Village school goes high tech

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Inquirer Visayas : Village school goes high tech
By Vicente Labro
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Posted date: September 27, 2008


CALBAYOG CITY – Every Monday morning, 10-year-old Feviane G. Ale is eager to attend her computer class at the Gadgaran Elementary School in Calbayog City to get a chance to play “Xbox” and other educational PC games.
Ale’s school in Barangay Gadgaran has its own computer laboratory – with 13 computers having Internet access. Its 250 pupils and all the teachers are taught basic computer literacy. Its “modern” facility is now the envy of other city schools in Calbayog and the source of pride of its teachers, pupils and community.

“I like computers because it helps me in my study,” Ale, a Grade V pupil, says.

Gadgaran is a depressed village about five kilometers from the city proper, which is 180 km north of Tacloban City, the regional center of Eastern Visayas.

The computer laboratory is unique in its design. The ground layout resembles an Xbox video console of Microsoft, with an “x” raised walkway. Another “x” suspended from the ceiling illuminates the whole room with bright-green light.

The four triangular ground areas are divided into the Mathematics, Science, Arts, and Entertainment and Communications sections, which were all painted in orange, green, blue and yellow – the four colors of the Microsoft logo.

The computers are equipped with the latest educational software donated by Microsoft Corp.

American donor

David Dunleavy, an American who works with the US computer giant, designed and supervised the construction of the computer laboratory in August 2007. He also donated educational software materials, two TV sets, an LCD projector and an electric guitar and drum set, as well as the latest computer program.

The laboratory is using Microsoft Vista, but Dunleavy promised the school that when he visits the village again next year, he would bring along a Microsoft Version 7, which has not even come out of the global market yet, Teresa Villa, the school principal, said in an interview.

What was then a small school in a depressed village began to change in 2005 when it shared a vision of a “Modern and High Performing School” with the city school division. The community and the school worked together to achieve the goal.

In one of the meetings of the teachers and parents, Villa was told by a parent that an alumnus, Arvin Ofamen, was a friend of Microsoft’s Dunleavy, according to the campus publication “Kawit.”

Villa immediately contacted Ofamen and requested him to ask his friend to possibly donate a computer set. She also wrote a letter to Dunleavy.

Scholarship grants

In September 2005, Dunleavy and Ofamen visited the village, bringing along the donation. During his 10-day stay, the American discussed with Villa the situation not only of the school but also of the entire community.

“We asked him to provide the school with a scholarship program. He gave us fund for school supplies, school uniforms and for the contributions so that the parents won’t be spending anymore,” Villa said in a recent interview.

At first, Dunleavy provided 160 scholarship grants, but this has now increased to 200. He extended the program to high school students who are alumni, Villa said.

He also provided financial support to address the malnutrition problem in Gadgaran.

Since Dunleavy started helping, the school’s dropout rate went down to zero, the academic performance of the pupils greatly improved, and there were no cutting of classes and unnecessary absences among the pupils, Villa said.

“He is a philanthropist. His heart is really with the poor,” she said. Thankful for his generosity, the school and community declared Dunleavy an “adopted son of Gadgaran.”

Thanks to Gates, too

The school is also grateful to Microsoft founder Bill Gates. In fact, it has been “doubly lucky” because for every amount that Dunleavy donates, Microsoft, as a policy to its donor employees, matches this.

Arthur Basbas, an Information and Communication Technology teacher, says pupils and teachers from Grade 1 to Grade 6 were being taught basic computer literacy.

The teachers attend computer class from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. daily during school days. The pupils have their own classes twice a week and a film showing every Friday afternoon. They also do computer-aided research work during their vacant period, lunch time or after classes.

The ABS-CBN Foundation also donated educational video shows on Science, Math and English, Basbas says.

Incentive

He, however, clarifies that the basic computer literacy course is not included in the school curriculum, and that the students do not earn grades from the computer lessons. They earn points in quizzes, assignments and exams, and when they accumulate a total of 50 points, they are allowed a one-hour free use of the computer lab as incentive, including playing Xboxes and PC games.

Gadgaran is just an obscure, poor village, but its children now have access to a bright future with the help of new technologies.





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