Cebu invests in education with TEN Moves, makes initial pledge of Php1.9 million to build classrooms in public schools
Since its inception, the social mobilization campaign TEN Moves, which aims to build 10,000 classrooms across the country, has inspired individuals, corporations, and educational institutions to make their move in order to improve the education of Filipino students.
One of the Philippines’ highly urbanized areas and a center for trade and industry in the Visayas region is making a significant move in support of TEN Moves. Cebu has pledged Php1,898,300.00 to boost the campaign, through the donations of local corporations and organizations.
For Atty. Manuel Gordon, President of the Ayala Business Club Cebu, Inc. (ABCCI), one of the prime movers of the campaign in the area, supporting TEN Moves is one step to ensuring that Filipino children have a solid educational foundation, through environments that support and encourage learning, regardless of their age, heritage, or location.
“Our youth deserve classrooms that will give both their bodies and their minds the room to discover and to learn,” states Atty. Gordon. “Through TEN Moves, every Filipino can make a crucial investment in the educational future of Filipino children everywhere.”
Joining the ABCCI in moving for TEN Moves are the Bank of the Philippine Islands-Cebu, Marriott Hotel-Cebu City, Cebu Holdings, Inc., Globe Telecom, Honda Cars-Cebu, Inc., and Isuzu-Cebu, Inc.
As of July 2012, 2,741 classrooms have been pledged for TEN Moves’ mother campaign, Bayanihang Pampaaralan, with 880 classrooms having been built.
As Cebu joins the campaign to build 10,000 classrooms, Department of Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro, FSC commended the commitment of private-public partnerships to education, which has allowed TEN Moves to make a difference in the lives of Filipino children.
“The TEN Moves campaign is the campaign of the Filipino people,” says Secretary Luistro. “The continued outpouring of support from individuals, the academe, non-government organizations, the private sector, and local governments is testament to the possibilities that we can achieve for our children, if we all work together.”
“With the help of every Filipino, we hope to fill up the classroom backlog, and ensure that every Filipino child and educator will have the space that they need to fully appreciate the gifts of learning,” continues Secretary Luistro.
For Mario Deriquito, Senior Director of the Ayala Foundation and a primary mover of TEN Moves, education remains a key contributor to the success and development of a nation. “With the participation of Cebu in this campaign, we hope that it will inspire more communities to make their move to improve the state of education in the Philippines, to help the country stay on course to true development.”
Interested donors are encouraged to donate P300 a month for 10 months to help build the construction of 10,000 classrooms under TEN Moves. To learn more about TEN Moves, please visit www.tenmoves.org or email info@tenmoves.org