The mobile teacher

Mobile teacher Jose B. Fadrilan, Jr. giving a lecture at BJMP Batac. Mr. Fadrilan is working under the Alternative Learning System of the Department of Education. 

In his college days, the family of Jose B. Fadrilan, Jr. of Batac City was poverty stricken. Thus, the blades of impossibility proudly dangled over his dream to become a teacher. It was a time of pain, humiliation and desperation.

But Jose kept on fighting for his ambition—an ambition which was too beautiful to abandon.

He worked hard for it. He became a working student; appealed for help from friends and institutions; availed and maintained scholarship programs. In short, his college life was filled with the hardest lessons on survival.

Yet he survived. Armed with the gifts of hard work, humility and honesty, he was able to win the battle. He was the star of their graduation program because almost all of the people present were aware of the sacrifices he has given just to be in that occasion.

Truly, a classic story of hard earned success—capped by his victory in Licensure Examination for Teachers.

Standing on the field of success, he could have followed a path where financial fulfilment flows. But reflecting on the life that cradled him, he chose to answer the call to serve the less fortunate – he became a mobile teacher.

Mobile teachers are under the Alternative Learning System (ALS) of the Department of Education.

His experience in teaching is still short if compared to the seasoned teachers who have long been familiar in the field of education. The things he saw and experienced in formal education is deliberately weird in his sworn duty as mobile teacher today.

Strange because they are conducting their classes under the trees, in jails, in their homes, huts, barangay halls and many others. But for Jose, the feeling is good because he loves to tune himself to the event and immerse in their situation. The pitiful environments melt his heart and motivate him to serve more.

According to Jose, many people limit their studies for reasons that they have a destitute life—a reality peppered with varied stories. These situations were even worsened by wrong influences and early marriages.

Despite the saddening scenarios and perils, he felt the bliss of being a mobile teacher. He finds pleasure in the opportunity to help transform the poor into catalysts of great change.

His calling also enhances his gift of rational thinking courtesy of the new experiences he encounters. And when he looks around, he captures the chance to prove that education is not a mere privilege but a right – a right that must not only be realized but further inspired.

As a mobile teacher, Jose uses the three M’s of his calling—Makiramdam, Makisama, Makibagay. With different habits, life situations and mental outlooks in the world of Alternative Learning System, the three M’s are necessary in combating any hindrance in the delivery of education.

Jose is now in his second year in the ALS, yet his spirit is still raring for more years as a teacher under the trees, in jails, in the barangay halls, in the huts and in the woods. Such is the spirit of a true teacher. A hall of sacrifice. A true hero amidst the flood of opportunism in the modern world.

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BARD NOTES: Happy bard-reading to Governor Imee Marcos, Laoag City Mayor Chevylle Fariñas, Laoag City Vice Mayor Michael Fariñas, Provincial Treasurer Josephine Calajate, Dr. Castor Bumanglag, Dr. Miramar Bumanglag and PNB Laoag Manager Metty Guerrero.

Happy reading also to the members of the Bad Circle Runners and to the employees of AMA Laoag, PNB Laoag, DEPED Laoag and Vertext.