Surigao del Sur high school bags top prize in Doon Po Sa Amin Learning Challenge

MANILA, Philippines - For the second consecutive year, Surigao del Sur’s Barobo National High School made it to the finals of Smart Communications, Inc.’s (Smart) Doon Po Sa Amin (DPSA) Learning Challenge. But this time, the institution went all the way to emerge as overall champion for its entry, “Sumbada: Buhay Lambat.” The same entry also bagged the Best in Technology and Livelihood category award.

The competition, a part of the Smart Schools Program’s (SSP) web-based project Doon Po Sa Amin, is a search for the richest and most significant online local content generated by student-teacher groups from SSP partner schools.

Barobo’s winning entry “Sumbada: Buhay Lambat” is a descriptive study on the local fishermen’s practice of Sumbada, its legality and the impact on the fishing industry.

“Our entry is all about awakening the minds of the people in our locality,” says Jade de los Santos, a student-member of the team. Sumbada is an illegal fishing method that uses very fine nets and active gears to catch fish. “Throughout our region, it is only in our locality that sumbada is being practiced,” he adds.

The team hopes that through their study, the local government units and the community will work together to find sustainable solutions to address this problem.

The team won P50,000 in cash, a trophy and a computer unit with LED monitor. They also received a trophy and an additional P30,000 for topping the Technology and Livelihood Topic Category. The team’s webmaster Jade de los Santos also took home P5,000 for winning the DPSA Quiz Bee held during the two-day event.

The other topic category winners were: Nueva Ecjia High School for “Mathematics of the Tricycle City” (Best in Mathematics); Batanes National Science High School for “Lime and its Building Power” (Best in Science and Environment); Naga City Science High School for “Tigsik: Pagsalingoy sa Lenguaheng Bikolano” (Best in Language and Literature); Barobo National High School for “Davisol: Mga Likha at Pananampalataya” (Best in Arts and Culture); Science and Technology Education Center for “Binisaya: Myth of Scientific” (Best in Health and Wellness); and Naga City Science High School for “Mike V. Padua: Pag-asa Kan Naga” (Best in Social Science).

All the winning entries can be accessed through the DPSA’s main website www.doonposaamin.ph