JAEN, Nueva Ecija – At least 200 students of the newly built public school annex in Barangay Marawa here received bicycles which they could use in going to school.
Mayor Santy Austria donated the said bicycles right after the flag raising rites on Monday, the first day of classes for public .
The 7-classroom Jaen National High School Annex already has over 400 students, from first year to fourth year, said Austria.
“Gusto ko po talaga makatapos para makatulong sa mga magulang ko,” said Diana Rose Villeza, one of the beneficiaries of the project. “Hindi nako maglalakad ng mahaba ngayon para makarating sa school.”
Aling Francisca, Diana’s mother, took a break from rice planting to accompany her daughter on Monday. She also bought a pair of school uniform worth P500.
“Kung makatatapos siya, dun siguro gaganda ang buhay niya,” the mother said, adding that education for her children does not in anyway mean for her own welfare. “Namo-morsyento lang kami sa bukid,” Francisca said.
Austria said they distributed bikes to 200 of over 400 students who enrolled at the newly-built Jaen National High School Annex to “inspire them and reduce burden on transportation allowances given by parents.”
Austria said that initially, they thought of producing two four-wheeled vehicles to ferry students to and from their residences. However, “it would be too expensive for the government.”
“That means we will hire drivers, provision for gasoline and maintenance,” he said.
King Gasper Basa, also a first year high school student who received a bicycle, said most children in the area know how to bike. It is the most practical mode of transportation in lowly villages with farm-to-market roads as most common access to the heart of their respective villages.
“Mas madali po mag-bike kesa maglakad. Mag-iingat na lang po,” Basa said.
The JNHS Annex was built in about a month and a half in time for the school opening, Austria said.
It aims to accommodate new enrollees as well as students from the outskirt villages who used to spend P4,000 to P4,500 a month in transportation to attend schooling in adjacent municipalities of Sta. Rosa and Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija, Austria added.
