In the hintercommunities of Negros, where the trail to school is more mud than paved road, education is less about blackboards and more about burdens—those too heavy for children to carry alone.
Each morning, pupils from far-flung sitios rise before dawn, slip on worn-out slippers, and trek through the same muddy trail that has long tested their resolve. But inside the portals of Matama Elementary School in Barangay Camansi, Kabankalan City, principal Raul Mambalos said the real struggle begins long before they reach the mud—it starts at home.
“The greatest barriers to learning are invisible,” Mambalos told Brigada News FM on Tuesday, July 8. “A child who hasn’t eaten, whose parents are separated, or who walks hours just to get here—how can we expect them to focus?”
For Mambalos and his fellow educators, the classroom has become a frontline not just against illiteracy, but also against emotional fatigue and generational poverty. Their internal assessments revealed that many learners are physically present, but emotionally absent.
“Some children arrive like they’re carrying the world. You can see it in their faces,” he said. “Especially the boys—they act out, withdraw, or fall behind. And it almost always goes back home.”
Mambalos said that many learners fall behind in school because they grow up in broken families, live in poverty, or walk long, punishing distances from remote areas each day.
In these homes, hygiene deteriorates, meals come irregularly, and love—though it exists—often gets buried under the daily struggle to survive.
Intervention
The school administration recognizes these harsh realities. During meetings, Mambalos urges parents to take an active role in nurturing their children, not just by providing for them, but by being emotionally present and involved in their growth.
Research showed that family support strongly shapes a child’s academic performance. Parents play a vital role—not only in helping with schoolwork but in building their children’s emotional and mental resilience.
Families need to become more aware of each other’s emotional well-being. Promoting family counseling can help repair strained relationships and create healthier, more supportive homes.
But a deeper question remains—one that echoes with every muddy step to school: What about the parents?
Many never finished school. Some didn’t make it past elementary. Others juggle multiple jobs—or wait endlessly for one that never comes. Without access to healthcare, counseling, steady income, or even basic services, how can they support their children when they themselves need help?
They face a cruel paradox: society expects them to lift their children, yet no one lifts them.
Hope
Still, there are signs of hope.
Despite everything, Matama Elementary School boasts a 90–100% survival rate, meaning nearly all students make it to graduation.
“It’s not just about pushing them,” Mambalos said. “We ask each one, ‘What do you see for your future?’ Because sometimes, no one else has ever asked them that.”
Meanwhile, Kabankalan Schools Division Superintendent Ferdinand S. Sy urged pupils to believe in the power of their dreams, saying determination can turn the impossible into reality.
He recalled wearing shorts to school because he couldn’t afford a uniform and being sent home because of it. Instead of giving up, he let those moments drive him to work harder.
Sy built his career step by step—serving as head teacher, principal, assistant superintendent, and now, division superintendent. He has dedicated 35 years to public service, proving that perseverance can shape destiny.
The road to learning remains long and often muddy for school children in the hinterlands. But with every step taken, every lesson taught, and every voice that dares to speak the truth, hope moves forward—slowly, but steadily.*
Reymund Titong is a Filipino journalist steadily building his voice in the field of news reporting, driven by a commitment to tell meaningful and relevant stories.
He serves as a correspondent for Rappler, maintains a personal blog on Medium, and is the communications officer of Hope Builders Organization Negros Island.