The SM Foundation and SM Prime turned over on Dec. 18 a newly built
two-story school building to Sta. Barbara Central Elementary School in
Zamboanga City, which was heavily ravaged during the Zamboanga siege in 2013.
 |
| The SM Group, through SM Prime and SM Foundation, turned over on Dec. 18 a newly built two-story school building to Sta. Barbara Central Elementary School in Zamboanga City. |
School principal Anna Liza Martin says that none of the three multi-story school buildings of Sta. Barbara Central School survived the attacks as all of them were rendered unusable after the siege.
As the campus fell under the control of the insurgents who barricaded themselves inside the classrooms, all school facilities were either completely demolished or considered dangerous to use for everyday classes.
Aside from the classrooms, Martin says that all their learners lost considerable school hours, added with the stress and pressure of having to relocate to neighboring schools just to catch up.
Hindered from proper learning
Head teacher Alice Yusop, who was present during the attacks, says
that even when neighboring campuses have hosted their learners, the deficiency
of teachers and facilities in other schools in the surrounding communities
hindered their learners from receiving quality education.
 |
| Sta. Barbara Central School caters to almost 3,000 enrollees, 99 percent of whom are Muslim learners from four nearby barangays. |
“Six of us teachers had to follow them there so that we can teach them because those schools can barely accommodate them and we did not want them to lose any more school days,” Yusop says.
But the Zamboanga siege not only affected the learners’ school days, but their mental well-being, as well, according to the teacher.
“I remember one specific instance when, in one of our makeshift
classrooms in a host campus, there was an explosion, but it was just an
electric fuse box. I remember how the learners ran scared and crying. That was
the toll on them. It was not only about losing school days, but it was also
about their mental health,” she says.
Martin recalls how the school’s recovery was a very hard and long
process.
Going back to the campus after the month-long attacks, they found almost nothing to build from and the memories of the attacks scattered all around them.
“It took more than five years for us to rebuild Sta. Barbara Central School,” she says.
Nidznalyn Kasim, one of the parents of Sta. Barbara Central School’s pupils, shares how the siege has dampened the spirits of the learners and the whole community in the aftermath.
“We were scared. But as there was also almost nothing left after the
siege, we had to face the fact that our learners, the children might not have
anywhere else to go in the meantime. It was very hard,” Kasim says.
Fresh start, new hope
 |
|
The new school building is equipped with armchairs, panoramic whiteboards, electric fans, and tables and chairs for teachers, providing an environment conducive for learning. |
Now, more than a decade later, as the SMFI continues to help ease the educational challenges caused by the siege as it turns over the new building to the teachers and the learners of Sta. Barbara Central School.
SMFI executive director for education programs Carmen Linda Atayde, in
her speech during the turnover ceremony, says that it is the 109th school
building that was donated by the foundation to schools all over the country.
This is the second school building built by the foundation in Zamboanga.
 |
| The new school building features a clinic, mini library, and dedicated space for art and music activities. |
The four-classroom building is equipped with electric fans for proper ventilation, toilets, and washbasins inside the classrooms.
The SMFI also furnished the classrooms with 25 left-handed armchairs, which were made by the PWD community in Manila, as well as facilities that can cater PWD learners and teachers.
The new building also has a clinic, a mini library, and a room
dedicated to the arts and music.
Sta. Barbara Central School caters to almost 3,000 enrollees, 99 percent of whom are Muslim learners from nearby Barangays Sta. Barbara, Rio Hondo, Marique, and Kasanyagan.
The new building from the SMFI will be utilized by Grade 2 and Kindergarten learners.
“The opening of this school building indeed showed the learners that
we can have a new start, that there are still sponsors who are willing to help
pave the way so that they can have a brighter future despite what happened in the
past,” Kasim says.
 |
| SM Foundation Executive Director for Education Carmen Linda Atayde, SM Mindpro Mall Manager Aileen Ann Enriquez, SM City Zamboanga Assistant Mall Manager (OIC) Jodie Durens, Dr. Basilio Uy, Acting Chief for School Governance and Operation, Department of Education (DepEd), Sta. Barbara Central Elementary School Principal III Anna Liza Martin, and Parents-Teachers Association president Nidznalyn Kasim led the turnover of the new school building. |
Martin says that the project brought with it new hope for the future, erasing from memory the trauma and the struggles that came with the attacks.
“The building effectively blocks remnants of the siege and has transformed Sta. Barbara Central School. There is no fear anymore and no more worries,” she says.
Believing in the power of education in uplifting communities, SM Foundation has been an active member of DepEd’s Adopt-a-School Program since 2002, turning over more than 100 school buildings to grassroots communities nationwide. The said program intends to address overcrowding in schools and provide an environment conducive for learning. (SM Foundation)
