By Fernan J. Angeles
YOUNG blood from the lakeshore town of Binangonan, Rizal did what the Department of Education should have done for the opening of classes.
Taking cue from the youth leaders belonging to the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) council of Barangay Calumpang, who offered free printing of school materials, documents, and assignments of students and teachers in exchange for plastic bottles, Binangonan municipal administrator Russel Callanta Ynares hinted at expanding the project to the town’s 40 barangays.
“It only goes to show that what we have here is a generation of future leaders embarking on cost-efficient projects serving multiple purposes,” said Ynares in a statement commending the youth council.
The project, which was developed by the elected members of SK Calumpang, is aimed at helping teachers and students to comply with the requirements of a blended learning system by the Department of Education.
Aside from easing hardships on sourcing out funds for the reproduction of the learning modules, the project simultaneously addresses environmental concerns, particularly on the aspect of properly disposing plastic waste in the locality.
Under the program, for every three 500 milliliter (ml) plastic bottles, one gets free printing for a maximum of 10 pages.
To be able to avail of the free printing for 11 to 25 pages, one has to trade of three 75 ml/1 liter/1.5 liter plastic bottles.
The scheme strictly eradicates the need for cash.
“Sa bawat pa-print ay walang perang ibabayad kundi mga bote lamang na wala nang laman, patapon na, o hindi na nagagamit sa inyong tahanan. Ang boteng kapalit ay ibibigay sa araw nang pagkuha ng printed materials. Ang mga boteng ito ay ire-recycle at gagamitin sa mas kapaki-pakinabang na bagay,” read the Facebook post of the youth council.
Interestingly, the youth council does it with remarkable sense of order by imposing days for printing and distribution/ pick-up of the re-printed learning modules. Printing on weekdays, while the distribution or pick up of printed materials on weekends.
Those who wanted to avail of the printing services are not required to personally take the materials for reproduction to prevent people from converging at the youth council’s office. Documents for printing are advised to be sent via email, including their name, age, address and contact number which would be used in notifying the moment the material is ready.
“Ipagpatuloy ang pag-unlad ng ating sarili, ng kapwa, at ng lipunan sa gitna ng pandemya. Ang proyektong ito ay kaisa sa paghubog ng sarili at paglinang ng kaalaman at kasanayan ng bawat kabataang may puso at pagmamahal sa edukasyon, buhay, at sa totoong edukasyon ng buhay,” the youth council quipped.