Computer arrives at Kalinga school

KALINGA, Philippines—It’s finally real this time.

The computers that Kalinga teachers and students have imagined are now right in front of them—a small breakthrough for those who have never seen or used a real computer before.

Last month, the Inquirer-based outreach group Awtdor Klub took a 19-hour ride from Manila and about an hour trekking to Luplupa Elementary School to bring three computers, books, school supplies and food for the students.

“You are heaven’s gift to us, a solution to our high technology problems,” said Johnny Balla-ao, the school principal.

He said the school had requests for computers and related equipment from local officials since 2002. The officials have no response up to now, he told the Inquirer.

At the sight of the donated computers, the teachers and students were excited and apprehensive at the same time.

“This is the first time my students will touch a computer. We badly need computers so we will not be left behind when it comes to technology,” teacher Marcelina Giwao said in Filipino.

Learning computer in abstract and only through pictures is a predicament students of Tinglayan town face every day.

The school did not have computers, except for an old one at the principal’s office that was donated by Baguio-based Pastor Kwon of a Korean Presbyterian church.

During the brief orientation conducted by Inquirer computer programmer Kenneth Molina, the students were all in awe when they saw a flower being drawn using the Paint application.

One teacher was even delighted to be able to type and see her name on the computer screen.

Long trip

Attended by 156 students, Luplupa Elementary School is not easily accessible to outsiders who want to extend help and donate because of the distance. Outreach groups would go only as far as schools in Tabuk (which is three hours nearer), said Lorenzo Pagtan Jr., the barangay (village) chair.

It was a rough ride to the area. A wrong move would make the three pickup vehicles fall off the cliff.

But it was a small price to pay for the Inquirer group to see hope in the eyes of these little children.

Tulgao Elementary School is just one of the 22 elementary schools in Tinglayan that do not have computers.

According to Department of Education (DepEd) program supervisor Evelyn Ganotice, 108 of the 292 schools in Kalinga do not have electricity. Of the 184 schools with electricity, 62 schools have received computers while 122 are set to receive computers hopefully before the next school year.

The budget the school gets from the district office, especially for maintenance and other operating expenses, is not enough to support new technology, said Ganotice, also a DepEd information and communications technology (ICT) coordinator. “Pang office school supplies lang iyon (The budget is only for office supplies).”

Most of the students in the province finish only high school usually for financial reasons, Pagtan said. “They end up becoming soldiers, getting trained to be members of the Army.”

More requests

After learning that a group from the Inquirer visited Luplupa Elementary School, teacher Jacqueline Mugao of the neighboring Tulgao Elementary School waited the whole day for the team to arrive from Palan-ah Falls to personally hand out a letter to express the school’s pressing need: “We lack computers.”

“One of our major problems in Tulgao is lack of computer, which really affects the academic performance of the school,” Mugao said in the letter soliciting two computers.

No hands-on experience

“There is no actual and hands-on experience to make the learning experience complete. We have been waiting for the response, but the local government has no budget,” she said.

With only a computer textbook as guide, Mugao said she still found it hard to teach computer lessons, which has been integrated in the Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan curriculum for Grades 4 to 6 students.

She relies only on pictures and computer references to teach her students.

Her students probably would know what a mouse or a central processing unit (CPU) is, but nothing beyond that. Without real application, a photo of a CPU does not make any sense to her curious students.

While most teachers nowadays rely on computer-assisted research, teachers in Kalinga are still doing it manually. They write lessons and grade their students on notebooks and conduct research only through books.

Almost all the teachers do not know how to encode and do encoded reports. “It’s hard to be a teacher, all the more if there are not enough resources to work with,” Mugao said.

“We were required to attend computer seminars [a year before]. Some would attend, but learn things only in theory,” Balla-ao said in Filipino, emphasizing that there were no computers to practice what they had learned.

Computerization program

The DepEd has launched ICT programs for public schools in the country.

Luplupa Elementary School’s seven teachers and the principal have already received the computer training. Only the four secondary schools in Tinglayan, however, were given computers, Balla-ao said.

In response to the Inquirer’s query, Ganotice said Luplupa and Tulgao elementary schools had been short-listed since last year as one of the schools in the province eligible to receive new computers.

“All schools in Kalinga will receive computers soon,” she said in a telephone interview.

The DepEd computerization program (DCP), initiated in 2008, aims to equip teachers with learning tools, she said.

The DCP package for elementary schools includes a host computer, an LCD projector, a printer and a laptop.

Not enough

“The staggered implementation was mainly due to the large number of schools [set] to receive computers nationwide, but Luplupa will receive soon,” she said in a telephone interview.

As the Inquirer group was about to leave, Balla-ao handed a letter signifying a separate request for a laptop, a digital camera and school sports equipment, like javelin, discus, shot put, starting gun pistol, stopwatch and whistle fox.

The Inquirer group spotted some students playing with a deflated basketball while rounding the school.

The rough grounds and bleachers serve as the gymnasium.

“In reality, our school has many needs that our department (DepEd) could not provide due to lack of budget. There are several schools in the country [competing for resources],” Balla-ao said.

Gerry Jano, one of the organizers of the Inquirer outreach group, said donating computers sought to provide long-term help to needy communities.

“Most of the teachers are not adept at new technology, which is necessary for quality education,” he said.

Balla-ao said that when it came to computer troubleshooting, the school would ask for help from the teachers and personnel trained by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and the DepEd.

“I’m not even that computer-literate myself,” he said. The school has no Internet access.

Awtdor Klub, in cooperation with the Inquirer Union and private donors like Personnel Pride Manpower Services, has been distributing since 2011 computers and school supplies to needy and far-flung schools in Cagayan, Zambales, Aurora, Bohol and Quezon provinces before the trip to Kalinga.

For those willing to extend help and give donations, contact the author at jagoncillo@inquirer.com.ph for details.

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