GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines—It is one deduction that city employees would not mind being made on their monthly salaries.
Starting in February, workers of the city government have been contributing P10 a month from their pay to build classrooms for city students.
The fund-raising drive of the General Santos City Government Employees Association (GSCGEA) has so far generated enough money to build one classroom building. The fund has already reached P78,000.
Mayor Ronnel Rivera, who initiated the campaign dubbed “Sampung Piso Ko, Klasrum Mo,” himself donated P40,000.
On Oct. 3, GSCGEA turned over the classroom building to school authorities. Total project cost was P110,000.
Big things
Although the employees came up with only P78,000, “they pursued the construction” of the building, Rivera said. He described the project as a testament to the truth of the saying that big things start small.
Fervi Tripoli, a teacher at Calumpang High School, told Rivera that the new classroom building would allow the school to accommodate more students. The school had only two classrooms for Grade 7 and Grade 8 students.
Rivera urged the city employees to continue the campaign to help address the city’s classroom shortage.
Perennial shortage
The country’s public school system is suffering from a perennial shortage of classrooms that the government hopes to solve through a private-public partnership (PPP) program.
The shortage of classrooms is aggravated by calamities that destroy existing school buildings.
Education authorities said more classrooms would be needed under the K to 12 program, which adds years to high school and elementary education.
In areas hit by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” last year, private groups are leading the way in reconstructing schools destroyed by winds of at least 200 kilometers per hour. Allan Nawal, Inquirer Mindanao