Foundation University has announced that it has saved over half of its electric bills by going on solar power in the last three years.
FU President Victor Vicente “Dean” Sinco made the announcement during a press conference Friday, as the University gears up for its 68th founders’ day celebration on July 4.
According to Sinco, the University’s monthly bill of about P1 million has dropped to P300,000 after solar panels were installed around the campus.
The University plans to install additional solar panels to further bring down their monthly power bill to as low as P50,000, Sinco added.
Foundation University describes itself as “the reigning most-eco-friendly and sustainable school nationwide”.
It has invested in the installation of solar panels the last three years, and runs on 300k power off grid.
The University “aims to reduce its carbon footprint, and be able to contribute its role in helping preserve the environment”.
Sinco said solar energy is a reliable and renewable source of power that helps address environmental issues, while admitting there are other alternative clean energy sources like wind power.
“The only thing right now that seems to be feasible for us is solar, and what I intend to do is increase the number of panels” to bring down the monthly electricity bill, he said.
Meanwhile, the FU President stressed that the effectiveness of its iPad program can be measured on the improvement of the quality of education provided to the students, as the iPad is only a gadget or a revolutionary tool to learning.
According to him, it was normal for some parents to be wary about the benefits of the iPad program when it was first introduced in the classes eight years ago. He said some of the parents even had the wrong notion that the iPad program would produce “Einsteins” out of their children.
What the University basically aimed to achieve was to produce graduates who would be effective people in the community. “We’re seriously lacking in the field of producing quality graduates here,” he lamented
The iPad program at FU was always meant to supplement the children’s education, and never to replace the textbooks, he admitted.
“Textbooks (are) something you [need to] read. The iPad is not a reader. But with an iPad, the students learn to be able to apply the knowledge that they gain, and that’s what we’ve done,” the FU president said.
With an iPad, the student can shoot videos, create graphic art, compose music; while allowing him to perform Internet functions such as browse educational webpages for reference, learn from math-science gurus, develop games and other applications.
The iPad program was integrated into the basic education arm of the University, now known as the Foundation Preparatory Academy.
Sinco said the University believes that “using the iPad in the process of educating the youth in this digital generation has become an effective tool in discovering the academic prowess and creativity of the students”.
The iPad program is now in its full implementation stage for Grades 4 to 12. The faculty are also expected to produce their own content, and not merely depend on the traditional publishing companies. (Judy Flores Partlow)
