Students nervous, happy on school day opening

Clad in their uniforms and toting school bags, grade school pupils, high school and college freshmen attended their first day of classes yesterday with a mixture of anxiety and excitement.

Steffany Salvaloza, a 13-year-old first year student of Abellana National High School, said she was both happy and nervous on attending her orientation along with hundreds of students.

“I was nervous because it was my first time to ride on a passenger jeepney by myself,” she said.

Steffany said she also had to learn how to wake up every 5 am to beat the traffic.

Abellana National High School opened with a morning orientation and afternoon classes.  In Cebu City Central School, parents escorted their children to school and waited for them to finish classes.

Despite waking up early, Perla Alvis said she and her child arrived in class late after a 45-minute traffic.

She said there was a school bus provided by the barangay officials to send students from their area to their respective schools.

“I bought school supplies and uniforms that were displayed at road-side stalls which is much cheaper than in the malls,” Alvis said.

Apolinaria Limpiado woke up at 3 a.m to prepare meals and accompany her six-year-old grandson Joavel Kyle to Cebu City Central School.  “It’s a small sacrifice for my grandchildren,” she said.

She told Cebu Daily News that the parents of her grandchildren send her money to provide for their needs.

Despite the costs it entails, Limpiado said she favors the K+12 system because it will provide quality education to her grandchildren.

The K+12 program adds an additional two years in high school called senior high school to prepare students for college or even provide immediate employment.

Enrollment in all schools is ongoing this week. Correspondent Michelle Joy L. Padayhag