Kristine Neñiza receives her diploma, goes to the center stage, and takes a bow. However that simple bow didn’t quite reflect whatever the story behind that piece of paper in her hand, for a diploma on a Sunday College is in fact not a walk in the park.
“Naglisod jud ko oi, dili lalim (I really had a hard time, it’s not easy),” Kristine said.
And not only Krisitine can attest to that, but there are at least 170 graduates of the Assumption College of Davao (ACD) - Sunday College Program. Each has a dream to fulfill, a determination to succeed and heart-warming stories to tell.
Brave Kristine
After a semester as working student, Kristine got sick and decided to go back to their town in Kapalong, Davao del Norte. Determined to finish her two-year computer programming course, she did not abandon her Sunday college with her parents supporting her financial needs.
Kapalong town is about three-hour ride from Davao City where jeepneys and buses are particularly scarce in early morning. To promptly attend to Sunday’s school time which commence at seven in the morning, Kristine has to face the ordeal of her travel.
She has to wake up 1:00 am (on Sunday) while every one else is sound asleep, prepares herself for school to catch the first trip of jeepney at around 2:30 am bound for Tagum City. In this trip, she rides a long with the baskets of farm produce and the bunch of empty fish buckets. Kristine is left with no choice but to take this trip since the next trip is scheduled at 5:00 am., which surely make her tardy in school.
By 4:00 a.m. she’s in already in Tagum and usually arrives at school by six in the morning. Come 9:00 in the evening, the class ends and by then hopes to catch a bus going back to Tagum. Since there is no jeepney plying the route to Kapalong on late night, she has to wait up until 4:30 am (by this time its Monday already) for the first trip back to her town.
Kristine has braved through this ordeal for almost two years.
“I did that for more than a year,” Kristine said.
“What made it more difficult was the fact that I have to bring everything that I need, books, P.E. uniform, rubber shoes, school requirement, some extra clothes,” showing her two packs of paper bags.
“Mura ko’g moilayas, (I seem to stow away)” she quipped.
The Sunday College Program
“Indeed the Sunday College Program has helped a lot of students to finish at least two-year college tech-voc education,” says ACD President Sr. Marieta Banayo of the Missionaries of the Assumption (ma).
Banayo said that when they opened for the Sunday school for college, her sisters in the congregation were not as optimistic as she was. But her confidence with her faculty along with Dr. Rinante Genuba the tech-voc program director, she took the risk.
“It was one of the risks I took as President of the school. We did not know what will happen, my sisters where a little skeptic. But I had faith,” Banayo added.
“We had the idea of opening the Sunday college when some employers of our Sunday high school graduates, approached us and asked whether there won’t be a Sunday college for their “kasambahay” to enroll and continue their education,” she said.
“As president I know it will entail big financial responsibility but it also made me think bitaw no, after they graduate in high school, unsa naman sunod? (what’s next for them?). So I decided to heed the call,” giving a nod as she said.
She disclosed that they had been outlining their plans since 2004 but it was only in 2006 when ACD opened the Sunday College Program for two-year courses of Hotel and Restaurant Management, Computer technology, programming and secretarial.
The Sunday college program had around 200 students for their first batch, “not bad for a start,” Banayo said.
“But the following school year was a big shock for us. A wave of enrollees we did not expect came to the school, even if we did not really campaign for the program,” Banayo blurt out.
“At certain point, we even closed enrolment since our classrooms and laboratories cannot accommodate yet the number of students,” she said.
Option for the poor
“Through this Sunday college program, we continue our preferential option for the poor,” Banayo said stressing that the congregation (Missionaries of the Assumption) stamp their mark to favor the deprived sectors in the community.
She said that the program is intended to help poor but persevering students get a college diploma with the best quality education and training they can use for gainful employment.
“Around 80 per cent of our students are full time working individuals like “kasambahay” (house help), food crew, and others and Sunday is there only time to go to school,” she said .
A number of them are graduates from the school’s Sunday high school program who wanted and are determined to continue their studies.
Transformative education
“We continue to provide the same quality and brand of transformative education for our youth which is to create socially aware individuals in a just and humane society,” she stressed.
With the aim to provide topnotch training, ACD availed of a loan through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) provided by Asian Development Bank (ADM) and Department of Budget and Management (DBM). They used the fund to establish air-conditioned classrooms and state-of-the-art laboratories.
“Part of providing life transforming education is to provide, affordable and superior skills training through modern facilities and competent instructors,” she said.
“Our instructors, who are both TESDA and CHED certified, share our vision of providing transformative education that the Assumption (College of Davao) is known for,” said Banayo.
On the issue of affordability, Banayo said that even if today’s prices of energy, water and other services are hitting high, the school maintains very affordable fees “and we will not have tuition fee increase next school year.”
Hopes and Dreams
For Kristine “life commences a new beginning and the world has opened up for more opportunities.” And she hopes to tread life much better now with the skills she learned from the school.
Meanwhile, Sister Banayo eyes ACD’s expansion as it will open a day and night program for regular college students and the more slots for Sunday Program to help realize more dreams and continue to provide gainful life skills on Sundays.
