“Textbook Walk” benefits students in remote areas
LINGAYEN–Some 178,000 public elementary students in remote parts of Pangasinan have been given free textbooks to enhance their academic performance under the Department of Education’s (DepEd) “Textbook Walk” program.
“The ‘Textbook Walk’ under the 2008 National Textbook Delivery Program, is a big help, especially to depressed areas where the pupils could hardly afford to buy new reading materials,” said Dr. Alma Ruby Torio, schools division superintendent of Pangasinan Schools Division I.
Textbooks are normally distributed to public schools every five years but remote areas sometimes often have to wait longer due to logistical constraints.
The distribution was also designed to get the communities involved by tapping the assistance of teachers, parents and other members of the community.
Torio said the concept is similar to the Brigada Eskwela program wherein everyone helps in refurbishing schools before the school year starts by contributing either cash, other goods or labor.
The textbooks initially distributed cover English and Hekasi (Heograpiya, Kasaysayan at Sibika) subjects. Other textbooks for other subjects are expected to be delivered later.
The beneficiaries include schools under the Pangasinan Schools Division I, one of the pilot areas for the “Textbook Walk” program, in the towns of Malasiqui, Bayambang, Sual, Bolinao, Lingayen, Mabini, Mangatarem and Sta. Barbara.
“It’s like a door-to-door delivery,” Torio said.
The “Textbook Walk”, a brainchild of the Ateneo School of Government’s G-Watch, was adopted by DepEd to ensure that students in far-flung areas get their textbooks on time.#
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