PAGBILAO, Quezon, Philippines – Several elementary and high school students who walk to school with worn-out slippers for four kilometers or more recently received 35 mountain bikes under the “Bike-to-School program” of the Department of Education (DepEd) in this province.
Byron Aloysius Cuerdo, officer-in-charge of Jacinto G. Esplana National High School (NHS) and program initiator, said he conceptualized the program based on his SARDO (Student at Risk of Dropping Out) research to remedy the increasing number of students losing interest in going to school due to the distance from their residence.
He encouraged students to overcome any hindrance in finishing their education, stressing its important role in their lives.
Schools located in rugged areas such as Pagsangahan NHS, Busdak NHS, Renato Edano Vicencio NHS, Jacinto G. Esplana NHS (San Francisco), Lopez Comprehensive High School (Lopez), San Isidro NHS (Padre Burgos), Catanauan NHS, Anyao NHS, Tagbacan Ilaya NHS and San Vicente Kanluran NHS (Catanauan) became recipients of the mountain bikes in a turn-over ceremony held at Division Training Center in Talipan, Pagbilao, Quezon.
Cuerdo lauded the members of Alpha Phi Omega and Macau Alumni Association for their untiring support for the students.