REPORT ON THE EDUCATION AGENDA

REPORT ON THE EDUCATION AGENDA
LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD


There is no debate that quality education possesses the transformative power to elevate the state of mind and improve standard of living of every person and his society.

Increasing access to quality education is vital in sustaining the growth trajectory of the city as the hub and leader of the region. It is a task that requires the committed participation of all sectors in the community.

Reorganization of the Local School Board

It is in this premise that the Cagayan de Oro Local School Board was reorganized through Executive Order No. 191-13 by the current administration. The composition has expanded the board by including people from the community as majority members. This includes representatives from the parents associations, inter-faith groups, academe, faculty associations and the local business clubs. This allows the community greater participation in crafting the city’s education agenda.

                 

Education Summit 2013

In order to surface the common aspirations of the stakeholders, the City Government, the Department of Education, parents and students gathered in the first city-wide Education Summit. This was facilitated by the Synergeia Foundation, Inc, a nation wide non-profit organization that partners with LGUs in improving their public school systems. The Education Summit was then followed by various workshops on school governance, parenting and student leadership.

Public-Private Partnership

Ayala Foundation

Recognizing the convenience and efficiency that come with modern-day technology, the City joined forces with Ayala Foundation, Inc., among others, in bringing the Text2Teach Program to the schools of Cagayan de Oro. The Program is geared towards the use of advanced mobile communications technology in providing public elementary schools with educational videos and lesson guides on hard-to-teach concepts and least-learned competencies in such subjects as English, Mathematics, Science, and Values Education.

The AFI-spearheaded program shares the City’s desire to encourage cooperation among the public, private and civil society sectors at the local and global levels.

Seeing the competency level of education in Cagayan de Oro, Mayor Oscar Moreno embarks on a new project with Ayala Foundation, Inc. and other alliance, aiming to equip teachers in all 69 public elementary schools here with the international standard teaching set by UNESCO. Text2Teach gave away various instructional materials including a 32-inch LCD television, cellphone and SIM packs and other materials – a total of 215 complete packages have been given to date.

PLDT

PLDT, in collaboration with the UP Open University (UPOU), DepEd, TESDA, and the City will implement the 2014 Infoteach Outreach Program. The goal is to enable the participants to acquire the digital skills for the 21st-Century teaching, learning and working. The program has three components: The training of trainers, the roll-out of training programs and the HomeDSL Broadband Quiz Contest.

Jollibee Foundation

Knowing fully well that the children’s nutrition is among the very factors to take into consideration in the holistic approach to education, the City Government ventured into a partnership with Jollibee Foundation, Inc. and launched the “Busog, Lusog, Talino” Program.

The BLT Program is a continuous feeding program spearheaded by the City Government and Jollibee Foundation, with the assistance of various private organizations, sectors and civic groups, and will be implemented throughout the schools of Cagayan de Oro.

Abot Alam

To further reach greater lengths and cater to the Out-of-School Youth (OSY), The City Government committed itself in the implementation of the ABOT ALAM Program, with the Executive Order signed by no other than the Mayor and Dingdong Dantes, Ambassador of National Youth Commission, in the presence of the Local School Board, Youth Representatives and the local media.

The program aims to ensure that no Filipino youth will be left behind. It is another step in the effort to reintegrate OSYs into the education system and the database will be a tool to identify who they are, and the possible ways to help them. Abot Alam’s goal is to consolidate efforts among different sectors to equip our OSYs with the needed knowledge and skills that will enable them to go back to schoool, get employed or go into business.

School Construction

Since July of 2013, the acquisition of school sites, and the construction and rehabilitation of school building and classrooms have been aggressive and unrelenting. These classrooms are widepread in the different barangays of the city, and have been used since then. Now, we can cater to a wider population, thanks to the infrastructures made available for use.

The City has already turned-over most of the newly constructed school buildings, with the recent ceremonies held at Dansolihon National High School, Balulang National High School, Tumpagon National High School, and Man-ai National High School, to name a few. In allocating the construction of classrooms, the Mayor’s priority is to address the shortage of classrooms in the High School Annexes so that the latter may enjoy the freedom to use their own classrooms in their own campus

Challenges Ahead

Aside from investing in infrastructure, the people and city should also invest in third-party monitoring and accountability systems. It must be looked into and deployed such as Check My School initiative among others. This should be done in the barangay-level (School Governance Board) and the city-level (Local School Board). This allows government to assess itself and the people to participate directly in monitoring the public investments in education.

The school board shall develop an online communication portal where it can publish all its deliberations and biddings with regards to the purchase and constructions of lands and buildings.

In addition to the trainings being conducted, the members of the local school board shall be given regular trainings by an independent third party on procurement procedures, best practices on education and other skill sets to make their representation more deliberative and effective.

Education year end report from Ernesto Neri