MAKESHIFT CLASSROOM. Learners at the newly established Tan-ayan Annex hold their first flag-raising ceremony during their first day in school in Sitio Tan-ayan in Barangay Bagtason, Bugasong, on Thursday (Aug. 31, 2023). OIC District Supervisor Daryl Aguelles and the principal of the Bagtason Elementary School said Friday the school caters to 24 learners, including the five who availed of the Alternative Learning System. (PNA photo courtesy of Dr. Daryl Arguelles)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – A makeshift three-classroom school that can be reached after crossing a river and a hike of another five kilometers in Bugasong town, Antique has enticed dropouts to go back and finish their elementary education through the Alternative Learning System (ALS).
The Tan-ayan Annex, an extension of the Bagtason Elementary School, welcomed 24 learners when it opened on Aug. 31, said Dr. Daryl Arguelles, officer-in-charge at the office of the district supervisor in Bugasong and Valderrama district.
Tan-ayan is a sitio of Barangay Bagtason, 20 kilometers from the town proper.
“We are forever grateful to the Bugasong Multi-Purpose Cooperative (MPC) for its donation so we could put up three makeshift instructional rooms, a comfort room, and a teachers’ quarter for the Tan-ayan Annex,” said Arguelles, also the school principal.
The classrooms accommodate multi-grade level learners during the daytime and the Alternative Learning System (ALS) learners starting at 6 p.m.
Of the 24 learners, five are in ALS, another five are in Grade 5, and the rest are distributed in Kindergarten up to Grade 4.
They reside in Sitio Tan-ayan and the mountainous barangays of the towns of Patnongon and Valderrama.
“The learners who had previously dropped in their school have seen the opportunity to also finish their schooling that they enrolled under the ALS,” Arguelles said.
The ALS learners with ages ranging from 18 to 20 years old have been away from school for several years, the longest of which is 10 years.
They opted to work in rice fields and help their parents rather than pursue schooling because of the difficulty attending their classes.
Those enrolled at Bagtason Elementary School need to walk for five kilometers from the sitio and cross the Carangaran River via a bamboo raft and vice versa when going home.
Learners tend to drop out of school rather than risk their lives, especially when a flash flood occurs.
Bugasong town, under Mayor John Lloyd Pacete, hired three local school board teachers for the annex school.
Arguelles is hopeful that DepEd, in the next two years, could also build a permanent structure to provide opportunities for learners, not only from Sitio Tan-ayan but also those in the neighboring areas at the border of Patnongon and Valderrama.
“We really need to provide opportunities to learners even in far-flung areas to also be in school so they could learn to read and count,” Arguelles said. (PNA)
