Three-Wheeled Classroom Comes to Philippine Tribe
2020-10-19
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1The Aeta people live in distant mountainous parts of the island of Luzon in the Philippines.
2The coronavirus pandemic forced their schools to close earlier this year.
3A group of teachers living nearby worried about the effect on children.
4So, they started to deliver school materials in a new way.
5Other students in the Philippines have been able to take online classes.
6But Aeta people living in the mountains north of Manila have no internet connection - or even television - for distance learning.
7Christopher Semsem is one of the teachers behind the project from the Villa Maria Integrated School.
8He and the other teachers thought of a different way to bring learning to the villages in the rural area of Pampanga.
9They used old bookshelves and wooden boards to make a moving learning center.
10It has a large computer screen and rests on top of a motorcycle rickshaw.
11Teachers first record videos on their mobile phones.
12Then they play the videos on the screen to help the children with lessons.
13This helps both teachers and students avoid the need for face-to-face contact.
14So far, Aeta students have reacted well to the classes.
15Their parents were happy that classes had begun again, the teachers say.
16There is debate among scientists about the history of the Aeta.
17Their traditional way of life is to move from place to place.
18But deforestation - or the cutting down of trees -- has led many of them to settle in one place.
19School Principal Marizen Tolentino said the rickshaw project was important to help the children understand their lessons.
20Many of them cannot read, so they need help with learning materials on paper.
21Since the project first started in early October, the rickshaw has visited five villages.
22The moving classroom reaches around 500 students two to three times a week.
23Teachers volunteer their time for the project.
24But the local government provided the rickshaw and driver.
25I'm Jill Robbins.
1The Aeta people live in distant mountainous parts of the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The coronavirus pandemic forced their schools to close earlier this year. A group of teachers living nearby worried about the effect on children. So, they started to deliver school materials in a new way. 2No internet or television 3Other students in the Philippines have been able to take online classes. But Aeta people living in the mountains north of Manila have no internet connection - or even television - for distance learning. 4Christopher Semsem is one of the teachers behind the project from the Villa Maria Integrated School. He and the other teachers thought of a different way to bring learning to the villages in the rural area of Pampanga. 5They used old bookshelves and wooden boards to make a moving learning center. It has a large computer screen and rests on top of a motorcycle rickshaw. 6Teachers first record videos on their mobile phones. Then they play the videos on the screen to help the children with lessons. This helps both teachers and students avoid the need for face-to-face contact. 7So far, Aeta students have reacted well to the classes. Their parents were happy that classes had begun again, the teachers say. 8History of the Aeta 9There is debate among scientists about the history of the Aeta. Their traditional way of life is to move from place to place. But deforestation - or the cutting down of trees -- has led many of them to settle in one place. 10School Principal Marizen Tolentino said the rickshaw project was important to help the children understand their lessons. Many of them cannot read, so they need help with learning materials on paper. 11All-volunteer effort 12Since the project first started in early October, the rickshaw has visited five villages. The moving classroom reaches around 500 students two to three times a week. 13Teachers volunteer their time for the project. But the local government provided the rickshaw and driver. 14I'm Jill Robbins. 15Adrian Portugual and Eloisa Lopez reported on this story for Reuters. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. 16________________________________________________________________________ 17Words in This Story 18pandemic - n. an occurrence in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people over a wide area or throughout the world 19screen - n. the usually flat part of a television or computer monitor that shows the images or text 20motorcycle - n. a vehicle with two wheels that is powered by a motor and that can carry one or two people 21rickshaw - n. a small, light vehicle with two wheels that is pulled by one person on foot or on a bicycle and that is used in some Asian countries 22How do people in distant areas of your country learn? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section