ABUCAY, Bataan – Classes in most public elementary schools in Bataan went smoothly yesterday although some minor differences were noted in an upland school mostly attended by Aeta children.
Regular classes with children in full attendance were observed in most schools in the lowlands like in Samal South Central School in Sta. Lucia, Samal, Bataan. Teachers already started their first lessons to Grade I pupils.
However, pupils at the Bangkal Resettlement Primary School came in trickles. Only a few of the 100 Aeta children supposed to enter the school were present. Rosemarie Innocencio, a Grade 3 teacher, said that most children of the natives usually report for school on the second day of classes.
The public school teacher has to traverse a muddy road leading to her school where the chirping of the birds can be heard. The school is nestled on a plain at the foot of a mountain in barangay Bangkal, an upland village in Abucay, Bataan.
But there were eager Aeta mothers with their children in tow bound for the school. They also helped teachers in cleaning the classrooms.
Some Aeta children were seen fetching water from an artesian well to be used in cleaning their school rooms.
A Grade 6 boy with the curly hair said he would report for classes on Wednesday. “Wala kasi akong baunan kaya bukas na ako papasok,” he said. Two Aeta girls, both Grade 6, reported to school with lowlanders. “We want to be teachers someday,” they said.
Regular classes with children in full attendance were observed in most schools in the lowlands like in Samal South Central School in Sta. Lucia, Samal, Bataan. Teachers already started their first lessons to Grade I pupils.
However, pupils at the Bangkal Resettlement Primary School came in trickles. Only a few of the 100 Aeta children supposed to enter the school were present. Rosemarie Innocencio, a Grade 3 teacher, said that most children of the natives usually report for school on the second day of classes.
The public school teacher has to traverse a muddy road leading to her school where the chirping of the birds can be heard. The school is nestled on a plain at the foot of a mountain in barangay Bangkal, an upland village in Abucay, Bataan.
But there were eager Aeta mothers with their children in tow bound for the school. They also helped teachers in cleaning the classrooms.
Some Aeta children were seen fetching water from an artesian well to be used in cleaning their school rooms.
A Grade 6 boy with the curly hair said he would report for classes on Wednesday. “Wala kasi akong baunan kaya bukas na ako papasok,” he said. Two Aeta girls, both Grade 6, reported to school with lowlanders. “We want to be teachers someday,” they said.
