Laguna receives “Pabasa sa Nutrisyon” hall of fame award
It may be recalled that the province of Laguna under Gov. Lazaro’s leadership bagged the Pabasa sa Nutrisyon Award from 2003-2004. From 2006-2008 on the other hand, Laguna was chosen as an Outstanding Awardee and was recognized for satisfactorily implementing Pabasa sa Nutrisyon for the last 3 years.
Launched last 2003, the PAN Award recognizes the implementation of local projects and programs towards the nutritional improvement of children, families and communities. To be awarded with the Exemplary Nutrition Projects and Programs Award, the projects or programs must contribute to the achievement of the goals and objectives of the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition.
The Pabasa sa Nutrisyon (PSN) Award is an annual search of the PAN for government and non-government organizations who have successfully implemented the Pabasa sa Nutrisyon project developed by the Nutrition Center of the Philippines . Open to all provinces, cities and municipalities nationwide, the award recognizes the outstanding achievement of the local government units and non-government organizations (NGO) that have adapted the project in the communities of their beneficiaries.
More importantly, PSN is a nutrition education approach involving the sustained active participation of women and men in the barangay in the learning process, the leadership and support of local government executives, program managers and local nutrition workers. (PIO/PIA)
DOST honors 353 scholar graduates
by Lyndon Plantilla
Manila (30 July) — The Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute recently honored 353 scholar graduates who graduated in their programs in college and post-graduate degrees for school year 2008-2009.
At the “In Touch with Excellence” awarding ceremonies held at the Dusit Thani Manila Hotel, Makati City, the scholar-graduates were awarded medals for their outstanding performance on the course of their study.
Under the DOST-SEI Merit Scholarship, the precursor of all S&T scholarships of DOST, 16 scholars graduated magna cum laude, 29 cum laude and three honorable mention. In the Republic Act 7687 Scholarship Program, five scholars finished summa cum laude, 20 magna cum laude, 111 cum laude, and three with honors. RA 7687 or the Science and Technology Scholarship Act of 1994 aims to strengthen the science and technology human resource program of the government by granting financial assistance to poor but talented students to intend to pursue priority courses in science and technology.
Three scholars also graduated before the prescribed period of study and as an incentive, the stipends for the remaining semesters will be released to the scholar and the duration of his/her service obligation would be equivalent to the number of years he/she completed the course.
Under the Junior Level Science Scholarship Program, nine graduated magna cum laude, 47 cum laude and one academic distinction. This scholarship program is offered to qualified regular third year college students who are enrolled in the priority courses in the basic sciences, engineering, and other applied sciences in any of the DOST-SEI network of higher education institutions.
In the Project 2004-01 Ed USC Cooperative program, three graduated with honors. This scholarship program is offered to qualified Physics students enrolled at the University of San Carlos in Cebu.
One graduated cum laude under the Junior Level Scholarships for Physics Teaching given for those enrolled in the Regional Science Teaching Centers. Scholars under this program are incoming third year BSE Physics students enrolled in DOST-SEI recommended schools.
Three scholars of the Grant for Educational Assistance for Technology and Science Teaching Courses in Mindanao (GREAT-M) graduated with honors. The GREAT-M project is open to poor, talented and deserving youths from the Muslim and indigenous communities who are 20 years old or below and whose socio-economic status meet the criteria for the grant.
Under the President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology through the DOST Accelerated S&T Human Resource Development (ASTHRD) Program, one scholar graduated magna cum laude. The ASHTRD Program is a unified and innovative human resource program aimed at accelerating the production of high level human resources by awarding MS and PhD scholarship grants to eligible individuals who will fill in the gaps of identified areas of science and technology. DOST also honored, in the ceremony, scholars in the MS and PhD programs who have completed their course.
Speaking at the awarding ceremony, DOST Secretary Estrella Alabastro prodded the students to continue the path of excellence that they have started.
“I hope that our students maintain this excellence in everything they do in whatever path they choose to take or make. A culture of science and technology should be matched with a culture of excellence and innovation,” she said.
For her part, SEI Director Dr. Ester B. Ogena said she is confident that DOST scholars would be able to give back to the Filipino people more than what they have invested on them.
“The future of the Philippines is now upon your hands and we are confident that you would be able to give back to the millions of Filipinos that helped you through your college life. They depend on you,” she said. (PIA)
Filing of DOST scholarship application is on!
