-visual equipment such as computer, radio, and TV that makes learning even more difficult to achieve.
“The eagerness to learn is there,” said Remy Dum-ao, Piminggan Elementary School teacher-in-charge. “That is why we need all the support we can get from both the private sector and the local government,” she said.
As part of the overall goal to bring ‘light’ to the education of students in far-flung sitios in host municipalities, Philex community relations manager Jun Diso said the company would bring electricity to neighboring schools as well.
The School Electrification-Solar Power Energy Project aims to enhance the quality of teaching, as well as the knowledge and understanding of students through audio-visual learning.
The project involves the installation of a portable solar photovoltaic system with complete accessories and materials such as solar panels, control and inverter circuits, battery, lamps, and other components. Once installed, the electrification system will can illuminate 15 classrooms – eight rooms in Sioco Cariño and seven in Piminggan – and run the audio-visual equipment.
“We are in the process of purchasing all the accessories, equipment, and materials for this project. The target is to complete the installation and the turnover the project to the beneficiaries early this month,” said Diso.
The project is supported by the School Improvement Plan conducted by the Parents Teachers Association last year and was deemed a priority in Philex’s Social Development Management Plan for 2012.
The mining firm has also contributed to the concreting of the 38-kilometer farm-to-market roads leading to Ansagan and the promotion of a 100-hectare eco-tourism area for cave exploration or spelunking, trekking, or pure nature tripping.
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