PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—The Francisco Ubay Memorial Elementary School in Puerto Princesa, which caters to 2,400 students from Brgys. Tagburos, San Manuel, Santa Monica and San Jose, has received the 86th school building under SM Foundation’s school building program.
A donation from SM Prime through SM Foundation, the school building is the first one turned over by the Foundation in Palawan’s capital.
The two-storey, four-classroom building is persons with disability-friendly, with a ramp and toilet strictly for the PWDs.
The building is furnished with 200 student armchairs, 20 of which are designed for left-handed students, along with teacher’s tables and chairs all made by the Foundation of These-Abled, a PWD association supported by SM, 16 wall fans, eight blackboards, four wall clocks and four toilets.
The new building augments the number of classrooms in Ubay Memorial ES, the third largest school in the city in terms of student population, with 89 pupils belonging to the indigenous community.
The school also hosts 69 Muslim students who are attending Arabic Language Islamic Values Education classes.
The donation is very timely, as three buildings in the school campus with six classrooms are scheduled for demolition. Grades 3 and 5 students will occupy the SM school building.
The turnover ceremony was attended by school officials represented by Eva Guzman; Carmen Linda Atayde, SM Foundation Executive Director for Education; Brgy. Captain Estrella Salvador. who gave an inspirational message; and DepEd Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Elsie T. Barrios.
Also in attendance was SM Supermalls Assistant Mall Manager Dondon Rodrigo.
The atmosphere during the turnover was festive with students eagerly peeking into the new classrooms they will be using. Students performed a special dance number complete with costumes. A plaque of appreciation for SM patriarch Henry Sy Sr. was received by Atayde.
At the end of the turnover ceremony, students from Grades 3 and 5 gifted SM Foundation with letters of appreciation and gratitude they wrote and handed over to Atayde. The very active PTA, whose members are raising funds for the school’s fence also gave tokens to the Foundation.
According to Abner Jason Malacao, PTA President, the school still lacks 24 classrooms, as one classroom has been converted into a school canteen and another is used as the Principal’s office.
Due to the shortage of classrooms, classes are held in shifts. Eva Guzman, Master Teacher of Grade 6, says there are two shifts in Grade 1 and 2, while Grades 3 to 5 are “fused,” meaning one section is distributed to other sections.
There are nine sections in Grade 6, but they only have seven classrooms, so teachers “borrow” classrooms from other teachers during recess time or during “lull” times. In between, students are distributed to other sections.
