Education agencies in Caraga discuss roles in K to
12 program
By Robert E. Roperos
BUTUAN CITY, Mar. 31 (PIA) – The Philippine
government’s agencies on education have converged recently here to discuss
their specific roles especially in the implementation of the K to 12 program
which is set to be fully implemented in 2016.
During the Regional Technical Vocational Education
and Training (TVET) Administrators’ Conference held in one of the local
convention centers here, the Regional Directors of the Department of Education
(DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and the Technical Education and
Skills Development Authority (TESDA) personally discussed their specific
programs under the K to 12 curriculum.
DepEd OIC regional director Dr. Rebecca Delapuz
presented the update of the Senior High School implementation in the region.
The official underscored that DepEd-Caraga’s goal is to have at least two
public Senior High Schools per city and one per municipality in 2016.
With the sum of expected enrolment for school
years 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 of 93,033, Dir. Delapuz said the region needs
2,116 classrooms and 3,170 teachers.
Delapuz further said after the survey conducted to
incoming Senior High School students, it was revealed that 43.82% of students
will go to Academic Track; 6.54% will go to Science, Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics (STEM); 5.26% will go to Accountancy, Business and Management
(ABM); 5.87% will go to Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS); 26.15% will go
to General Academic Strand (GAS); 55.61% of students will go to Tech-Voc Track;
0.38% of students will go to Arts and Design Track; and 0.19% of students will
go to Sports Track.
To date, the region has 318 schools intended for
Academic Strands, 43 for STEM, 33 for ABM, 43 for HUMSS, 199 for GAS, 286 for
Tech-Voc, 2 for Arts and Design, and 1 for Sports Track.
The top ten Tech-Voc Specializations according to
Dir. Delapuz are Cookery NC II, Bread and Pastry Production NC II, Horticulture
NC II, Computer Hardware Servicing NC II, Dressmaking NC II, Food and Beverage
Services NC II, Tailoring NC II, Beauty/Nail Care NC II, Electrical
Installation and Maintenance NC II, Hairdressing NC II, and Crop Production NC
I.
Delapuz said out of the 729 teachers who were
recommended by DepEd-Caraga to undergo assessment, only 342 were assessed. Of
this figure, 192 were found to be competent and 150 were found incompetent.
“Thus, only 56.14% passed and were already awarded with National Certificates
(NC) by TESDA,” Dir. Delapuz added.
Meanwhile, CHED-Caraga regional director Dr.
Maricar Casquejo discussed the agency’s Programs, Projects, Actions and
Activities as aligned in the 2015 ASEAN Community.
Dir. Casquejo pointed out that ASEAN leaders see
the great potential of HEIs in contributing towards the realization of ASEAN
Community 2015. Participation in the promotion of student mobility, transfer of
knowledge, and facilitation of degree comparability, among others, contribute
significantly in human resource development which in turn aids in ASEAN
Community-building. “Higher education therefore is a key towards a successful
ASEAN integration,” Dir. Casquejo said.
To promote education networking in various levels
of educational institutions and continue university networking and enhance and
support student and staff exchanges and professional interactions including
creating research clusters among ASEAN institutions of higher learning, in
close collaboration with the Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Organization
(SEAMEO) and the ASEAN University Network (AUN), the inclusion of the Mindanao
State University – Iligan Institute of Technology in the ASEAN University
Network – Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network
(AUN/SEED-Net) was made.
As part of the ASEAN 2015 Roadmap for Higher
Education, Inclusion of additional HEIs to AUN, the Philippine Normal University
(PNU) will be included as an ASEAN Center for Teacher Education and the
implementation of ASEAN Higher Education Competitiveness Fund are under study.
Also, the country is scheduled to host the AUN
Regional Conference; Co-hosting of the 6th International Conference on
Humanoid, Nanotechnology, Information Technology, Communication and Control,
Environment, and Management spearheaded by the De La Salle University (DLSU);
and Co-hosting of the 1st ASEAN Future Teachers’ Camp spearheaded by PNU.
To promote the options of university placements in
an institution of higher learning in a second ASEAN Member State through “a
semester abroad” or “a year abroad” programme, participation in the ASEAN
International Mobility for Students (AIMS) Programme is in progress.
The Training of International Relations Office
staff of participating PHEIs in preparation for the commencement of Philippine
participation in the AIMS Program is also under development, while the
preparation for the hosting of the 7th AIMS Review Meeting is ongoing.
To support the citizens of Member States to become
more proficient in the English language, so that citizens of the ASEAN region
are able to communicate directly with one another and participate in the
broader international community, memoranda of agreements between Vietnam,
Thailand and Singapore have been signed. Meanwhile, MOUs with Lao People’s
Democratic Republic and Indonesia are currently under negotiations.
