However, the tiring daily grind of this 20-year-old Grade 7
student is overshadowed by her ambition to become a police officer someday.
“I don’t want to do hard labor just to send my two daughters to
school. I’ve gone through hardships in life and I want a more comfortable life
when I get old,” said Roselyn.
She stopped her studies after graduating elementary in 2012.
Extreme poverty and distance to the nearest high school from their upland
village barred her from pursuing secondary education.
For five years, she worked as a househelp in Tacloban City, earning
only PHP1,500 a month.
In 2015, Roselyn met and fell in love with Rene, 37, a
construction worker. They now have two daughters, with the elder one being
three years old.
Rene, a minimum wage earner, works in Ormoc City and comes home
every two weeks.
Roselyn’s parents have to hike upland two hours a day to cultivate
corn and pechay. Distance and working condition only allow them to bring one
child to the farm.
“I have no choice but to carry one of my daughters to the
classroom every day. I always want to be present in our class since I already
missed a lot of opportunities. It feels good to be back to school again,”
Roselyn told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
Due to her young age and new surroundings, Honelyn wants to stay
in her mother’s arms.
There are times when the child refuses to sit still inside the
classroom away from her mother, leaving Roselyn no choice but to carry the
toddler while listening to her lessons.
Her mother, Florita, 40, hopes that Roselyn would be the family’s
first degree-holder, as their ancestors have lived a hand-to-mouth existence
for decades in one of the town’s remotest villages.
“Since she’s been out of school for several years, I really did
not expect that she would be interested to study again.
We will do everything to support her,” said Florita, who was one
of the villagers who came to the campus Tuesday afternoon to witness its
official opening.
The young mother is just one of the more than 90 students who
enrolled in the newly-established Buraburon National High School in the upland
village of Tagadtaran, some 13 km. upland from the town center.
She spends about PHP100 daily for a 30-minute single motorcycle
ride to get to school, passing through hilly and bumpy roads. The
transportation cost is double if she would enroll at the town center.
The establishment of a new campus in an upland village here is
seen as key to curbing the high dropout rate, such as in remote communities far
from secondary schools.
School head Adolfo Raga said Tuesday they had to start classes
last June in makeshift classrooms at the Buraburon National High School as 90
learners had signed up.
Key education and local government officials came to inaugurate
the new school building on that day. “This campus will give every child a
chance to achieve what they want to achieve,” Raga said.
Town Mayor Juanito Renomeron pushed for the establishment of the
second high school campus in rural communities to encourage children to pursue
education after elementary.
“We are committed to build more classrooms here because we expect
that enrolment from 15 villages nearby to double in the future,” Renomeron told
the crowd.
Leyte Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla vowed to fund some
improvement plans for the campus, including the construction of an evacuation
center cum dormitory meant for students from far-flung villages.
“The future of this town depends on how we educate our children.
Remember that the most resource in our communities is the human resource,”
Petilla added.
The provincial government also inaugurated rural roads and bridges
leading to the school.
The Department of Education’s regional office in Palo, Leyte
approved the school opening through a memorandum issued last May 17. (SQM/PNA)
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