Located 43 kilometers from Baguio City, Piminggan Elementary School now runs on solar power installed through Aboitiz Foundation’s AuroraPH
For 96 learners at Piminggan Elementary School in Tuba, Benguet, going to class now means more than opening textbooks and copying lessons from the blackboard. Through AuroraPH, Aboitiz Foundation’s flagship initiative for last-mile schools, students can now explore lessons through educational videos, digital presentations, and interactive games, opening new ways to learn in their remote mountain community. For these young learners, access to digital tools is making classroom discussions more engaging, interactive, and enjoyable.
It was a different story just a year ago.
Located 43 kilometers from Baguio City, Piminggan Elementary School had long struggled with limited access to electricity. Its small 200-watt solar panel could barely support classroom activities, especially during cloudy days.
Teachers relied heavily on printed materials, blackboards, and paper cutouts. Even when digital learning materials were available, students could only use them until their teachers’ laptop batteries ran out.
“Even after we’ve downloaded the learning materials to present to students, there’s only a limited time when we can use them in class. When the battery of the laptop dies, we had to go back to writing on the blackboard or using paper cutouts,” Aileen Adones, the school head, recalled.
For Aileen and her fellow teachers, preparing these lessons also meant traveling more than two hours to Baguio City on weekends to download and print learning materials, charge devices, and submit reports to the Department of Education (DepEd).
These challenges limited not only how teachers delivered lessons, but also how students experienced learning.
The change began last year when Aboitiz Foundation, through AuroraPH, equipped Piminggan Elementary School with an 8 kilowatt-peak (kWp) solar power system, giving teachers a more reliable source of electricity to support digital learning.
Implemented in partnership with Aboitiz Renewables, Inc., the initiative energized Piminggan alongside five other schools in remote Benguet communities.
With a more reliable source of electricity, students can now experience lessons beyond traditional classroom materials.
Educational videos help explain unfamiliar concepts. Digital presentations make decisions more visual and engaging. Interactive games encourage students to participate and learn while having fun.
“The students now are more engaged, especially when they see lessons come to life when we flash educational materials on screen. They’re also enthusiastic to learn whenever we play educational computer games,” Aileen said.
The benefits extend beyond the classroom. Students who once had to rehearse school activities in the dark can now use their covered court into the evening, giving them more opportunities to prepare for school events.
For teachers, reliable electricity means spending less time traveling to access basic resources and more time preparing meaningful learning experiences for their students.
The transformation at Piminggan reflects the growing impact of Aboitiz Foundation’s AuroraPH initiative in making quality learning opportunities more accessible to Filipino children, regardless of where they live.
To date, the initiative has energized 100 last-mile schools nationwide, benefiting more than 9,000 learners.
Behind these numbers are children gaining access to learning experiences that were once difficult to provide in their communities, and teachers gaining the tools to make every lesson more effective.
For Aboitiz Foundation President Ginggay Hontiveros-Malvar, the goal is to ensure that a child’s location does not limit their opportunities to learn and succeed.
“Every child deserves the opportunity to learn and succeed, regardless of where they live. Through AuroraPH, we are not simply bringing electricity to schools. We are giving teachers the tools to teach more effectively and opening doors for learners in last-mile schools,” Hontiveros-Malvar said.
Working with Aboitiz Group business units, government agencies, and partner organizations, Aboitiz Foundation aims to expand AuroraPH to 300 schools nationwide.
For learners at Piminggan, the impact is already being felt in everyday classroom moments: a video that makes a difficult lesson easier to understand, a digital game that sparks curiosity, or a presentation that encourages more students to participate.
And as Aboitiz Foundation reaches more last-mile schools, more Filipino children can discover new ways to learn, regardless of how far their classrooms are from the nearest city.