The scholarship is open to graduating high school students with high aptitude in science and technology and who wish to pursue priority fields of study in basic sciences, engineering and other applied sciences and science teaching.
There are two (2) scholarship programs being offered : one is RA 7687, otherwise known as the S&T Scholarship Act of 1994, which is awarded to talented and deserving students coming from poor families. The other scholarship program, called DOST-SEI Merit Scholarship is granted to students with high aptitude in science, mathematics and technology regardless of the family’s socio-economic status.
To qualify for the scholarship programs, a student must possess the following qualifications:
1. Belongs to the upper 5% of the high school graduating class;
1. Be a natural-born Filipino citizen;
1. Be a resident of the municipality for the last 4 years;
1. Be in good health;
1. Be of good moral character; and be a qualifier of the 2010 S&T Scholarship Examination.
Qualified application will be awarded tuition fees (not to exceed P6,000.00/sem), book and uniform allowances, monthly stipend, and insurance.
Application forms and information materials are available at the DOST Regional Office No.XI, Dumanlas cor Friendship Roads, Bajada, Davao City. The examination is on November 16, 2009.
For interested applicants, please contact Eric Colmenares at tel. no. (082) 2215428 for more details. (DOST XI/PIA XI)
5 of 10 Bicol freshmen finish secondary schools, study finds
Data from DepEd regional office here show that Bicol region registered a secondary school completion rate of 52.01 per cent in School Year 2006-2007. The figure is 13.3 percentage points lower than the rate recorded four schools years before.
Completion rate refers to the percentage of first year entrants in the secondary level who complete/finish the level in accordance with the required number of years of study.
It should be noted however, that the rates indicated here refer to public schools only.
Performance indicators show a general deterioration of the region’s secondary school system between School Years 2002-2003 and 2006-2007.
The period saw a 10.6 percentage point decline in participation rate in the secondary level, an indication that more children who should be in high school were not. Participation rate is the ratio of school enrolment to the school age population.
The participation rate of 55.3 per cent during School Year 2006-2007 also means that only a little over half of school-going age children who are supposed to be in high school were enrolled in School Year 2006-2007.
Notably, enrolment in private secondary schools between the School Years dropped by 2.7 per cent and public secondary schools enrolment increased by 4 per cent. Overall however, enrolment in secondary schools increased by only 3 per cent.
Within the same period, retention rate in the secondary level dropped by 7.6 percentage points. This means that the percentage of enrollees in the secondary level who continued to be in school the following year declined.
Transition rate in the secondary level reached 88 per cent during School Year 2006-2007, an improvement of 5.8 percentage points from School Year 2002-2003. Transition rate is the percentage of students who graduated from one level of education and moved on to the next higher level, e.g. from high school to college.
While this means that there was a higher percentage of high school graduates who made it to college/technical courses in School Year 2006-2007 than in School Year 2002-2003, there was also lower perce3ntage of students who reached the final year of the secondary level in School Year 2006-2007 as indicated by the 7.1 percentage points decline in the survival rate.
Repetition rate, or the ratio of the number of students who enrolled in the same year level in the current school year to the total enrollment in the previous school year, significantly increased from 2.7 per cent in SY 2002-2003 to 3.5 per cent in SY 2006-2007.
Similarly, dropout rate, or the ratio of the number of students who left the school for any reason during the school year to total enrolment, rose from 5.8 per cent in SY 2002-2003 to 6.1 per cent in SY 2006-2007.
Aside from the above indicators, results of the Achievement Tests for secondary schools indicate, and more alarmingly, the deterioration of quality in the secondary schools system. The NAT results cover both public and private schools.
On the average not once in the three years of cut-off (75 per cent) for the NAT. Moreover, the underperformance is apparent in all the five subject areas of the achievement tests.
Additionally, results in four of the five subject areas of the National Achievement Test (NAT) generally worsened between SY 2004-2005 and 2006-2007. These subject areas were English (by 1.4 percentage points), Mathematics (by 1.7 percentage points), Science and Health (by 5.7 percentage points) and Hekasi or Heograpiya, Kasaysayan at Sibika (by 2.4 percentage points). Only the Filipino subject area showed a measly 1.2 percentage point improvement during the SY 2004-2005 to SY 2006-2007.
On the average, the results of the NAT in the Bicol region weakened by 2 percentage points within the period.
