Teacher Saning: Teaching for the Sitio Liguma Community

Teacher Saning using the school's shared laptop to fix her lessons for the day

Saning Agaw, 26, volunteers full-time at Liguma Mangyan Elementary School (LMES) in Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro. Not long after graduating with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education in 2023, she took and passed the Licensure Exam for Professional Teachers (LEPT). Even with this credential, she chose not to seek employment elsewhere and volunteered instead at LMES. For her, teaching in Liguma is tied to a shared cultural identity and her commitment to serve her fellow Mangyans — a way of giving back to the community that shaped and continues to shape her.

But staying in her community also means working without the digital tools that most public school classrooms now consider standard, such as the availability of computers and internet access. And as much as she wants to buy her own laptop for teaching, her income from selling bananas is not enough to cover the costs. She does not receive any monetary incentive for her volunteer teaching from the government. Her consolation is she gets to serve her community and her experience will matter when she applies for a teaching post with the Department of Education (DepEd) when there are openings.

The wooden bridge that both teachers and students cross to get to their school

Without a personal computer, Teacher Saning handwrites most of her paperwork, including lesson plans, monitoring reports, and exam materials. The school has only one laptop, shared by all five teachers, forcing them to take turns and often delaying submissions. In the classroom, teaching both daycare and kindergarten means that many lessons requiring visual materials are reduced to oral storytelling. She observed that without visual aids, her students often sit in silence, unable to connect her words to concrete ideas. Lessons feel flat, the children lose interest, and absences follow. Contrary to days when she can use practical visual aids to supplement her discussion, students respond quickly. With access to her own computer and internet, Saning would be able to integrate these visual materials consistently into her classes.

Students of Liguma Mangyan Elementary School lining up for a school activity

With Create Foundation’s Coin Grant, Teacher Saning will have computer and internet resouces that will in turn lead to a better learning experience for her students.

The Computer and Internet (COIN) Grant under Create ASPIRE provides a computer and a year of internet access to digitally literate individuals who cannot afford them. It levels the digital playing field for students, home-based workers, and community workers to participate in school, work, and civic life fully, moving communities closer to true digital inclusion.

Donate a laptop for Teacher Saning. Click here to start.