DEPED SEALS PARTNERSHIP WITH PRIVATE SECTORS ON EDUCATION SUPPORT

EDWIN M. ORTEGA

The Department of Education (DepEd) has led the ceremonial signing of Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with partners from private companies and organizations to further strengthen the shared responsibility for education and improve teaching and learning in public schools.

Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones expressed her appreciation of the private sector’s support, and thanked them for sharing their resources for the benefit of our 26.6 million learners and 647,000 teachers in the country.

The Education chief said the help given by the private sector to learners in public schools will be rewarded by God because they have done it to the least of their brethren.

“If you are truly seeking the truth, if you are seeking the meaning of life, if you are seeking the meaning of Christmas, you can find it among the children you are serving,” the Secretary emphasized.

Colgate-Palmolive Philippines agreed to donate toothpaste, toothbrushes, and oral health education materials for students in public elementary schools. This is under their Bright Smiles, Bright Futures (BSBF) Program. In coordination with the Department of Health (DOH), the program has been running for 20 years and has benefited 1.8 million learners nationwide.

EPSON Philippines Corporation turned over 13 Epson Technology packages consist of two colored printers, three function monochrome, one dot matrix printer, ink supplies, two projectors, and one document camera. Under the Epson Gift of Brightness Program, the packages will be given to selected public schools nationwide. To date, the company has been serving 45 schools.

Meanwhile, the Global Peace Foundation Philippines, Inc., through its All Lights Village (ALV) Program, committed to provide solar-powered LED lantern to underdeveloped communities. Their Global Peace Foundation Alternative Learning System (GlobALS) will continue to extend education opportunities to out-of-school children, youth, and adults, while their Global Peace Volunteers program will continue to develop the students’leadership and personal growth. The foundation has been helping 45 communities in remote areas.

Lamoiyan Corporation, under its health awareness campaign Kilusang Kontra Kuto (KKK), will conduct free shampooing with Licealiz products and Hapee Kiddie toothpaste. The company has served 23,200 students in 116 public schools nationwide in its four-year program implementation.

Further, Mariwasa Siam Ceramics, Inc. committed to provide ceramic tiles and accessories, sanitary wares, and other classroom and toilet construction materials.

Mondelez Philippines, Inc. and Philippine Business for Social Progress, under its Joy Schools Program, pledged to provide balanced meals to 400 severely wasted children for five days in nine months. Aside from supplementary feeding program and nutrition education, they will also facilitate employee engagement through volunteerism.

Quipper Ltd. will continue to provide high quality, localized multimedia learning resources, and online learning management system to teachers and students, as it has been doing to 33 schools division offices for several years. To date, about 1.6 million students have been accessing their e-learning sol ut i ons.

Finally, SMART Communications, Inc. turned over their TechnoCart and School-in-a-Bag intended for selected public schools nationwide. The TechnoCart contained one laptop, one tablet, one LCD projector, and one Smart Bro pocket Wifi with starter load. The School-in-a-Bag, meanwhile, is a portable digital classroom with one solar panel, one LED television, one teacher’s laptop, five student tables, one Smart Bro LTE pocket Wifi, and one memory drive for storage and curriculum-based educational content. — oOo—

The author is Teacher III at Arayat Central School