Human resources is the most important resource of the country’s economy. The quality of human resources that enter the labor force bears heavily on the economy’s productive capacity.
Education and other human capital are important in promoting economic growth and a strong position in international markets. Deterioration in an education system can result to an inferior labor force affecting employability and productivity.
Education can be viewed as an investment that equips individuals with the necessary skills for their optimum contribution to the country’s economic and social well-being. Government and households therefore should invest in education with the expectation that higher benefits would accrue over time. (NSCB/PIA)
Sorsogon has 3,056 Pangulong Gloria scholars for CY 2009
by BA Recebido
Sorsogon City (29 July) — Some 3,056 students across Sorsogon province have been enlisted to various colleges, universities, and technical-vocational schools for SY 2009-2010 by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) under the Pangulong Gloria Scholarship Program (PGSP).
Rodolfo Benemerito, TESDA Sorsogon provincial director, stated the scholarship program is on the right track having assisted more than 3,000 local scholars with a total funding of P25,088,420.
Benemerito said the amount covers 100 percent tuition fees of the scholars, including training allowances at P60.00/day while on training, and the assessment fee of P500 per graduate.
He added the PGSP covers the following beneficiaries by Strategic Packages (SP) as follows:
- SP IIa with 734 scholars and a total financial requirement of P6,630,160. This refers to qualifications implemented from January to April 2009. Still on-going is the Health Care Services NC II at the Lewis College, Sorsogon City, with 23 scholars.
- SP IIb with 1,918 scholars and budgetary requirement of P16,848,440. This refers to qualifications which started February and for implementation until December 2009, with still on-going training courses in private tekbok schools and in TESDA schools.
- SP IIb (Special Commitment Package) with 110 scholars, of which 10 are scholars of Shielded Metal Arc Welding NC II c/o TESDA Central Office thru OCSA amounting to P125,400. This also includes four (4) on-going programs involving 100 scholars in selected hotel and restaurant or tourism-related courses amounting to P697,000 for Sorsogon City as incentive for hosting the “2009 Hairecord” (Haircutting Competition) in April, 2009.
- SP III which includes qualifications implemented autonomously by two TESDA schools, the Bulan Vocational Technological School with 394 scholars and Sorsogon National Agricultural School with 341 scholars.
- SP V with 206 scholars of “Sa TEKBOK, May Trabaho Ka” (STMTK) Program amounting to P347,580. It covers 40 hairdressing NC II and Beauty Care NC II scholars from the 2008 STMTK balance and 40 Galing Masahista, 40 Galing Mekaniko and 46 Motorcycle/Small Engine repair scholars for SMTK 2009 with a budgetary requirement of P267,580.
- SP V (NTTAQP) with 88 scholars including the National TVET Trainers and Assessors Qualification Program with financial requirement of P440,000 and the 40-hr Trainers Methodology (TM1) and 40-hr Assessors Methodology (AM1) courses designed to qualify TVET Trainers and Assessors as TQ1AQ1 Level.
“Corollary with the Economic Resiliency Program (ERP) of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, TESDA remains steadfast to its mandate of ensuring a sustainable supply of skilled workers and technicians to all local industries within internationally and globally accepted standards,” the provincial director stressed. (PIA Sorsogon)
Educational reforms improve National Aptitude Test results
Manila (28 July) — Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said various reforms introduced in the country’s educational system by the Arroyo administration paved the way for the improvement in the results of the National Aptitude Test (NAT) from 43 percent in 2003 to 65 percent.
Secretary Lapus said that education got the biggest allotment in the National Appropriations Act every year during the term of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Believing that education is the great equalizer that gives every Filipino the chance to achieve his dream, President Arroyo has placed education among her administration’s top priorities and pursued aggressively various reforms while providing them increasingly large funding.
Among these reforms, according to Secretary Lapus, are curriculum restructuring that was implemented from pre-school to higher education through the harmonization of pre-school and daycare curriculum; adoption of the Basic Education Curriculum which focused the learning areas into five: Filipino, English, Science, Math, and Makabayan; and, establishment of the Ladderized Education Program (LEP), which provided equivalency pathways from technical-vocational education to higher education.
Secretary Lapus further said that the Arroyo Administration likewise invested heavily in critical learning resources since 2001, such as the construction of more than 95,000 classrooms as of June 2009, procurement of over 135.6 million textbooks, installation of computer laboratories in 4,019 public high schools, improvement of welfare arrangements for teachers that included salary increases, reduction to only six teaching hours a day, training of school managers, and provision of scholarships and educational assistance to over 5.8 million grantees at the high school, technical-vocational and higher education levels.
