Seven off-grid public schools in South Cotabato province will finally have access to electricity through a PHP3.5 million solar energization project of the One Meralco Foundation Inc. (OMF) in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd).

Ruth Estacio, DepEd-South Cotabato division superintendent, said Wednesday the installation of the solar power systems is ongoing in these schools, which are situated in remote areas in Tboli and Lake Sebu towns.

She said the project, which started last month, mainly aims to provide stable electricity to the schools to open up more learning opportunities for students or learners.

“We pushed for this project as we saw that learners can study better in our schools if they have electricity,” she said in an online forum hosted by the Philippine Information Agency-Region 12.

The recipient schools are Kule Elementary School, Blo Elementary School, Lemkati Elementary School, and Ellaw Elementary School in Tboli, and Talaytay Elementary School, Proper Ned Elementary School-Upper Salban Extension, and Datu Kahar Macasayon Elementary School in Lake Sebu.

Aside from solar panels and lights, Estacio said OMF will also provide the schools with desktop computers, laptops, and television sets.

She said these will allow the teachers in these areas to give lessons via multimedia and utilize more audio-visual learning materials.

The official said school personnel and community stakeholders are excited with the opportunities that would be ushered in by the electrification projects.

She said residents of these areas may also benefit from the installed solar power systems, depending on the arrangements with the schools.

Estacio said OMF has been encouraged with the projects, which already covered four of the seven recipients, and is looking at the possibility of expanding it later on in other areas.

“We still have some disadvantaged and remote schools that don’t have access to electricity and we’re hoping that they will also be included in the project,” she said.

The partnership with OMF was among the major initiatives netted since last year by DepEd-South Cotabato’s social mobilization and networking (SMN) section as part of its flagship “Weave the Dream” campaign.

Tyron Jann Villanueva, education program supervisor and SMN coordinator, said the campaign intends to help “realize the dreams” of young learners in the province.

Last year, he said they were able to generate around PHP110 million in assistance and contributions for the initiative from stakeholders and their private partners.

These were through the provision of learning materials, equipment, capability building training, radio-based instruction airtime, television mileage, and other support to new normal education.

Villanueva said such funding was on top of the PHP139 million provided by the provincial government under the Special Education Fund.

This year, he said the local government allotted an additional budget of PHP74 million, which will be utilized for the purchase of learning materials and tablet computers, and provision for Internet connection in line with the agency’s digitalization program. (PNA)