(Second in a series following the feature article titled, “I Had a Dream.”)
By: Prof. Janet R. Valdez, PhD, FRIEdr
OIC College President, Bulacan Polytechnic College – SY 2023-2024
The missionary work had to start.
As I was presenting my vision and plans to my Boss, he gave me a marching order and I quote: “Gawin mo ang gusto mong gawin.” I felt confident on the order knowing in my heart that my goal was to make the polytechnic college at par with regards to high employability, global competitiveness, and excellence in skills and competencies with the rest of the polytechnic colleges around the world.
I, together with the willing and supportive missionary friends, stopped at all the campuses, looked at the physical structures and organizational compositions, and listened to the voices and murmurs of the heart of each of the personnel. These could provide me first-hand information which I could use as a springboard to expedite the accomplishments at the campuses.
The main campus had spacious classrooms for a class of fifty (50) students. Most of the classrooms had disorderly plastic armchairs, a small teacher’s table, old greenboards with a small TV, which were mostly not functional, located on top. The computer laboratories were dusty, cluttered, and badly needing ventilation or air conditioner. There was a canteen right beside the restroom on the second floor. Nevertheless, its wide hallways and stairways were commendable for the mobility of the students. The restrooms for both males and females can be easily located and recognizable due to the odor emanating from the lack of water to flush the urinals and bowls. Most of the flush needed repair. Classes were held in the covered court, at the basketball court, on both sides of the stage, and, even on the stage, to accommodate more Bulakeño youth access to free quality education. The unused green auditorium was filled with old wooden armchairs piled up one after the other. Two (2) other dilapidated buildings were converted into laboratories and classrooms for TESDA courses. There were small unoccupied rooms used by personnel. Two (2) new buildings had ceilings falling off from the roof. I learned that personnel chose their transfer to different rooms for their offices just before I started work at the college. Parking spaces for students, personnel, and even visitors used up the frontage of the buildings which crowded the student entry and exit.
One of the campuses was a shared facility through the generosity of the family of a former governor. One needed to enter the gate of the public school before entering the one-building campus of the polytechnic college. It had few small classrooms with crowded chairs for a class of fifty (50) students. Its classrooms had greenboards. The hallways were narrow for two (2) passersby. The narrow and steep stairways were scary and risky. Their laboratories were small compared to the main campus and with few personally donated tools and equipment; but, gave you a feeling of home. The improvised canteen was located immediately infront of the two-storey building.
Another campus cannot be located easily due to its location hidden after the curve among the houses. Fortunately, one campus benefited from a local government which allowed the college its utilization. Another was camped among the public offices, while the other was among the housing site. One campus was receiving assistance from a religious group and the other, from the local government officials. The edifices were constructed just the same. Provisions of the classrooms were the same with little modifications depending on the creativity and innovativeness of the administrator and their supporters.
Most of the campuses shared similar cries for physical repairs of their buildings. Their woes were loud in their sacrifices of bringing tools and equipment back-and-forth when necessity called for it. Sad stories of surviving each school year were told with smiles of success. You need to do what you need to do. Use personal money to purchase the needs of the class. Bring stuff from home to decorate the class. Make use of old and worn-out tables and chairs. Provide food for the student. Shoulder the expenses or seek sponsors for small repairs. Or, just shrug them off.
Looking at the structures and the needs for repairs, as well as, listening to their stories of daily successes made you realize the necessity for changes and immediate responses. The struggles and challenges; however, were not isolated at the polytechnic college. They stereotype the experience of local universities and colleges in the country, and, the call for action.
The story continues…