Noting that teachers are the backbone of education, he stressed that the Arroyo administration allotted some P1.5 billion for teacher training and 60,000 teacher items were filled up from 2001 to 2008 to address the problem of lack of teachers.
All these helped draw significant results, among them, the doubling of enrolment in pre-school to more than 1.1 million students in school year 2008-09; the one million increase in enrollees in public elementary and secondary schools, from SY 2001-2002 to SY 2008-2009; the growing number of students who stayed in school, as cohort survival started to pick up from SY 2005-06; and, the improvements in achievement levels, as evidenced by the results of the National Achievement Tests in elementary and high school levels starting in SY 2005-06.
The President has created the Philippine Main Education Highway which is tasked to ensure that every Filipino child will have the opportunity to get high quality education through reforms in the continuum or a “seamless education”; tighter linkage of tertiary education with industry; and provision of lifelong-learning mechanisms and interventions. (PIA)
Grade 5 pupil represents RP in international Math olympiad
By Freddie G. Lazaro
Laoag City (28 July) — A Grade 5 pupil from Ilocos Norte was chosen as one of the pupils who will represent the country in an international Math Olympiad to be held in China this August, it was reported.
Adrein Nalupta, a pupil of Immaculate Concepcion Academy in Batac, Ilocos Norte, was the only student from Region 1 that attended a month-long training in preparation for the math Olympiad.
Nalupta will join the other 23 students from the different parts of the country to represent the nation in the said competition.The child math wizard is a son of Batac town Vice Mayor Ronald Allan Nalupta and is a nephew of National Youth Commission Chairman Richard Alvin Nalupta. (PIA Ilocos Sur)
DepEd, NCCT and MTRCB to launch child-friendly TV campaign
Pasig City (28 July) — Excessive exposure to television is a leading cause of physical weakness, stress, poor appetite, aggression or violent behavior among children. These are some of the findings of a 2008 study conducted by the National Council for Children’s Television (NCCT) supported by the United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF).
“Excessive violence, sex, and foul language on television are threats to our children’s well-being,” said Department of Education Secretary Jesli Lapus.
To address the growing problem of “TV Overdose”, the DepEd, NCCT, Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), and Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART) will launch “Bantay TV Campaign” during the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement on July 29 at 9:30 a.m. at the Bulwagan ng Karunungan, DepEd Central Office in Pasig City.
According to Lapus, the MOA between the education department, NCCT, MTRCB and SMART will mark the start of closer monitoring of television programs especially those that are shown between 6:00 to 10:00 a.m., the time period when majority of Filipino children watch TV shows.
He added that the MOA is part of the ongoing “Bantay TV” campaign which aims to “reduce 20 percent incidence of vulgarity, discrimination, sex, and violence on television.”
Lapus said that DepEd through the NCCT will intensify its campaign to use television as an alternative tool for educating children. Protecting the rights of our children includes shielding them from negative effects of excessive TV watching,” Lapus said.
DepEd Assistant Secretary and NCCT officer-in-charge Jonathan Malaya said that the Bantay TV campaign will involve monitoring of complaints from parents and other citizens who have concerns about TV shows watched by children.
“With Bantay TV, we hope to promote more child-friendly television programming in the Philippines. Our goal is to use television as a tool for shaping positive culture, values, and behavior among Filipino children,” Malaya said.
Malaya said that people can send reports or file complaints to NCCT via text messaging, calling telephone hotlines, or through the internet. He said that NCCT will closely coordinate with the MTRCB in addressing complaints against TV shows that are harmful to children.
According to Malaya, parents and concerned citizens can report “non-child friendly TV shows” via text by typing:
BANTAYTV (space) NAME/AGE/ADDRESS/MESSAGE to 700-6228(NCCT) or
BANTAYTV (space)TV PROGRAM (space) DATE OF AIRING then send to 700-6228.
He said that complaints may also be filed by calling the NCCT hotline numbers 637-2306 from Mondays to Fridays, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., or by sending an e-mail to bantaytv@ncctph.org. (DepEd)
Deadline for applications for DOST scholarship exams is Sept. 30
by Maritess Beñas
Bangued, Abra (25 July) — In response to the country’s problem of mismatch in education to the labor demand, the national government continues to offer its scholarship programs for the youth as a way of giving attention to the general welfare of the Filipinos.
