Talisay City to focus aid on schools instead of individual students

Talisay City Mayor Gerald Anthony “Samsam”Gullas | Photo grabbed from Samsam Gullas Facebook Page

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Talisay City would focus on providing aid to the public schools instead of individual students to empower the school as they would transition to a distance and modular type of education.

In a Facebook post, Mayor Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas said as much as the city would want to buy tablets for the 50,000 public school students in the city, but it had been constrained from doing so because of the possible consequences of such.

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Primarily, the budget for the tablet would cost P3,000 per student, and this is not a guarantee that the tablets will remain in good condition throughout the year.

“Accountability? What will happen when students graduate to another level? Will they give the tablet back to school to be used by incoming students? Or do they bring it with them to another level? What happens to new and incoming students? What happens if tablet is lost or gets destroyed? Who is accountable? Teacher or student? We don’t want to put that difficult weight on the shoulders of our students and teachers,” said the mayor.

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The mayor is also concerned of how the tablets will be distributed to the students, if only low income families will be provided with tablets or can middle class families avail as well, or whether each family will only receive one tablet for multiple students.

“Kuyawan ko maggubot na nuon. That’s is why we consulted with DepED (Department of Education) Talisay and thought of what would be the best decision moving forward as we face a new normal in education. We decided that we give the schools, our school heads and the teachers all the support to properly take care of their students,” said Gullas.

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Each school will receive a new laptop for the school head, a printer and unlimited ink for a period of one semester or until December 2019 to be used for the worksheets and modules of all their students, a photocopier and a risograph machine, and logistical support such as bond papers and other office supplies.

“By giving them the necessary logistical support nagtuo gyud ko that they will do everything they can in their power to educate our children. They will be highly motivated to teach and to educate their second family,” said the mayor.

(By giving them the necessary logistical support, I believe that they will do everything they can in their power to educate our children. They will be highly motivated to teach and to educate their second family.)

With these new pieces of equipment, the schools will be much more capable in providing modules for distance learning for the students that may no longer need the use of gadget or internet.

Gullas challenged the teachers to be creative in finding ways to educate their students amid this new normal way of teaching as he assured them that the city government would support them all the way./dbs