Military vehicles in convoy from the 73rd Infantry Battalion and its mechanized infantry rumbled along the highway, but instead of combat-ready troops, they brought in 30,000 books as part of a massive public-private sector initiative to lift the quality of education in the province. The recent mobilization event included seven municipalities in Sarangani in an unprecedented three-day education revolution.
With a “battle order” of hitting the one-is-to-one student-to-book ratio for 61 elementary schools, or approximately 30,000 elementary students, the Department of Education (DepEd), local government units, power company Conal Holdings Corp., Nestle Philippines, Synergia, Unionbank, and minerals development company Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI), and units from the 73rd IB, the three-day revolution started with Sarangani Gov. Miguel Dominguez challenging the public-private coalition to sustain the initiative.
“Our province used to register the lowest marks in the National Achievement Tests. In 2006, we had a 41% average and we increased it to 69% this year. We will do better,” Dominguez told the students, parents, teachers, soldiers, local government officials, and representatives from the private companies during the launching.
The private companies turned over at least P10 million in cash, goods, pledges, and project funding to the Quality Education for Sarangani Today (QUEST), a pet project of the governor.
“We are joining the Sarangani Education Revolution because we understand that education is the key to prosperity and SMI is committed to helping the children through education,” according to SMI general manager Mark Williams.
SMI, located in the neighboring South Cotabato province, is developing the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project (TCGP), touted to be the largest single foreign investment in the country with an estimated project cost of more than US$6-billion.
“We cannot over-emphasize the importance of education for national development. Most businesses today in the Philippines are aware of this,” Williams said.
Social development programs by SMI are a welcome boost to government education initiatives especially in Region 12. The minerals development company has been cited in 2009 as the most active stakeholder for the education sector by DepEd for contributing P14 million worth of scholarships for thousands of elementary, secondary, and tertiary students. SMI has also facilitated the construction of several school buildings in Region 12, the development of an Indigenous Peoples (IP) curriculum and the production of textbooks and other school materials.
