Ninety pupils in Olango Island will now have better learning facility with the turnover of a two-classroom school building.
Last December, Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza and Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) Visayas Executive Committee chairman and Board of Trustee Jose Antonio Aboitiz led the turnover at Caw-oy Elementary School in Olango Island, Cebu.
The activity was also attended by Caw-oy School principal Raul Giducos, DepEd District Superintendent Eduardo Umpad and Visayas Electric Company Executive vice president Jose Jaime Aboitiz.
The school building is built through the proceeds of the third Olango Challenge, an open-water marathon swimming event organized by the PBSP and Philippine Swimming Inc. that also raised funds for the development of Olango Island.
During the turnover, Aboitiz shared the importance of education. He told the students “Education is very important and no one can take this away from you.”
Umpad said the school building will make a difference to the lives of the schoolchildren. He then reminded the school officials to maintain the facility.
“Let us make sure the building is taken care of and utilized according to its purpose,” Ompad said.
Classroom backlog
Sixth grade adviser Ronald Allan Bestudio shared how the lack of classrooms hindered the learning of his pupils.
Having been teaching in the school since 1997, Bestudio experienced holding classes under the trees.
Caw-oy Elementary School used to only have seven classrooms that hold nine classes. To accommodate the school’s growing student population, teachers had to divide one classroom into three sections.
The school has one classroom for each section now.
For fifth graders Amado Cabido Jr. and Angel Rose Avanceña, they said “Nalipay kaayo ko nga naa mi bag-ong classroom kay sa una maghuot mi (We are very happy that we now have a new classroom as this will solve congestion),” Cabido said.
“Komportable na mi karon kay naa na mi tagsa-tagsa nga lingkoranan ug dili na mutulo ang among atop, dili pareha sa una (We are now comfortable and we now have a chair each and our roof doesn’t leak anymore,” Avanceña added.
Swimming for education
The Olango Challenge is the first annual open-water swimming competition in the country that promotes clean marine environment, raises awareness on the drowning incidence in the Philippines, and promotes open water swimming as a sport in the country.
Launched in 2008, it has invited more than 500 amateur and professional swimmers and swimming enthusiasts all over the country, including Senator Pia Cayetano who joined the fifth leg of the challenge this year.
The event also contributes to reducing poverty in Olango Island. Since its first run, the Olango Challenge has generated more than P3.4 million for the construction of several classrooms in the island.
Aside from the newly turned over classrooms in Caw-oy, a two-classroom school building was previously turned over to Candagsao Elementary School while two more school buildings will be constructed for the elementary schools of Talima and Tungasan.
“Their efforts truly bring me to tears since they did not cross more than five kilometers of open water to have fun, but they are swimming for the people who need them,” DepEd District Supervisor Viviene Taneo said.
“For the children, study in school, listen to your teachers and study hard because with your education, you can go anywhere,” Aboitiz said.