The Department of Education (DepEd), with Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation and Bikes for the Philippines, has launched the Pedals and Paddles Project, which aims to bring boats and bikes to schoolchildren in far-flung areas.
In launching the program, Education Secretary Armin Luistro said the DepEd was committed to delivering quality basic education to Filipino learners, including those in areas where transportation remained a challenge.
He said the department wanted to let every student know the DepEd “had not forgotten them and they are not alone.”
Luistro said schools that needed boats and bikes to give children access to education and keep them in school had been identified.
Through the partnership, he said, students’ performance in school would improve by reducing their travel time. Children would also be encouraged to attend school and study hard.
While students at Janlud Primary School in Libacao, Aklan, can get to school in two minutes, their peers at Pangapuyan Elementary School in Talon-Talon, Zamboanga, travel by boat for 90 minutes. For students at Sawmill Elementary School in Masbate, travel time is four hours.
Pedals and Paddles Project aims to reduce travel time of students through the distribution of boats and bicycles.
Luistro said the simple project would touch many lives. He said the heart of the project was in the people’s “personal commitment to the learner and community” to bring the school to Filipino children.
Stressing that the DepEd could not do it alone, he said the agency needed everyone’s participation in addressing the growing needs of learners.
Only with the help of partners from nongovernment organizations, private sector and other government agencies, could the DepEd fulfill its commitment to public school students, especially those in far-flung areas, he said.
Each boat costs P10,000 and each bike, P2,000. Boats will be distributed to communities while bikes will be given to students in Grades 7-12 and will come with an eight-day training module.
Donations for boats may be sent to Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation Inc., through BDO peso account #003170-134579 and dollar account #103170-148588 and online through PayPal.
Donations for bikes may be sent to Bikes for the Philippines Foundation Inc. through BDO peso account #5420-128374 and dollar account #10-5420-128803.
Overseas donors can send checks to Bikes for the Philippines at the following address: Jo Grant, Bikes for the Philippines Inc., 15 Amber Rd, Westminster, MA 01473, USA.
Call the Office of the Undersecretary for Partnerships and External Linkages at 633-7207, 638-8637 and 638-8639 or e-mail Adopt-A-School program at aspprogram.center@gmail.com.