New Liloan school offers infant care
The owners of GT Cosmetics have invested on a multimillion-peso educational facility on a 5,500-square-meter lot in Tayud, Liloan. The GT Bright Academy was launched last March 29.
According to its president, Leonora B. Salvane, this will be the first school in Cebu to cater to the needs of working mothers. "I understand the anxiety that working moms encounter the moment they're required to report back to work after the maternity leave is over. So aside from our preschool and grade school facilities, we take pride in providing a 12-hour infant care service, with the supervision of a pediatrician, a nurse, and a trained babysitter," she said.
The staff will take care of giving the baby a bath, feeding, intake of vitamins, and other grooming needs. The center will be available on schooldays, but Saturdays can be arranged if moms have weekend office schedules to attend to.
When asked as to why the family ventured in the establishment of a school, Engineer. Salvane shared in the observation that quite a number of students excel in the academics, but still find it difficult to deal with the real world after graduation because of a lack of solid moral values foundation.
"Aside from sharing our blessings, gained in two decades of manufacturing beauty soaps, we would want to share in the mission of producing morally-upright Liloan students," Salvane added. "We won't only emphasize pursuit in academic performance, but strong positive values to ensure of a better generation of leaders and innovators."
Division coordinator for private schools Isaiash Wagas said that because of the superb amenities of the said school his office is fast-tracking its permit to operate. "We share in the mission of the school to capitalize in human resources. Seeing how determined the owners are in providing the best to our children here in Liloan we assure you that GT Bright Academy's classes can start by June of this year," he said.
"It is expected then that through GTBA, more parents will see education as an investment rather than an expense," Wagas added.
For the first phase of its development, GTBA already has two 2-storey buildings which can be stretched to four floors next year. Classrooms are fully airconditioned, equipped with close-circuit television cameras so yayas can watch their wards from the waiting lounge, or parents can monitor how their kids are faring in class and, perhaps, offer necessary interventions. The rooms also have LED projectors to meet the needs of growing visual learners. Class sizes are limited to a maximum of 25 pupils only. The school is a Wi-Fi zone.
Inquiries have already been pouring in, Salvane said, but they are looking at an initial population of 100 students. "We know some parents would think P60,000 a year in tuition is just too much. But if they come and check our facility, what is P6,000 monthly compared to the quality of education we will be offering. Ours is a combination of the Montessori and International School type of learning curriculum, and we hire only the best teachers," she further said.
It was also learned that the pioneering students' tuition rate is locked in at P50,000 till they graduate. The school is headed by Ma. Cecilia J. Lamoste, a postgraduate studies alumna of Southwestern University.
Salvane also underscored the schools' use of access control technology. Once identification cards are tapped onto a digital logger at the gate, a notice via SMS [text message] will automatically be sent to parents' mobile phones to inform them on whether their children have entered or left the campus. The IDs also serve as cash card for purchase at the school canteen.
The Salvane family is behind GT Cosmetics, a manufacturer of beauty soaps which has plants and offices in Yati, Liloan and Marilao, Bulacan.