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Councilor Mel Sadain yesterday urged the local government to prioritize the giving of basic social services, particularly on education to assist indigent parents in sending their children to school.

In his schools visitation, Sadain noted that most of the pupils in the elementary grades, especially those in far-flung areas, do not even have notebook and pencil or ballpen.

This is one of the many reasons why parents, who are mostly either farmers or unemployed, are hesitant to send their children to school, the councilor emphasized.

“It will really need an extra effort from our school principal and teachers to campaign and convince parents to send their school children to school….. in Lima Elementary School in Barangay Baluno and under Ayala District, for example, the OIC principal there and her teachers had to go house to house if only to convince parents to send their children to school to the extent of giving out free notebooks and pens to them,” Sadain added.

According to Sadain, this situation is not unique in Lima Elementary School as there are other schools in far flung barangays who encounter the same problem…

The City Government, perhaps through the City Social Welfare and Development Office, (CSWDO) should really come up with a yearly program that will give assistance to indigent families. Simple things like the giving out of free school bags, notebooks and pencils will really mean a lot and will go a long long way for these school children and their families situated in far flung barangays.

“If the city government can construct and/or repair school buildings and other infra projects related to education worth of millions of pesos, there is no reason why it cannot appropriate portion of government funds to buying these basic school supplies and distribute them to the less fortunate families to encourage these school children to appreciate the value of education.  I hope the CSWDO, whenever they prepare their budget and present it to the Office of the Mayor, whether it be in the regular or supplemental budget,  should really insist to incorporate some kind of funds intended for this social program…,” the alderman from Sta. Maria pointed out.

“While there are good Samaritans as well as philanthropic organizations that donate school supplies to school children in far flung areas, but these are on-and-off efforts. Si  tiene  tu extra personal cen puede tu ayuda, pero si nuay no puede tu dale ayuda”. What we need is to institutionalize this kind of basic social program in our governmental system through the CSWDO,” he said.

"While people do appreciate the efforts of the city government in constructing worth of millions of pesos of school buildings, but buildings alone will not help us realize good and quality education. It has to be coupled with human resource development among the ranks of our classroom teachers as well as encouraging parents to appreciate the value of education for their kids. Along these aspects, the city government can play a big role.”

by: Nonong Santiago