MAASIM, Sarangani (February 7, 2012) – Vice Mayor Utto Salem Cutan challenges his fellow Muslim brothers and sisters to help one another to get rid of the idea that they are victims of prejudices and discrimination during the graduation ceremony at Maasim Tech-Voc Competence Center. Muslims and indigenous people are given priority to avail of the scholarship in this competence center, he said. He also urged his constituents to be united to support the incoming development in their municipality. For more news and updates, please visit the Province of Sarangani (Cocoy Sexcion/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)

MAASIM, Saragani (February 7, 2012) – Laiza Lim shows her certificate of completion for shielded metal arc welding during the graduation ceremony at Maasim Tech-Voc Competence Center Tuesday, February 7, at Mangelen Integrated School. MTCC is a joint project of Sarangani Energy Corporation, Department of Education, TESDA SarGen, Provincial Government of Sarangani, Municipal Government of Maasim and Alcantara Foundation. For more news and updates, please visit the Province of Sarangani (Cocoy Sexcion/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)

ALABEL, Sarangani (February 6, 2012) – Pupils pose for a souvenir photo while a ceremonial turnover of their new classroom building (background) is taking place Monday, February 6, at Dacera Elementary School campus. The classroom building, donated by Southern Philippines Power Corporation (SPPC) and facilitated by SPECTRUM and Alcantara Foundation, comes with chairs, electrical lightings, comfort room and ceiling fans. It was the 102nd classroom building constructed under the administration of Governor Migs Dominguez, education officials said. For more news and updates, please visit the Province of Sarangani (Cocoy Sexcion/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)

By BON-BON QUIÑO ALABEL, Sarangani (January 13, 2012) – Twelve scholars of the Philippine-Nippon Technical College (PNTC), all from Sarangani, are scheduled to fly to Japan in the first quarter of the year to be trained by Japan’s top industrial companies, and at the same time, to earn. PNTC teamed up with the provincial government through the Strengthening Technological Advancement for Reforms (STAR) Project under the office of Vice Governor Steve Chiongbian Solon in identifying qualified applicants for an opportunity to acquire technical skills and earn in Japan. The 12 scholars who underwent skills training in Padada, Davao Del Sur and Calamba, Laguna passed and qualified for internship. PNTC is a Japanese affiliated-technical school in the Philippines that offers study-now-pay later technical courses and free Japanese language study to qualified applicants under their Education to Career Assistance Program (ETCAP). Qualified applicants are already considered scholars. Scholars who are high school graduates, under graduate, or graduated with vocational courses, undergo free three-month Japanese language training at PNTC in Padada, Davao Del Sur and four-month skills training in Calamba, Laguna. For scholars with college degree, the language and skills training are conducted in Laguna with free accommodation, food, fare and allowances. Skills training include welding, machining, painting, electronics, heavy equipment, and automotive. With the assistance of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), scholars who passed the examination and met the qualifications will then be chosen by the accepting Japanese companies through their country representatives for further training in Japan under the Japan International Training Cooperation Organization (JITCO) Program. POEA ensures that all scholars send to Japan are considered trainees and not as employees or workers; they shall be turned over to JITCO when they arrive in Japan for cultural and values orientation and their official deployment to identified companies. More or less 1,800 PNTC graduates are currently training in Japan. Tomas Delator, 19 years old, and a former fast-food chain crew from barangay Talus, Malungon, and five others, were set to fly to Japan on January 16. “This is a big help. The opportunity to pass and qualify as PNTC scholar through the support and endorsement of the Office of the Vice Governor is very seldom. This will hopefully improve our life,” Delator said. Delator is set to work in Hitachi Kasado, a bullet-train repair and assembly plant in Japan. Wilbert Sara, a graduate of management accounting and a former employee of the Municipal Accounting Office in Alabel is scheduled to go to Japan this February. “The scholarship opens opportunities for us. I am encouraging my fellow youth to help themselves. Do not just dream for yourself but strive harder to help your parents. Do not forget to pray and be mindful of where you came from. Opportunities are everywhere but we have to work harder to be successful,” Sara said. He took up his Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) training at PNTC in Laguna. In his message to the PNTC scholars, Vice Governor Solon said: “This is a good opportunity, a God-given opportunity. This is an opportunity to benefit not only yourself but your family and the Province of Sarangani. So good luck and God Bless.” Other PNTC scholars assisted by STAR project are: Danny Boy Ojayas, Eric Jones Himota, Jake Rosa, Reymart Badaran, Loreto Mogpon, Carlito Lumpan, Louie Coloma, John Patrick Empuerto, Cloudee Jim Olarter, and Santiago Pantalita Jr., all from Malungon; Jomelito Wanal, Ronald Kevin Sanchez, and Ronald Pallar,from Alabel; Jose Pepito Español of Glan; Merald Jay Rivera, Francis Leo Serna, Archie Alta, Mark Anthony Castro, and Reinz Michael Alta, all from Maitum; and Dennis Anthony Ofredo and Julius Ceasar Patagnan, both from Kiamba. For more news and updates, please visit the Province of Sarangani (Bon-Bon Quiño/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)

Students of Tapudi Elementary School in the remote coastal municipality of Lebak, Sultan Kudarat, are awed by the features of a desktop computer that was provided by the school’s parent-teacher association (PTA) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Through its Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program, USAID matches the funds raised by PTAs to establish mini libraries, multimedia centers, science and computer laboratories, and other education improvement projects. This collaboration has helped to raise public awareness of the value of education, while providing students and teachers with resources needed to make learning more fun and creative. To date, PTAs have collaborated with USAID’s GEM Program on 1,077 matching grants, benefiting 949 schools and more than 645,000 students throughout remote, conflict-affected areas in Mindanao. The USAID’s GEM Program is implemented under the oversight of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA).

