By CHARITO S. ANSAGAY
ALABEL, Sarangani (March 23, 2014) — The provincial government of Sarangani will continue pushing for reforms in education in order to narrow down educational gaps in different school levels and sustain the momentum of its previous program, Governor Steve Chiongbian Solon said.
The provincial government of Sarangani recently formed the Governor’s Commission on Education (GCE) under the Sulong Karunungan, a component of the province’s Sulong Sarangani Development Plan. The new commission aims to recalibrate the Quality Education for Sarangani Today or QUEST, the education program of former Governor Migs Dominguez to combat deteriorating quality of education in the region.
QUEST was launched in 2007 and earned the firm support of the Department of Education (DepEd). QUEST received the Galing Pook Award in 2012 for innovation and excellence in local governance.
Many of the efforts formerly executed under QUEST were remedial in nature and limited to primary education. Under QUEST2 (Quality Education for Sarangani Today and Tomorrow), remedial efforts will include secondary and tertiary level to bridge educational gaps through improved student-teacher skills development. It aims to raise awareness of the importance of education across communities by re-vitalizing citizens’ interest and participation in school, and giving many students productive and structured activities during their school break.
To improve educational system in Sarangani, Solon said that it is important that improvements to the province’s education standard through the now expanded and enhanced QUEST2 system be implemented as these would help in creating economic opportunities and measureable results.
The GCE will start implementing QUEST2 this April, a few weeks after the registration for participating students, tutors and teachers closes on March 28. Among the programs included are reading instruction seminar for Grade One teachers, summer internship program for high school and college students, and summer reading for the 20 public elementary schools that are in most need of reading skill intervention.
“We must focus on the primary issues of the province which are education and job generation,” Solon said, pointing out that having a strong education system is as important as the government’s campaign against poverty.
“Every Sarangan deserves quality education. But a key issue here is that a person’s education must be tailored to their needs, abilities and context. So they must be enhanced and supported by QUEST2,” Gov. Solon stressed. “We’ve already enshrined education as a right in the Philippine Constitution. Now it’s up to us to make sure that education is not only delivered but also acquired.” (Charito S. Ansagay/PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR’S OFFICE)
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