Public – private partnership benefits school in Argao

A partnership between the Department of Agrarian Reform Cebu and Julie’s Franchise Corp. (JFC) has benefited the schoolchildren in Argao recently.

Employees of Julie’s Franchise distributed school supplies, T-shirts, lunch boxes and snacks to the 276 pupils of Alambijud Elementary School in barangay Alambijud, Argao town, southern Cebu.

The JFC, together with Fr. Ulrich Schlecht of the Society of the Divine Word of the University of San Carlos (USC), responded to the call to help the education sector in the mountain areas in partnership with DAR Cebu.

Around 80 percent of the recipients are children of farmers who are beneficiaries of DAR Cebu’s agrarian reform program.

Fr. Schlecht will assist in the capacity development of the teachers and the community and in providing school supplies to the pupils at half the market price.

Proceeds of the school supplies will be used for the improvement of the school facilities. The local government will provide a counterpart fund equivalent to the proceeds.

Julie’s Franchise is also funding a P650,000 water project for Alambijud Elementary School.

Since the school has no water supply, students spend the first few hours of the class fetching water from the nearest spring, which is about an hour’s walk from school.

The water project will also benefit the surrounding farming households.

DAR Cebu will facilitate in the implementation of project in the area.

The distribution ceremony was attended by pupils and teachers, JFC human resource manager Fatima Ruiz, Fr. Ulrich Schlecht, barangay captain Francisco Albores, PTA president Rosalia Datulyta and municipal agrarian reform officer Aida Gaviola and DAR provincial information officer Rosanna Gay S. Visitacion.

Ruiz said Julie’s corporate social responsibility program called the Julie’s Town Project helps promote rural development in barangays.

Fr. Schlecht, SVD, commended the joint efforts of DAR, JFC, USC, the local government unit and PTA  to help the Alambijud Elementary School.

“This is a realization of the first public-private partnership in Alambijud, and we are happy about it,”  he said. He also lauded the efforts of  Maria Lourdes Mariano of DAR in forging partnerships between the private and the public sector for the implementation of projects in Alambijud, an agrarian reform community.