
Last mile schools are so called because they are in locations that are so isolated that they often require travelling along rough rural roads or even boat trips to reach, and it can be challenging to deliver a quality education without access to the basics that many of us take for granted, such as connection to the electricity grid.
Chevron, the maker of the Texaco grease and lubricant range, has helped two schools in the Province of Bulacan, the Philippines, by donating supplies like solar lamps. Previously the children at the school needed to rely on moonlight to study after nightfall, but this simple gift has transformed the students’ experiences.
The head teacher of Basyo Elementary School, Airene San Gabriel, said about this:
“The solar lights help them study easily at home. The students can see their books, can write easily and can return to school the following day with a prepared assignment…The students at these elementary schools have a simple life. They are living in a community where there is no potable water, no electricity and no food.”
Chevron has been supporting the Last Mile Schools programme in the Philippines since 2022. This programme is important for meeting the learning needs of the mostly indigenous students going to school on isolated islands and other hard-to-reach places. Chevron says that the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic widened the learning gap in these places in many cases, and its contributions to addressing this include volunteering at local schools and working with them.