Last Mile Schools: Basic education for all Filipinos

FILE: To provide relevant information and updates on the implementation of DepEd’s Last Mile Schools program, Education chief Leonor Magtolis Briones spearheaded a press conference today, July 18, in Pasig City. (Photo: Department of Education – Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA — Recognizing the need to reach out to and close the gap between students from Geographically Isolated, Disadvantaged and Conflict-Affected (GIDCA) areas and their counterparts in urban centers, the Department of Education (DepEd) has developed the Last Mile Schools Program.

This, according to Education Secretary Leonor Briones, is part of the Public Schools of the Future framework in line with the Philippine Development Plan 2017 to 2022 under the Duterte administration.

It aims to provide GIDCA areas with unhampered and equal access to quality basic education.

“In the next three years under President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration, we will continue to address the remaining gaps and challenges in education. We will do something about the 27,000 schools na kailangan pang tulungan (which must be helped),” Briones said.

Last Mile Schools are schools that have multi-grade classes, with less than five teachers, and a student population of less than 100 learners, more than 75 percent of which are usually indigenous people.

They lack complete sets of school furniture, no computers, no internet connection, very few textbooks and manuals, and lacking laboratory tools and equipment.

“School building projects did not push through in these areas because of problems in peace and order, and where private contractors, suppliers, and service providers find difficult to access in order to deliver the necessary equipment and services,” Briones added.

Since teachers are the front-liners of the DepEd in providing quality basic education to all learners, she said the agency will strengthen the National Educators’ Academy of the Philippines.

“It will capacitate teachers with the latest, effective teaching strategies so they could develop critical thinking among learners. Critical analysis is to study and analyze problems and find solutions. Ito ang itinuturo natin sa (This is what we teach our) high school students ngayon (now)”, she added.

The DepEd, under President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration, continues to provide quality basic education to all Filipinos regardless of their background, distance and personal circumstances.

The DepEd reported that the agency has built 67,667 classrooms, repaired and reconstructed 66,654 classrooms, and restored 284 Gabaldon Heritage School Buildings from July 2016 to March 2019.

It also has delivered 4,447,150 armchairs, installed 486,635 Information and Communication Technology equipment, distributed 158,850,171 textbooks and manuals, provided 20,421 packages of math and science equipment, employed 177,218 teachers, and fed 4,526,432 students for the same period.

To ensure that senior high school students taking technical-vocational (tech-voc) subjects are employment-ready, the DepEd constructed 4,136 tech-voc laboratories and workshops, delivered 1,396,614 new tables and chairs, provided 1,338 packages of tech-voc laboratory tools and equipment, and upgraded electrical systems in 2,191 schools.