Taguig City rolls out ‘Rock It Science Bus’

MAYOR Lani Cayetano

Education is literally on a roll in Taguig, with a mobile science laboratory set to tour public schools in the city in the next few weeks.

The P7-million “Rock It Science Bus,” a project pushed by Sen. Pia Cayetano, was unveiled on Dec. 13 at the school named in honor of her late father, the Sen. Rene “Compañero” Cayetano Science and Technology High School, in Barangay Ususan.

To be operated in coordination with the Department of Science and Technology, the mobile laboratory comes with a comprehensive set of science equipment, including microscopes, a periscope, a telescope, test tubes, flasks, beakers and scales, an LED television set, DVD player, projector, a robot kit, solar panels and computer tablets, among others.

Hands-on experience

It will be manned mainly by a science teacher and an assistant who will preside over experiments or give lectures inside the bus.

Cayetano said she hoped the mobile laboratory would help address the lack of science equipment in most public schools. She cited data from the Enhanced Information System of the Department of Education showing that only 13 percent or 5,821 out of 45,977 public elementary and high schools nationwide have science laboratories as of 2011.

ALL ABOARD FOR SCIENCE Students take turns checking out the laboratory equipment and other gadgets inside the ‘‘Rock It Science Bus” as the project’s chief proponent, Sen. Pia Cayetano, looks on during the launch held at Sen. Rene Cayetano Science and Technology High School in Taguig City. OFFICE OF SEN. PIA CAYETANO

“This means that many public school students do not get to experience hands-on science experiments in a real laboratory setup,” the senator said. “We cannot address the shortage overnight since this will involve huge investments in equipment, modules and training. We need to be creative in our approach.”

Visiting 30 schools

Speaking during the launch, Taguig Mayor Laarni Cayetano called on the science high school students to make the most of the mobile lab. “Like the school’s namesake, a son of a mechanic and public school teacher, the students here could go far in life. It’s all in your hands, so take care of this bus.”

In the next two months, the Rock It Science Bus is expected to tour around 30 public schools in Taguig, staying for at least three days at every stop depending on the number of students.

Organizers also plan to extend the bus tour to other cities in Metro Manila and nearby provinces next year.