Batayan.docx

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION Hello I’m Roger Alingasa, the school head of Doong National High School. Doong is the center of all the islands in Bantayan which cater of a lot of students from neighboring island of Botigues, Lipayran, and including Mambacayao. So students from these island cross the sea channel everyday just to take up Senior High school, the grades 11-12 which the neighboring integrated schools cannot cater. They cannot almost complete the whole week going to school due to high cost of transportation, to be specific the cost of the bangka which it is a great burden from the part of the parents to let their students go to school everyday. So that’s the very reason why as I learned from the story of Mang Pimpay about the yellow boat. I was happy enough that this yellow boat might can solve the problem of the parents for their educational cost of their children. In fact I have my data from we have our students from Mambacayao this is 38 of them cross from Mambacayao to Doong every Sunday and pick by their parents on Friday afternoon that 38 of them. Sometimes due to allowance their parents cannot sustain the cost of that education. We have also students from Lipayran, 54 of them cross daily with the minimum cost of transportation to 30 pesos. So that is also the reason why they cannot complete the whole week of schooling since the that have to need more or less 30 per day. And from the neighboring island of Botigues we have 60 students crossing still daily just to took up the senior high school which again cannot be cater by the Botigues integrated school since they offer only the grade 10. So with the story of the Yellow Boat I learned so this might be one of the solutions to their basic problem and I am hoping that this noble endeavor of the Yellow Boat can help solve the basic problems of the parents.

Question: So sir more or less how many kids are affected in total? Principal: In total for the three islets where also they came from so more or less we have 100+ Question: What they are using now to go to school? Principal: They using the private bangka operated by the private person but that main problem is the high cost of their fare Question: How much do they pay sir? Princiapal: They pay 15 pesos one way, so in total only in the transportation 30 pesos per day. Question: And then you mention that there are kids that go to Doong, they go their Sunday and then they are picked up by the afternoon? Where do they stay? Principal: They have their boarding house near the school. Question: So they rent the house, sir? Principal: Yes. Question: How many kids are these, sir?

Principal: So they are 38. Question: So 38 are now renting a house? How much is the boarding house sir? The rental? Principal: I heard 200 per month per person . Question: So that’s 200 per month plus the food? Sir aside from transportation of the kids, you said that it’s the problem the basic problem of the students, what else are the problems of the students of the island groups of Bantayan? Principal: So the other problems are absenteeism related to the transportation due to high cost. Another problem is problems of drop-out because sometimes kids are forced by their parents to go fishing, because of low family income and some of the students are breadwinner and they support their parents for their basic livelihood, So other are siguro… parang ‘yun lang sir… Question: So sir, why do you think it’s important for the kids from these group of islands to really have their education? Why it is important to really finish their education? Principal: It’s from their mouth also and it’s evident enough that fishing in the island is going bad. Source of living is very hard so the struggle for poverty, so that’s education probably and as I said earlier education might be one factor, might be the big factor, that they can possibly find other options aside from fishing. It’s defined as very difficult as of this time, so the struggle for and the any sacrifice above anythings they found out education might be. Question: So sir, what can you say to the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation? Can you tell them or can you say something to the Foundation about your request. Principal: It is in my letter actually. This Yellow Boat Foundation might be a great help and your noble endeavor could help a lot to the ease of parents about the education of their children. So and it might be one of the great factor probably that could enhance encourage students to go to school daily. Almost the transportation, the cost of transportation is very difficult for the parents. So, just I say I would like to thank in advance for this and hoping enough for this positive response to our request to the Yellow Boat Foundation and we promise that we maintain and we will support as the administrator of the school will support and we will encourage all the parents to proceed and support their students because this is a great help for them.