Venjie Cabria is a biologist in the making. A 16-year-old Grade 10 student from Taysan Resettlement Integrated School (TRIS) in Legazpi City, his dreams of learning about life and human survival are very evident, even though accessibility to up-to-date educational materials and resources are limited.
Hopeful, he goes to the Internet shop almost every day to do research, spending one to one-and-a-half hours in front of the computer and paying around P15 to P20 to complete his school assignments and get needed information for the following day’s class.
“I walk to the nearest computer shop and do research for my assignments and projects after school hours,” Cabria said. “I am always there researching information and pay almost P500 a month for Internet use.”
School Principal Ma. Theresa Ruivivar is concerned with how much her students spend for computer and Internet use.
TRIS, a young school, was established in 2008 for residents of Barangay Padang in Albay, who were displaced by Supertyphoon Reming (international name Durian) in 2006, have been given new homes in the resettlement area. Its establishment aimed to address the educational needs of children and families, and to help students get back to their normal lives.
“TRIS started in 2008 with the elementary department, and in 2009 for the high-school department. Today we have around 1,090 students from kindergarten to Grade 10, but we have no library,” Ruivivar said in an interview with the BusinessMirror.
“TRIS has only instructional classrooms equipped with some stuff. We currently have a computer laboratory but without access to the Internet. With the Starbooks [Science and Technology Academic and Research-Based Openly Operated Kiosks] program turned over by the DOST [Department of Science and Technology], we can have access to a lot of information for students and teachers alike.”
Starbooks
The DOST, particularly its Science and Technology Information Institute (STII), wants to address the problem of the nation on limited educational facilities. The institute then planned and formed a solution to this problem for students who have no, or limited, access to Internet and up-to-date information.
STII created the Starbooks, a user-friendly stand-alone library that does not need any Internet connection and the first science digital library in the Philippines.
With over 25,000 science and other subject materials both from local and international sources, this program gives access to students with sufficient information for instruction and educational purposes. Upon knowing about the Starbooks program of DOST-STII, Ruivivar has asked her information and communication technology coordinator and one of the science teachers of TRIS, Reggie Baile, to make a proposal to the regional office to get acquire the program.
“After making the proposal in October 2015, we only waited for three months and there was a fast response from the DOST Regional Office,” Baile said.
The package included a complete set of a computer and the installed Starbooks program. The main computer is connected to the local terminal computers. Through the local connection, the computers can access information from Starbooks. Students, teachers and other users have to register for a username and password to access Starbooks. The turnover of the DOST’s Starbooks was held at TRIS on March 3.
No digital divide
A big percentage of schools, most especially in the countryside, don’t have access to the Internet. This means that up-to-date information cannot be acquired by many students. This creates a digital divide between privileged students and those who have limited access.
“The Starbooks is aimed to give a solution to improve the educational system of our youth, most especially the elementary [pupils] and high-school students who don’t have access to the Internet,” said Dr. Urduja Tejada, assistant secretary for countryside development of the DOST. “We provide a stand-alone library that contains over 25,000 books, videos, journal and how to’s, thus, making this a very important project,” she further added.
Tejada said the project aims to give importance to all students from all levels of life, and each one will be given an opportunity to learn.
“We will give all new information from STII and timely update the main server of computers,” Tejada replied when asked on how new information can be given. She also added, “This is the 45th unit in Bicol and we aim to provide 5,000 or more units all over the country.”
DOST Region 5 Director Tomas Briñas said TRIS was chosen as the first recipient in the first district of Legazpi City, because of the program’s priority to provide educational assistance to depressed areas.
“This is a resettlement area and has no Internet access.” TRIS is on top of Taysan Hills in Legazpi City, 5 kilometers away from the main city and the only form of public transportation is tricycle.
New hope
The Starbooks computer server and TRIS’s computer terminals are accessible not only to the school’s students, but to everyone who may want to use it, most especially to the other five schools who don’t have Starbooks in the district.
Ruivivar said during the interview: “Science teachers and students in other schools can come and visit our computer laboratory, [although] they have certain schedules to follow.”
She added that even during the summer, science teachers can do research in the school, which is open even during these times. “We also have a projector and they can watch videos from the Starbooks, such as [instructions] on [how to bake cake, how to start a livelihood].”
Cabria is grateful for the opportunity to enjoy the DOST-sponsored program. “This is the key to be a successful student in this school. I think this can help us a lot instead of going to computer shops and spend money [for Internet use] for our research assignments,” he said. Cabria was happy to say that he now just have to go straight to school and focus on becoming a biologist someday.