Sulu NHS about to go hi-tech

Back in the 1990’s, Luuk was a bastion of the Moro National Liberation Front, a movement which fought for a separate Islamic homeland in Mindanao. Young people here became rebels or were drawn into the bloody politics of Sulu.

That is probably going to change, especially the town’s national high school students given a new option for the future: computers.

Last August, a two-man team from the Western Mindanao State University conducted a site inspection of the school and found that it met the conditions set by the Commission of Information and Communication Technology (CICT). The conditions are a) the school is not a recipient of an earlier computer donation from any national or foreign agency; b) school population is not less than 300; c) it must have a stable electric power supply and d) the school will provide the required facilities for a computer laboratory.

Principal Amil Hussin said this is a boon to his school. He said, “The IT revolution has bypassed us. While our counterparts in other parts of the country have had access to the Internet for several years now, most of us here, teachers and students alike, are not even computer literate.”

“Now, with the promised Internet connectivity, our students and teachers are finally given the opportunity for a broader teaching and learning experience.”, he added.

There are reservations, however.

Mr. Hussin worries that he might be reassigned to another school; appointments of principals are heavily influenced by politics in Sulu. The division superintendent, Dr. Priscilla Chang, is skeptical about the project’s long-term sustainability and is hesitant to allocate funds to convert very precious classroom space into a computer laboratory. “Papa’no pag di matuloy?”, she said, “Can we reimburse what we shall have spent on the room conversion?”

Another issue is the peace and order condition.. Despite the peace accord the MNLF signed with the government, many of its members refused to disarm and still maintain camps in the hinterlands of the municipality. Sporadic fighting between them and government troops could just as easily flare up into another full blown military offensive.

Both Mr. Hussin and Ms. Chang fear that if this happens again, their schools will once more be turned into evacuation centers with all its attendant problems of vandalism and pilferage.

Overall, though, they have expressed the hope that this time the government will make good on its word and that the peace in that part of the land holds, no matter how precariously.

They are, as the cliché goes, keeping their fingers crossed.

By Dante Villareal