The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has announced the deadline for the submission of applications to their scholarship programs on September 30, 2009. The date of examination is set on November 15, 2009 in designated examination centers throughout the country.
Menandro Buenafe of the DOST-Abra Provincial Office however, is asking the applicants from the province to please submit their applications earlier than the last day of filing the applications to give them time to submit the same to the DOST-CAR Regional Office in La Trinidad, Benguet considering the travel time and the difficulty of transportation in the province especially that is the rainy season now.
There are two scholarship programs administered by the DOST: the Republic Act 7687 of the Science and Technology Scholarship and the DOST-Science Education Institute Merit Scholarship.
These two scholarship programs are open to all graduating students in the secondary level who belong to the upper 5% of the regular high school graduating class or a graduating student of a DOST-SEI identified DepEd-recognized science high school.
Scholarship privileges are fabulous that include free tuition and other school fees; monthly living allowances; book allowance; one economy roundtrip transportation allowance; group health and accident insurance; Military science and Physical education Uniform allowance; and post-graduation clothing allowance.
Placement of scholars in schools are in any CHED centers of Excellence or Centers of Development; state universities and colleges; DOST-SEI identified institutions; and TESDA registered schools.
Graduates who sustain their DOST scholarships have an edge over the ordinary graduates because of their chosen courses which are in line with science and technology. Courses on sciences and technology are the most in demand in the labor market especially now that the country needs to really sustain its economic growth though science and technology and allied fields. (PIA-Abra)
PSU marks 30th year; confers doctorate degree to COA chief
By Danny O Sagun
Dagupan City (22 July) — The Pangasinan State University marked today its 15th Biennial Celebration with the theme “PSU at 30: Sustaining a Culture of Responsibility, Integrity and Excelence.”
Several activities were held including the conferment of Doctor of Humanities (honoris causa) to Commission on Audit chair Reynaldo A. Villar who delivered the keynote address as guest of honor and speaker during a program at the PSU Convention Hall at the university’s main campus in Lingayen town.
Dr. Victoriano C. Estira, PSU president, assisted by Dr. Lauro B Tacbas, who is president of PASUC and UNP, and Dr. Caridad O. Abuan, OIC-Director of the Commission on Higher Education, conferred the honorary degree to the proud son of Sto. Tomas town. Villar is the elder brother of Undersecretary Antonio “Bebot” Villar, who is chair of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG).
Another highlight of the celebration was the turn-over of funding check for the operationalization of the Pangasinan Institute of Environmental Governance by engineer Federico E. Puno, president and chief executive officer of Team Energy Foundation Inc., which operates the Sual Coal-Fired Power Plant.
The 30th founding anniversary celebration started Tuesday with campus level activities in Bayambang, San Carlos City, Asingan, Infanta, Urdaneta City, Sta. Maria, Binmaley, Lingayen and Alaminos City.
Other events for the four-day celebration include exhibit and trade fair, street dancing and cultural presentation, search for Mr. and Miss PSU Biennial 2009, sportsfest, medical mission, talent showdown and grand fellowship and awards night on the fourth day.
Estira, who last week guested at the weekly KBP Forum at the Philippine Information Agency office, proudly announced that the state university is number one in Region 1 and number seven on passing percentage in the nursing board, while its engineering department based in Urdaneta is number one in the region and number six in the country among state colleges and universities.
The university also saw increase in the number of enrollees from 9,000 to 12,000 when it adopted the open admission system, he bared. He quickly clarified that the government-run educational facility maintains its level of excellence in spite of the open system.
On the proliferation of local government-operated universities which is being protested by private schools, Estira explained that the law allows the establishment of such institutions if the city or the first class town can support them. “Kung kaya ng kanilang budget, puede silang mag-operate ng university,” he said. But the Commission on Higher Education, he stressed, should see to it that said learning institutions conform to standards.
The Urdaneta City University and the Eastern Pangasinan University in Binalonan are two examples of LGU-run universities.
Private school owners have complained that their schools undergo several years of efficient operation for them to attain college or university status. Yet LGUs, they pointed out, can just put up their colleges or universities without going thru tedious processes.
Estira noted however that government-run institutions charge “pang-masa” tuition fees like PSU. (PIA Pangasinan)
