We lived only a few minutes away from each other, but it was rare that we could find time to talk given her perpetually busy schedule. Somehow, the topic drifted to the trend of public school students in poor provinces getting higher test scores than students in the cities.

It seems this trend holds true to this day. A recent example would be Jenevieve Palma, a schoolgirl from Lawaan Central School in Eastern Samar, who topped the 2007 National Achievement Test with a Mean Percentage Score (MPS) of 96.5. Students from region 8, incidentally, have been consistently topping the NATs annually. Students from the Caraga region also performed well in the 2007 test.

It bears mention that Eastern Visayas was ranked the fifth poorest region in the country in a recent study by the National Statistics Coordination Board (NCSB). It was only last year that Eastern Samar, Jenevieve’s home province, was able to break free of the "Club 20" -the list of 20 poorest provinces in the Philippines.

During that conversation we had a year ago, my aunt told me, "Of course students from the provinces will get higher scores! Internet games aren’t popular in the provinces. Sometimes there isn’t even any electricity. And many of the children have to work to help their parents. Between work and school, they don’t have time to do much except study. So they study. That’s all the pastime they can afford."

I confess I haven’t been to many metropolitan areas in the country. But I can say this for certain about Manila: it is a city that lacks wonder. It is an adolescent place with a huge identity crisis and a massive craving for attention. While its children cry out "Notice me! Notice my troubles!" online and everywhere else, children in the netless provinces are gritting their baby teeth and putting their tiny shoulders to the wheel.

It’s staggering, how many dreams die outside of the metropolitan areas. I can’t even say this is a thing that happens only in the Philippines: the lack of opportunities for poor children to develop their individual potentials is beyond disheartening.

One recurrent critique of the University of the Philippines is that it has widened the gap between poor and rich students.

Let’s say in its defense that it never meant to. Kids who can afford quality education can also pass the entrance exam and pull together what is needed to live comfortably in the middle of the metropolitan area. Sure there are other high-caliber universities out there, but UP is still government responsibility, and how it is working for young Filipino minds reflects how the government regards young Filipino minds.

However, this improvement in the performance of students in public schools in the provinces promises many things. One of them is that access to higher institutionalized education may only become less exclusive as time goes on.

Another is that the educational standards in the non-metropolitan parts of the country are rising... thus, children from the distant regions stand a better chance of competing in various academic and professional arenas.

There is talent outside the cities, and we should harness it before it dies off. One way to do this is to build more and better libraries in those regions. A great many students in provincial schools, especially public schools, suffer from a lack of access to quality textbooks, non-academic reading material, and up-to-date audio-visual resources. Yet they are eager to learn – in fact, they are driven to learn, by poverty and the desire for a better life.

Books may be what young scholars need the most, but keepers of good libraries will also make an effort to provide other resources for hungry hearts and minds. A corner where one could listen to good music, or watch or rent educational videos, would make for a more wholesome learning experience for young people who may be deprived of these privileges at home. Microfilm archives would also allow young people access to more dated – but no less useful – resources.

Of course, we should attend to the books first; it would be the most cost-efficient and workable route. Once a system for acquiring up-to-date and well-rounded titles is in place, an administrator could think about adding other fun and engrossing functions within the establishment.

So if we want to make a difference... perhaps we should think about not targeting the privileged children in the cities. They are already drowning in means to inform and entertain themselves. The world already knows who they are. The sad thing is, it doesn’t trickle down. With very little access to the world outside their provinces, students in poorer regions are unable to enjoy the benefits of being "wired" or in tune with the modern age.

Somewhere out in the rice fields, or in the shadows of the mountains, the constantly beleaguered shorelines, are kids who need to read more and better, and feel like there’s more for them out in the world. There are very talented kids who need the extra pat on the back, the assurance that they can pursue their dreams without abandoning their roots, or being ungrateful and selfish. There are kids who need to read Italo Calvino, listen to Vienna Teng, know the Renaissance artists, and share their stories and songs and art. They deserve it the most if only because they have no idea what they’re missing.