Deep within the Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary in Agusan del Sur province is the Dinagat Elementary School (DES). Thirty-six Manobo children attend kindergarten to grade six class in the three classrooms of Department of Education (DepEd) last-mile school (LMS). 

Like other remote and isolated LMS, students and teachers of DES face learning and teaching challenges such as unstable electricity and lack of connectivity. Power coming from the lone electric post to Purok 6, Sitio Dinagat of Barangay San Marcos is automatically cut when the Agusan River overflows and sinks the DES and other homes during a severe storm in the rainy season. The lone teacher, meanwhile, prepares lessons on her smartphone when she is at home in Bunawan town, which is one-hour boat ride away in the zig-zagging Agusan River. Wifi signal is weak in the protected area so online learning materials are not easily downloadable or livestreamed to students at the DES. Instead, pupils make do with the traditional blackboard or printed module lessons.

Starting the third week of May, education levels up at the DES as DepEd’s LMS program partners — Aboitiz Foundation, Okada Foundation, CitySavings and AboitizPower — brought AuroraPH to the indigenous community. As the name of the flagship educational assistance program of Aboitiz Foundation signifies, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) arm of the Aboitiz techglomerate lays the foundation for a brighter future of schoolchildren in beneficiary LMS by setting up Starlink terminals to connect classrooms to the world and a solar power microgrid to keep lights and devices running independent of unreliable electricity. Other AuroraPH partners also provides learning equipment like flat-screen TVs for multimedia lessons and other community needs. Also supporting the CSR program are the local government and DepEd regional office.

‘If there is really one thing as a parent and as a business that we can give to children so they can have a good future, it’s really education.’

Committed partners

“We at Aboitiz, we have always been a big believer in education. If there is really one thing as a parent and as a business that we can give to children so they can have a good future, it’s really education,” Aboitiz Foundation president Ginggay Hontiveros-Malvar told the young students and teachers of DES, parents and local officials during the turnover ceremony for the solar power and Starlink equipment to the school on 23 May.

“If the children would be given the opportunity to have proper education, they will also have the opportunity to have a good life for themselves, their parents, their siblings and their community,” she said.

Okada Foundation president James Lorenzana, who also came all the way from Manila to personally witness the turnover and meet the beneficiaries, said the CSR arm of Okada Manila fully supports AuroraPH for combining two of its advocacies: promoting inclusive education and protecting the environment through the use of renewable energy. 

“More than the solar panels and internet connectivity, the real value of this project is giving orderly education for the youth, better support for teachers and better facility for the community,” Lorenzana said.

Okada Foundation has donated P10 million for AuroraPH last year. Lorenzana announced at the event that the foundation will donate another P10 million to energize and connect more LSM. 

AuroraPH is targeting to 300 LSM nationwide. Aboitiz Foundation already identified 84 LSM beneficiaries nationwide to date. DES is among eight beneficiaries of the program in the Caraga region.

Another partner of AuroraPH and part of the Aboitiz Group of companies, CitySavings Bank, donated a smart TV to the DES and three water tanks to augment the IP community’s water storage facility.

CitySavings assistant vice president Paula Ruelan said that the bank primarily serves teachers so it supports DepEd through projects like AuroraPH.

“We help the community of DepEd in terms of school infrastructure, technological support, learning and teaching equipment, reading materials,” Ruelan said. “Technological digital tools are our contribution to maximize the solar panels. Wherever there’s a turnover of their solar panels, we also conduct a financial wellness program for the teachers.”

Exciting education

Workers from the Davao City-based A+ Power Services Inc., a subsidiary of AboitizPower, installed the solar power system that can generate 5.6 kilowatt-hour peak of electricity, days before the turnover ceremony. The inverter, battery and circuit breaker as well as the Starlink modem were set up inside the floating daycare center that also serves as the evacuation and communication house of the community when it is submerged by flood. Built-in large empty water drums underneath the building make it float.

The solar power system is hybrid and the second of its kind deployed to an LMS by Aboitiz Foundation, according to Engr. Mariel Lumpan of A+ Power. It automatically operates when there is power interruption or brownout, and turns off when the local utility restores electricity, according to Lumpan. It also can generate electricity even during cloudy days and its function is remotely monitored via the app from the equipment manufacturer.

Only days after the solar power and Starlink were activated, DES teacher Irene P. Ayala noticed that students have become more attentive as they learn lessons online.

“We always do chalk-talk and the students don’t listen to us well. They get bored at what we teach,” Ayala said. “Now, they are really happy learning on the internet that they don’t want to go home anymore. They just want to be there in the classroom.”

The teacher herself is also happy with the Starlink service for making lesson preparation faster. Previously, Ayala prepares lesson on the PowerPoint app on her smartphone at home using data and then project it on the large-screen television in the classroom through hotspot. Ayala added that she can now report to the DepEd office in real time.

Representatives from local government and DepEd regional office witnessed the turnover ceremony namely Bunawan Mayor Sylvia B. Elorde, DepEd Caraga assistant regional director Pedro T. Escobarte Jr. and Schools Division of Agusan del Sur superintendent Josita B. Carmen. Reverend Raul S. Manuel, national director of Convoy of Hope Philippines, a faith-based international non-profit organization, led the distribution of Rise soya meal packs to local children.

As AuroraPH begins improving the education of Agusan Marsh children, Aboitiz Foundation and Okada Foundation once more fulfilled its promise of an energized and connected DepEd LMS. More importantly, the donations will be lighting the minds of Sitio Dinagat’s elementary students, no matter how far they live from the town.