CEBU, Philippines - A high-ranking official of the education department commends the initiative of holding day care and nursery classes inside a mausoleum to educate the children of those living in the cemetery.
But Cebu City Schools Division Supt. Rhea Mar Angtud strongly suggested to the barangay officials to find another venue for the classes.
At the Carreta Public Cemetery, a classroom was established in a private memorial lot.
This was made possible through the efforts of the Action for Nurturing Children Environment (ANCE), an organization among the residents inside the cemetery.
Angtud appreciates the effort saying this is better rather than seeing these kids roaming around the city streets.
Angtud explained that the objective of having day care centers is to let the day care workers take care of the kids for a couple of hours while the parents do their household chores or jobs.
She clarified that putting up of day care centers is a responsibility of the barangay.
The Department of Education is only in-charge of the training of all day care workers to make sure that they are following DepEd’s curriculum.
Angtud stressed that the barangay officials should do something to look for another place to hold classes and not inside the mausoleum.
“I just hope that this is just for the time being. They have to find another venue because having classrooms inside a cemetery is not a regular setting for classes,” Angtud said.
ANCE-Carreta Chapter President Lea Resurreccion said they have 11 day care pupils and eight nursery pupils.
Like Carreta, Lorega Cemetery and the Chinese Cemetery in Hipodromo also have classrooms managed by ANCE.
Resurreccion said that flower and candle vendors, tombstone makers and some residents of the area send their children to these classes.
Sherrie Mae Ylaya, 3, a nursery pupil, said that she enjoys learning with her friends.
She does not mind the presence of tombs around them while having classes.
Susan, 24, a housewife, also sends her four-year-old son, Kenneth, to the same class.
Susan opted to send her children to the classes in the cemetery as this is much cheaper than sending them to a regular school.
Susan has five children and her husband earns around P200 a day as a tombstone maker.
Mary Jane Edil-Uy, 27, a pre-school teacher, has worked for ANCE for seven years.
She is the teacher in-charge of the classes in the Carreta and Chinese cemeteries.
She admitted that she had a hard time adjusting to the environment of holding classes in a mausoleum as she was assigned to a regular classroom in Barangay Ibo, Lapu-Lapu City before.
She got sick during the early stage of the classes that started last summer.
But eventually, she got used to it and survived the first semester.
“We started last summer. The kids learned a lot. This is their first time to go to school and they are beginners. Aside from the basic learning that I taught them every day, I also mold them to have good values,” Uy said.
Uy revealed that the classroom in the cemetery is very hot as they do not have electricity.
But she also said the kids can concentrate on their studies because of the serenity of the cemetery.
“Dili samok ug mingaw ang sementeryo maong maka-study pod ang bata,” Uy said.
— (FREEMAN)