Panglao gears up for 2nd Education Summit

How time flies! the first Panglao Education Summit was on September 17, 2013 at Panglao Municipality SB Session Hall with me, Migs Dominguez Ernesto Perez Malvas facilitating from Synergeia... so much has happened since then - drafting of the district workplan for Synergeia, E O creating the Project Management Team or PMT, expansion and reinvention of the membership of the municipal school board,transparency in the SEF budget, EO on the creation of barangay school boards, orientation, training of barangay school boards and the PMT, MOA Signing with Synergeia, barangay education summits of all 10 barangays, summer remedial reading program, training of teachers in 
culture and arts with NCCA at HNU, support for Brigada Eskwela, Jollibee BLT Schoolfeeding program application, training, launch, orientation of schools and start of feeding, linkaging with Synergeia Foundation, Jollibee Group Foundation,Pusong Pinoy The Asia Foundation Books for Asia, Rotary Clubs worldwide, etc., participation in the Bohol Education Convergence Summit, participation in the Bohol Abot Alam Convergence Summit - after conducting an inventory/mapping of ALL out of school youth per purok with their preferred tracks in education, livelihood and skills training, validation of inventory by purok. Now, gearing up for the 2nd education summit, the biggest convergence of stakeholders in education reforms in Panglao, set on Tuesday, September 23, at the Panglao Cultural Center. 

Abot Alam: Call for Convergence of Boholanos

Governor Edgar Chatto called for convergence of Boholanos on Abot Alam, the national program for Out-of-School Youth (OSY) which was successfully jumpstarted in the Province of Bohol leading to

the Abot Alam Convergence Summit held on Friday, August 29, 2014 at the Metrocentre Hotel in Tagbilaran City.  In his call for convergence, Governor Chatto urged ALL the Local Chief Executives, DepEd officials, Government Agencies and other stakeholders to ensure ZERO OSY in each purok in the province starting 2014.  A tall order but he pointed out that Bohol has the unique system through the purok which can successfully identify the out of school youth who can be assisted either to go back to school, be provided with skills training, or livelihood. Also, with zero OSY, the problems on drugs, illegal gambling, etc, will be addressed. He also issued an Executive Order enjoining ALL LCEs to implement the Abot Alam Program consistent  with the DILG Memorandum dated May 28, 2014, creating the office that will oversee the Abot Alam implementation in Bohol as well as the corresponding personnel required.

The convergence summit was attended by more than half of the Local Chief Executives of Bohol themselves, the rest represented by other LGU officials, as well as DepEd officials from the Central Office, Division of Bohol and Tagbilaran City Division. In the panel discussion were representatives of government agencies with programs for OSY specifically TESDA, DTI, DOLE, BISU, DILG, OPSWD, OPA, OPV, DOST and DA who talked about the programs available, the access policy, and financing or demand side. 

Assisted by The Asia Foundation, Bohol jumpstarted the Abot Alam Program through: (a) the Generation of a Provincial Database on Out of School Youth when Governor Edgar M. Chatto issued an Executive Order to all Municipal Mayor and Barangay Captains  to generate  data on the OSY’s per purok per barangay. This involved mapping, validation, then needs assessment; and (b) Engaging Agencies with Programs for Out-of-School Youth through a triangulation of Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and  a questionnaire.

During the summit, each LCE had a copy of the list of OSY which included specific names, addresses from each LGU which they matched with the available program from the government agencies.  They were also able to interact with the agencies themselves. Governor Chatto stressed the need to validate that data of OSY per purok so that no OSY is left behind.

Also in attendance during the summit were Ms. Gina Estipona, the Abot Alam National Program Manager from the DepEd Central Office as well as representatives from The Asia Foundation namely Ms. Maribel Buenaobra, the Director for Programs and Mr. Henry Grageda, Senior Program Officer of The Asia Foundation Coalitions for Change in Education.

The planning workshop for Abot Alam Implementation facilitated by Ms. Vera Villocido asked each of the LCEs assisted by their coordinating principals to identify what programs can be adopted by the LGU, what resources are needed, what are the budgetary considerations, the sources of funds as well as what agencies can be tapped.

Bohol, being identified as the model of the Abot Alam Program implementation, is set to be the host of the National Launch scheduled on September 30, 2014 which will gather cabinet secretaries of the agencies which signed the Memorandum of Understanding or MOU on the Abot Alam Program. (PR/vav)

Remembering 9/11

I was a brand new Exchange Teacher in a foreign land (FOB or Fresh off the Boat, so to speak!), having arrived in July that year. I thought I was prepared for anything, with about 11 years teaching experience behind me, teaching high school and college biology back home in the Philippines. Not to mention all that training in the USAID/GOLD project on Technology of Participation or ToP, SWS polling in the Bohol Polls, research methodology in various research projects. After two weeks intensive training in teaching science at theEast Side Union High School District, I was ready. And started teaching on August 28 at the East Side Cadet Academy, an alternative school of ESUHSD, housed at the Cathedral of Faith in Canoas Garden. I was the Science teacher to about 100 cadets, teaching with Marx Advincula, the Math Teacher, Luis Rodriguez, English Teacher, Rob Suhr, Social Studies teacher, two (2) California National Guards: Sgt. Haislip and Sgt. Hunter who were the military/leadership instructors, Jennie Lopez (+) of the California Youth Outreach, Ms. Sherrie LeBeau the secretary, and 3 administrators: Jackie Guevara, Dot Westerhoff and Mr. Rick Esparza. The schoolyear started with a big bang.

Then 9/11. I was totally unprepared for it! I guess none of us were. It was a crazy day, which started with one of the students, Jonathan Santacruz, telling us at the bus stop what he saw on CNN. At ESCA, there was panic among the cadets who we gathered together, with students fainting when there was a big crash on the roof of the Cathedral of Faith. All the networks carried the news and footages of the World Trade Center. We spent the whole day watching as the story unfold.

Everything changed after that. The California National Guards were pulled out to be ready for deployment to Afghanistan. We had to maintain stability in a school where many of the students were coping with keeping their credits up and coping with the emotions brought about by 9/11. The teachers took turns in handling the classes of the military, when daily military instructors cannot come. The male teachers handled the PE classes while I took care of the homeroom classes, Mr. Robert Suhr creating the basketball team. I myself was coping with the desire to be an effective and efficient teacher in a foreign land, while missing home and family and maintaining an aura of self-confidence.

Questions came to mind at that time - about staying, or packing my bags and going home, safe to my family and friends. The rest is history after all of that! And I look back with pride at all the Cadets who have graduated with us and all the People of ESCA that I have worked with and with whom I said with pride and conviction: "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."