Photo contest highlights role of teachers in far-flung schools

SMART Communications Inc. has involved its employees in a special project to assist schools and teachers in far-flung communities as part of the National Teachers’ Month celebration on Sept. to Oct. 5.
The annual  advocacy campaign highlights the unique role of teachers in educating  children and the youth.
A photo contest, dubbed Photo-Guro-Phy, was launched early last month asking employees to take pictures that depict the struggles that teachers and pupils go through in schools  in isolated barangays all over the country.
Through the photo title and caption, their stories represent hundreds of schools in the country that have fallen in the cracks of the educational system, highlighting the need for additional assistance from companies and private individuals.
One entry talks about Teacher Madelyn of Punta Cogon Elementary School in Capiz City. She teaches kindergarten pupils in a makeshift classroom made of bamboo with the sand for a classroom floor, making them all vulnerable  t the  slightest of rains or the scorching heat of the sun.
Another story was about  three classrooms of Caroyroyan Elementary School in Pili, Camarines Sur burned by arsonists in 2008. Teacher Zeny  took the school’s stage, and to this day, still holds classes there.
A teacher of Iram II elementary School in Sitio Mampweng, Old Cabalan, Olongapo City, lectures to a class coming from different grade levels under a nipa hut, one of the school’s two classrooms.  With inadequate facilities, the older students make way for their younger schoolmates in using the chairs and tables.

The beneficiary schools of the four best photos will each receive a P10,000 grant from Smart. A special story-telling session will also be conducted for the pupils of the school that get the most support.
Following the photo contest, Smart employees can campaign for additional funds and support from their families and friends through social media tools like Facebook. Donations can be made via a Smart Money account assigned to the select beneficiaries.
Smart has chosen education as one of its key pillars for corporate social responsibility and has been implementing specialized programs with the overall goal of improving the quality of basic education in the country.