Surigao City—Mayor Ernesto Matugas has announced the opening of two secondary night schools in June to take in the growing number of out-of-school youth and working students who do not have time to attend the regular day classes. He said the project will be a joint undertaking by the city government and the DepEd Surigao City Schools Division under Dr. Fidela Rosas, city division superintendent. “The two night high schools will use the existing facilities of the host public schools and this is possible because classes are held only from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., Monday to Saturday,” Matugas told Manila Standard. “One night high school will be put up in Barangay Washington and will use the facilities of the Surigao del Norte National High School, while the second will be installed in Barangay San Juan with Surigao City National High School as its host.” He said the city government will provide the night shift with competent teachers from its city school board and will also ensure safety of students by providing guards from the city’s Civil Security Unit. Matugas said city hall will extend cash incentives or overtime pay to mentors from host schools who volunteer to take night loads. “This way, we can help our teachers augment their monthly income and at the same time we can also provide the students with quality education through experienced educators,” he said. (EUGENIO LIRA, JR./Manila Standard Today)

ALABEL, Sarangani (November 21, 2011) – Supervised Neighborhood Play (SNP) workers with their newly-acquired horses pose at the Capitol before going to their respective barangays after the formal turnover of additional 13 ECCD horses for workers from municipalities of Alabel, Malapatan and Malungon Monday, November 21. (Cocoy Sexcion/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)

ALABEL, Sarangani (November 16, 2011) – A jeepney-turned-science laboratory has started unlocking new ideas for grades five, six, and first year high school students in five public schools in Sarangani. JeepneED, a mobile science laboratory that runs on used vegetable oil, is an engaging outdoor learning area equipped with 10 netbooks, 3G hub for internet connectivity, and basic science materials. Sarangani is JeepneED’s pilot site for this first-ever science mobile and technology laboratory in the country. Governor Migs Dominguez said JeepneED had rightly chosen Sarangani as its pilot site because communities (here) are “hungry for innovation, hungry for development, and most importantly hungry for new opportunities that come their way.” The governor said JeepneED is “not only to deliver opportunities through a laboratory on wheels. However the real message here is, we have to continuously innovate.” Shaina Tantuico, JeepneED co-founder, said the project sought to address gaps of science teaching methods in public schools where teachers usually resort to lectures only due to unavailability of resource materials and other exposure activities. The mobile laboratory, Tantuico said, would stir students’ interest to discover new things from indigenous materials. She pointed out these learning activities “can be integrated into (the students’) lessons in schools.” Launched on Monday (November 14), the JeepneEd has started serving Malandag Elementary School in Malungon, Alegria Elementary School in Alabel, Rogaya Integrated School and Mangelen Integrated School in Maasim. Lamlifew Elementary School is also among the pilot community sites. JeepneEd would initially drive thru these five schools and plans to expand to other schools in Sarangani. JeepneED is a Philippine-based non profit program that partnered with Quality Education for Sarangani Today (QUEST) and Condrado Alcantara Foundation, Inc. to address deficiencies of science laboratories and teaching methods in Sarangani. All activities generated from the mobile laboratory would be based on the competencies of teachers from the Department of Education (DepEd). JeepneED only supports teachers by providing appropriate resources to be integrated in their curriculum. Based on research, Tantuico noted “that the very small solution can really affect students’ performance throughout time,” which she linked to access of books and internet and a mentor to make education relevant, and a really good support system. “How we can make these solutions to as many students as possible and the easiest answer was to put it on wheels,” Tantuico said. She explained science was chosen because it “connects us to something both academic and vocational, something that is book-based but also creative and it also connects mathematics and literacy and with all that in a truck that runs on used vegetable oil.” The mobile laboratory runs an average of eight kilometers per one liter of used vegetable oil. Erika Pineda, another co-founder of JeepneED, calculated that the P5 per week fee from a student would cover the cost of materials for repairs and future upgrades of the mobile laboratory. “The five pesos allows us to build a system for sustainability so hopefully next year with 2,000 students at five pesos per week a simple JeepneEd will run without any outside donors.” With the help of QUEST and DepEd, “we will be able to reinvest our resources in making more interventions for quality education,” Pineda said. DepEd superintendent Allan Farnaso said JeepneEd is “one ingenuity-thinking innovation and effort that serves us Sarangans and that we can do better than what we have already accomplished.” Farnaso admitted that most of the schools in the province “lack equipment for laboratory.” Jenielyn Lariosa, JeepneED facilitator, said “one good thing about having hands-on activity is that students have this retention.” “When we first had this experiment and then we came back a week after, the students still remember what they did and what they learn. With that retention makita natin yong learning sa mga activities that they do.” (Beverly C. Paoyon/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)

ALABEL, Sarangani (November 16, 2011) – Governor Migs Dominguez welcomes the jeepney-turned-science laboratory Monday, November 14, together with Capitol officials and employees, teachers and students of Alabel National Science High School. The governor thanked JeepneED for rightly choosing Sarangani as pilot site because communities are “hungry for innovation, hungry for development, and most importantly hungry for new opportunities that come their way.” (Cocoy Sexcion/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)

ALABEL, Sarangani (November 16, 2011) – Students of Alabel National Science High School use the netbooks of JeepneED which has a 3G hub for internet connectivity. JeepneED, which has started driving thru five schools in the province, is a mobile science laboratory that runs on used vegetable oil and an engaging outdoor learning facility equipped with 10 netbooks, 3G hub for internet connectivity, and basic science materials. (Russel Delvo/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)