‘Bike to school’ aims to solve studes’ transport issues
In a simple turnover ceremony at the Cuayan Elementary School on August 31, 17 students received bicycles from DepEd-Angeles City Division Office. Four institutions — Beyond 4 Corners, Juan D. Nepomuceno Sons, Inc. (JDN Sons, Inc), Angeles City Water District, and EastWest Bank — joined hands to accomplish this outreach dubbed as “Padyak Para sa Edukasyon”.
The beneficiaries are from Cuayan Elementary School and Malabanias Integrated School. According to teachers, though both schools are located in the city proper, most of the students come from upland areas like Porac. Some students are even members of indigenous groups.
DepEd-Angeles City believes that the students’ lack of transportation means affects their school performance. Now that an alternative has been presented, DepEd is hopeful that students will have no reason to skip their classes.
“Many times, they drop from school because of these (transportation) difficulties,” said Principal Laura Paras of Cuayan Elementary School. “We are very thankful that this issue (transportation) has been brought to attention. May this project grow so a lot of learners will benefit from it.”
In fact, the endowment of alternative transportation means worked well in other schools. Division Superintendent Leilani Cunanan said that a decrease in dropout rate has been monitored since DepEd started solving students’ transportation woes.
Think out of the Box
“So kahit simpleng mamamayan o simpleng tao, go beyond the box,” (So, though one is a simple citizen, a humble person, he must go beyond the box.) said Angelo Mamangun, Jr., vice chairman of Beyond 4 Corners.
Likewise, Juan D. Nepomuceno Sons, Inc. believes that every student should be granted access to education regardless of their status in life.
“It’s very important for students to have access to education,” said Trixie Valdes, marketing and operations manager of JDN Sons, Inc.
The students and their guardians responded with gratitude, vowing that the bicycles will be used only for school purposes.
