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.
