TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The Department of Education through the Tabuk City Division Office inaugurated and turned over on June 7 the Last Mile School Project at Balatoc Primary School, the first completed Last Mile School in the Cordillera.
Tabuk Schools Division Superintendent Irene Angway said the Balatoc PS Last Mile School is a one-story four-classroom building furnished with male and female comfort rooms, water system, wash facilities, and generator system.
“Balatoc ES has less than 50 learners but this shows that DepEd is also proving that no children is left behind. May this be an inspiration to us all to continue to serve not only those who are in the center but even in remote places,” Angway said.
The DepEd’s Last Mile School program is intended to address the gaps in resources and facilities of schools in geographically isolated and disadvantaged and conflict-affected areas.
Last mile schools are those with less than four classrooms, usually makeshift and nonstandard ones, no electricity, no funds for repairs or new construction projects in the last four years, and are more than one hour away from the center.
These are schools that have multi-grade classes, with less than five teachers, and a student population of less than 100 learners, more than 75 percent of whom are indigenous peoples.
During the inauguration of the Balatoc PS Last Mile School, stakeholders took part in a tree-planting activity at the school grounds.
Angway said the Tangbay Last Mile School is on-going construction. – Peter Balocnit
