‘Bayanihan’ builds computer-equipped, eco-friendly mountain school

SANTA FE, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines—Ten-year-old Marilou Patnao beamed when she learned she would be enrolling at the new Tan Yan Kee Elementary School in June.

The school is close to the family’s hut in this mountain village of Balete.

Patnao, who will be in third grade this coming school year, had stayed home this school year to look after her two-year-old brother while her parents tended to their vegetable farm on the other side of the mountain.

“Just going to school was a struggle for her,” Patnao’s mother, Lorenza, said.

“She was always late, having to walk for almost an hour to get (to school). Besides, it was also tough for us to pay the P100 monthly contribution for a volunteer teacher’s [honorarium],” the mother said in Ilocano.

But with the school now just a 15-minute walk from their house, Patnao will be one of the first enrollees of the four-classroom Tan Yan Kee Elementary School, a collaborative project between the private foundation of the same name and other partners.

Balete village is the latest recipient of a schoolbuilding project that harnesses the Filipino “bayanihan,” or community spirit.

Thirteen private organizations collaborated with national and local government agencies to put up what would be the first school of its kind in a remote village.

The school, which will rely on solar power, is equipped with personal computers and has a mini-library.

All the 93 pupils expected to enroll in the new school year can surf the web using a wireless broadband Internet connection.

“It is this bayanihan (spirit) that assures us of the continuing improvement and quality of education,” said Harry Tan, vice chair of the Tan Yan Kee Foundation.

The foundation, which is funded by the Lucio Tan Group of Companies, focuses on education, culture and sports.

Tan said the Balete school would become a showcase of bayanihan, care for the environment, and quality education.

He said the school would be a fitting tribute to their father, Tan Yan Kee, who would be celebrating his 100th year, and of the foundation named after him that would be marking its 25th anniversary.

“Both (the man and foundation) stand for the values of education, harmony with earth, and cooperative spirit,” Tan said.

The school stands on a hill and overlooks the verdant rice fields and the river in Balete.

Formerly part of a forest reserve, the one-hectare lot was transferred by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to the Department of Education (DepEd), allowed the foundation to build there.

The cost of construction was primarily shouldered by the foundation while the local government built a dirt road that linked the school to the highway, said Mayor Teodorico Padilla Jr.

Padilla said almost everything had to be done manually because of the difficulty of bringing construction materials to the site. The village people did their share by helping carry the materials.

To allow students to complete their elementary education in the same school, a second three-classroom building is being constructed. Funds for the additional building are being provided by the provincial government, according to Allan Paclit, school principal.

Around 500 plastic desks were donated by the University of the East (UE) while five refurbished computer units, running on Windows XP, and pieces of office furniture were provided by Philippine Airlines (PAL). UE and PAL are part of the Lucio Tan Group of Companies.

Balete’s pupils and their parents will not have to share the cost of electricity because school equipment will run on free solar power.

The solar power generator was provided by the Lopez Group Foundation, the First Philec Solar Solutions and Sunpower Philippines Manufacturing, Ltd.

It can generate around 1.3 kilowatt hours of electricity every day, more than enough energy to light up the school, and operate electric fans and computers during school hours.

Globe Telecom donated 1,000 story books and a miniature globe, as well as book shelves for the mini library. It will also provide Internet access through a Wi-Max broadband facility.

To address the need for safe drinking water, the International Buddhists Progress Society paid for the construction of water storage tanks. It also donated additional office furniture.

Tan said the foundation took into account environmental security at every construction phase since the school was in a mountainous area.

The hill where the school stands suffered from deforestation in the past because of “kaingin” (swidden) farming.

The school design will keep pupils shielded from the heat of the sun by trees and cooled by mountain breeze.

“Some 500 narra and mahogany seedlings have been planted in keeping with environmental standards,” said Tan. The seedlings were donated by the Santa Fe Greeners Organization.