Ravaged Sto. Nino Elementary School in Tanauan, Leyte |
This disastrous incident which resulted a completely washed out of the province touched the heart of every nation around the globe to stretch forth their help in every possible ways they can-- prayers, moral supports, relief goods donations, financial donations, manpowers etc.
Intel is one of with a good heart rolls out rebuilding program for storm-hit school infrastructure in Leyte. Today, i have given the privileged to hear about Intel's detailed plans that focused on rebuilding a better and stronger Sto. Nino Elementary School in Tanauan, Leyte.
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As part of the company’s
commitment to education, Intel seeks to reconstruct damaged classrooms and
establish a normalcy towards the early recovery of the municipality of Tanauan,
Leyte.
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In collaboration with key
local organizations, Intel aims to complete the rebuilding program.
In line with its commitment to
improve education, Intel Foundation together with its employees worldwide,
today announced ongoing efforts to rebuild the Sto. Niño Elementary School in
Tanauan, Leyte, which was damaged by Typhoon Yolanda.
Intel has partnered with
the Department of Education (DepEd) and country’s largest corporate-led social
development organization Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) to
implement the reconstruction program aimed at reestablishing an even better and
stronger school for students and teachers of the municipality.
“By building classrooms, we can help secure a long-term recovery for the residents of Tanauan.” – Intel Philippines Country Manager Calum Chisholm |
“At Intel, we believe that education must
remain a primary concern in times of adversity in order to inspire and prepare
the youth for the global challenges ahead. This initiative is a testament to
our unwavering dedication to provide access to teaching and learning opportunities
for the youth that are critical to each community’s development,” said Intel
Philippines Country Manager Calum Chisholm. “Intel believes that education is
an important investment that a community makes for its future as it is
instrumental to achieving greater social and economic opportunities for
children.”
Intel and 2,400 of its employees from across
the globe have raised a total of USD375,000 (PHP16.5M) which the Intel
Foundation matched to fund the completion of four new disaster-resilient buildings with 10
classrooms for the benefit of over 500 students in the primary level. The
facilities will replace the damaged buildings and will be equipped with
teachers’ tables and chairs, standard school armchairs, separate washrooms for
boys and girls, and ramps to provide easy access for children with
disabilities. The new buildings of Sto. Nino Elementary School will be more
structurally-sound to withstand future typhoons. It will also include child-friendly
spaces and will be accessible to those with disabilities. With the support of
its partners on the ground, Intel plans to turn over the new classrooms to
DepEd in time for the upcoming 2015 academic year.
Proposed School Building |
The project will support DepEd in restoring
school operations in Sto. Nino Elementary School. The new school will have
walls, floors, and partitions that can withstand up to three hours of fire,
compared to the conventional one-hour fire resistant rating. To ensure stronger
defense against seismic events and typhoons, the structure will be built with a
distance of one meter above the original ground line for flood and will be
resistant to 250kph wind, compared to the conventional 200kph wind load design.
All of the public schools in Tanauan were
damaged by Typhoon Yolanda in some way. Sto. Niño Elementary School was one of
the schools that have been rendered unusable and therefore cited by DepEd as a
critical structure to rebuild.
DepEd Undersecretary Mario Deriquito stresses the need for better and safer schools for the Filipino children. |
“Our primary goal is to drive the early
recovery of the school communities severely affected by Yolanda. We feel that
this collaboration with Intel and the Philippine Business for Social Progress will
be instrumental to our ongoing endeavor and are optimistic about the
sustainable results of the program,” remarked DepEd Undersecretary Mario
Deriquito.
To ensure the impact of the rebuilding
program, Intel will continue to work closely with the local government unit of
Tanauan, DepEd, and implementation partner PBSP to deploy a sustainability plan
focused on overall facility management and maintenance.
Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) Visayas
Executive Committee Chairman Jose Antonio Aboitiz
|
“PBSP and Intel understand that conducive
learning environments stimulate growth among the youth and their teachers as
well. We are prepared to align with the school administration and
Parents-Teachers Association (PTA) in order to execute an effective maintenance
scheme for the new classrooms so that the next generation of students can enjoy
quality facilities as well,” said PBSP Visayas Executive Committee Chairman
Jose Antonio Aboitiz.
Apart from offering immediate and most
sustainable action to its beneficiaries, Intel seeks to foster growth in
student engagement or enrollment rate, and increase the number of primary level
graduates. Intel has been working with the local government units of Tanauan to
deliver the Intel Easy Steps program in the community e-centers as a means to impart
ICT skills to the members of the community.
They have given the time frame of until December 2014 to finish the constructions of new school buildings of Sto. Nino Elementary School. "Tukdaw Eskwelahan, Pitad Han Kabataan!"
For more information
on Intel Philippines, log on to the Intel Philippines
Facebook Page or follow Intel Philippines on Twitter
(@IntelPilipinas).
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