In a related development, TESDA-Caraga regional
director Dr. Florencio F. Sunico, Jr. underscored the strategies that TESDA has
implemented strategies to improve quality TVET provision. He said one of it is
the Migration of programs to the amended Training Regulations (TRs).
Dir. Sunico added the agency has been re-assessing
and certifying trainers and requires TVET to upgrade their facilities. To
expand access and equity, Sunico said the programs were also upgraded to higher
TESD. Degree programs were also ladderized through TVET, adoption of MTP and
ODL approaches.
The Regional TVET Administrators’ Conference aimed
to distill important concepts and ideas on ASEAN Integration discourse as they
pertain to education and skills development. It also situates the role of TVET
in ASEAN Economic Community.
Likewise, the event engages TVET providers in
discussion of trends, issues and concerns across education sector. Further, it
provides education policy and program updates. TESDA Deputy Director-General
for Policies and Planning Irene Isaac was the keynote speaker. (TESDA-Caraga/PIA-Caraga)
Feature: Some cheaper veggies are more nutritious
By Ma. Idelia G. Glorioso
During holiday season, you enjoyed the smell and
taste of delicious dishes like ham, lechon, crispy pata, morcon, salads, and
many others. All these foods are loaded with fats and oils. Now, it is time you
shift into low-fat and low-calorie foods. Vegetables, legumes, and dried beans
are good alternatives to high-fat and high-calorie foods.
Based on the 2013 Food Consumption Survey
conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute-DOST, the intake for
vegetables is 114 grams per capita per day. This includes 39 grams of green
leafy and yellow vegetables and 75 grams of other vegetables. The consumption
of Filipinos for vegetables increased by four grams only, from 110 grams per
capita per day in 2008 to 114 grams per capita per day in 2003.
Vegetables are served with meals as viands or
salads. These are plants or their parts such as roots, tubers, bulbs, stems,
shoots, leaves, fruits and flowers. These can be used raw or cooked, served
generally as entrΓ©e, dessert or salads. Vegetables may be classified into green
leafy and yellow vegetables and other vegetables.
Green leafy and yellow vegetables contain
B-carotene which is converted to vitamin A for normal vision and smooth skin.
These are the most easily available and inexpensive sources of pro-vitamin
A. Examples are the leaves of alugbati,
ampalaya, kalabasa, kangkong, and gabi.
The greener or the deeper their yellow color, the higher the pro-vitamin
A content.
Other vegetables like talong and sayote also
contain vitamins and minerals but in smaller amounts compared to green leafy
and yellow vegetables.
Here are some facts to remember when planning
vegetable dishes for your family:
·
Malunggay leaves have more pro-vitamin A than petsay, kangkong, saluyot, and kamote tops; and
carrot more than squash fruit.
· Squash,
malunggay, petsay, kangkong, kamote tops, ampalaya leaves and squash fruit have
more pro-vitamin A than other vegetables like cabbage, okra, sayote, and
eggplant.
·
Malunggay leaves, petsay, kangkong and talbos ng kamote are cheaper and
more nutritious than cabbage.
·
Malunggay leaves, alugbati and squash are rich in vitamin C for fast
healing of wounds and absorption of iron although the amount contained is not
as much as that in citrus fruits like dalandan and oranges.
Nutrient losses in vegetables are great. Careful
storing, cooking and preserving of vegetables help retain their nutritive
value, flavor and color. If vegetables
are kept for long periods of time at high temperature and in a dry atmosphere,
the losses of vitamin C, in particular, are great. Fat soluble vitamins like A,
D, E, and K degrade at high temperatures in the presence of oxygen. Storing at
lower temperature reduces degradation rate or loss of said vitamins.
Nutritionists and health professionals recommend
consuming two to three servings of vegetables daily, one of which should come
from the green leafy or yellow vegetable group. One serving of leafy vegetables
or other vegetables is equivalent to one half cup, cooked.
For more information on food and nutrition,
contact: Dr. Mario V. Capanzana,
Director, Food and Nutrition Research Institute, Department of Science and
Technology, General Santos Avenue, Bicutan, Taguig City; Tel/Fax Num: 8372934 and 8373164; email:
mvc@fnri.dost.gov.ph, mar_v_c@yahoo.com; FNRI-DOST website:
http://www.fnri.dost.gov.ph.; FNRI Facebook page: facebook.com/FNRI-DOST; FNRI
Twitter account: twitter.com/FNRI-DOST. (FNRI-DOST S&T Media
Service/PIA-Caraga)
