by Miriam G. Desacada
Tacloban City–The Northern Samar provincial government recently constructed two school buildings for elementary pupils of Barangay Osang in the landlocked town of Catubig, one of the remotest towns from the provincial capital of Catarman, about 73 kilometers away.
Besides Catubig’s being a 3rd class town, Osang is one of its farthest barangays from the población, and had been grappling with poverty, insurgency and educational challenges for years.
That’s why the Northern Samar LGU, headed by Governor Edwin Marino Ongchuan, decided to intervene by constructing two more school buildings in Osang, under its Support to Barangay Development Project (SBDP), to improve the education condition of the elementary school there, which had only two classrooms that served all pupils of the barangay, from Grades 1 to 6.
Provincial authorities remarked that, with only two classrooms for all pupils, access to better education had been difficult if not impossible, as the conduct of quality teaching and learning is basically compromised considering that the pupils, from all grade levels, are forced to go into shifts with practically limited use of classes’ periods.
The two new school buildings, built by the provincial government, have four classrooms and six comfort rooms that provide a better learning environment for the children because they can now be segregated according to Grade level thus better situation for learning.
The improved educational facilities in Osang, according to Catubig municipal officials, will also attract new teachers who are eager to work in a conducive-to-learning setting. With the improved teacher-pupil ratio, teachers could now provide more personalized attention to every pupil, they said.
The construction of the new school buildings also provided employment to the community, as it created jobs for the locals in the construction process, they added.
Northern Samar LGU authorites added that the SBDP is “a reminder that, with the right intervention, even the most challenging situation can be turned around.”
Ongchuan had, time and again, been conveying his commitment to improve the quality of life in all barangays in the province, records of LGU’s infrastructure projects showed. —Miriam G. Desacada