Bohol Standard for the Local Education Workshop, May 18 2014
“Magagaling kayo. Alam na ng national government ‘yan. Bidang-bida po kayo sa national discussions so we are here to consult with you.”
Czarina Medina-Guce, Executive Director of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), uttered these very inspiring words which lifted the spirits of the participants for the follow-up activity last Wednesday to the successful Bohol Education Convergence Summit held last April 23 in the Municipality of Dauis.
The Planning Workshop is to help support the “Development of a Model for Expanding Local Resources for Education in Local Government.”
Guce said that they chose Bohol because it has one of the best practices in local education in the country.
“We heard at the national level na hindi kayo nag-aaway dito sa Bohol; not like in other provinces. Bidang-bida kayo when we talk about education so we want to know what happens in Bohol,” Guce further elaborated.
She said that they are here to document the Bohol Model so they can identify appropriate steps in their upcoming projects.
Very well pleased with Guce’s well-deserved praises for Bohol, Gov. Edgar M. Chatto proudly explained that this is so in the province because our puroks are much stronger now than they were before due to the continued training and monitoring being done by the Countryside Development Program-Purok Power Movement (CDP-PPM) under the very able supervision of SEEM Cluster Head Liza Quirog.
The Local Education Workshop is a convergence of four agencies, namely: the Department of Education (DepEd), the Australian Agency for International Development – The Asia Foundation (AusAID-TAF), ULAP and the Provincial Government of Bohol (PGBh).
In looking at and understanding local education on the ground, the four agencies believe that they would be able to identify the best practices in local education governance.
Hence, by studying and understanding the Bohol Model, they believe that they would be able to document the process and replicate its lessons.
Gov. Chatto said that because the incumbent Provincial Leadership wants excellence for Bohol, it engages the help of all sectors to achieve total cooperation and collaboration in all its programs and projects.
In going down to the barangays and even to the purok level, relationships among the barangay officials, the PTA members, school officials and the community become closer and thus strengthened. This way, it is the people themselves who will own education, Chatto explained.
In relation to this, Guce admitted that one of their objectives for the workshop here is to document the Bohol Model of developing local alliances and expanding local resources for its education.
In their draft framework of the Bohol Model, they have noticed an innovation being implemented by the Provincial Government, called the Education Development Center (EDC), a unit solely mandated to monitor all activities regarding the province’s education system.
It is this innovation, she said, which serves as the link to all that’s happening in our cooperation and collaboration efforts and success that they want to delve deeper into, understand, and most probably, will use as model for the education system in the country. (jlv/EDCom)ULAP co-organized the summit in partnership with DepEd under the Coalitions for Change (CfC) for Education, a program under the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and The Asia Foundation (TAF) Partnership in the Philippines. Under CfC, Bohol serves as a model for provincial government’s expansion of local resources for education.
71st ULAP National Executive Board Meeting and Election
The Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines held its National Executive Board Meeting and Election, last April 25 in Banyan, Cedar Function Room, Richmonde Hotel, Ortigas, Pasig City
For more photos of the event: Click Here
LGUs, DepEd to launch projects for out-of-school youth, underfed schoolchildren in Bohol
Bohol governor Edgardo Chatto together with the municipal mayors, Department of Education (DepEd) officials, and school supervisors signed a ‘Pledge of Commitment’ last April 23 during the 2014 Bohol Education Convergence Summit held in Panglao, Bohol to jointly work to solve the education-related issues and concerns of the province including malnutrition of poor school children, the need to assist edu (OSY), and reconstruction of earthquake-damaged school buildings. The summit was attended by 14 municipal mayors, 1 city councilor; with a total of 78 participants.
“In Bohol, education is everybody’s business. While the DepEd is the national agency and takes care of the whole program, as we move to the ground we feel that the stakeholders, whether officials, educators, parents, business sector must continue to work together. We are all part of this monumental effort,” said Governor Chatto.
In his ‘State of Bohol Education Report’, Chatto said that through local partnerships and the priority given by the provincial government to education, the province was recently awarded as “Best Implementor of DepEd’s School Building Program”.
He also mentioned the improvement of academic performance and reduced dropout rates in the province as a result of the Dynamic Learning Program (DLP), a teaching and learning approach used in 163 schools by more than 73,000 students across Bohol province.
He added that the Bohol provincial government recently signed an agreement with Synergeia Foundation for capacity-building and Local School Board support in selected pilot areas.
Despite these positive results, Governor Chatto emphasized the need for improved “convergence” to address the needs of under-nourished poor school children, out-of-school youth, and school buildings that were damaged by the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that hit Bohol in October 2013.
DepEd Undersecretary Mario Deriquito, in his briefing, said that the education department will work with local government units (LGUs) in Bohol to implement the Abot Alam Project and School-Based Feeding Program. He said that to achieve Deped’s goal of having “zero out-of-school youth” in the country by 2016, the Abot-Alam Project will be launched in Bohol to develop a comprehensive OSY database and introduce “program interventions in education, employment, and entrepreneurship”.
“For us partnerships are important because, first, it generates more resources. It also creates a community of supporters or constituency for Abot-Alam and school-based feeding. Also, partnerships or bayanihan contributes to nation-building, which is one of the goals of DepEd”, Deriquito said.
David Dutton, the Australian Embassy’s deputy head of mission also attended the summit and said that, “...the Australian government is proud to be a long-term development partner of Bohol and that the provincial government working with local and national authorities, the private sector, and various communities is an effective way of addressing challenges in public school education.” Dutton also said that the Australian government is “very keen to support” projects that would help improve the quality of education in Bohol province.
Czarina Medina-Guce, Executive Director of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) said that the summit aims to enhance “collaborative planning and the formation of local alliances for education in Bohol”. She said that ULAP will continue working with LGUs in Bohol, Jollibee Group Foundation, and DepEd for the implementation of the Abot-Alam and School-Based Feeding Program as part of the convergence initiatives of ULAP for LGUs in the province.
She added that a follow-up workshop will be in held in May 14-15 in Bohol to enable LGUs and DepEd officials in Bohol to make more detailed implementation plans for joint education projects based on targets set during the April 23 education summit.
ULAP co-organized the summit in partnership with DepEd under the Coalitions for Change (CfC) for Education, a program under the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and The Asia Foundation (TAF) Partnership in the Philippines. Under CfC, Bohol serves as a model for provincial government’s expansion of local resources for education.
FES–Galing Pook–ULAP Workshop: Local Government Code Reforms
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Galing Pook Foundation, and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines co-organized a policy workshop, “A Fresh Look at the Local Government Code”, on March 28. The workshop aimed to gather inputs from local government officials on priority legislative reform agenda and renewed strategies to push the proposals.
The output of the workshop is a policy paper to be released by Galing Pook. ULAP will use the policy paper for its continuous lobbying and advocacy work.
For more photos of the event: Click Here
ULAP MOU signing for Abot Alam Program
The Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, represented by its President, Gov. Alfonso Umali Jr., signed a memorandum of understanding advocating for the implementation of the Abot Alam program for Out of School Youth, led by the Department of Education; March 27, DepEd Pasig. Select ULAP member leagues were also present to co-sign the MOU for the joint advocacy.
The Abot Alam program maps out of school youth and programs for out of school youth, and matches the needs and preferences of the youth with the available and emerging programs. The program is a platform for sustained collaboration of DepEd and local government units to align and converge out of school youth programs given the data generated.
For more photos of the event: Click Here
ULAP commits to advocacy and capacity building for local health governance for DOH-PhilHealth “Alaga Ka” Program
The Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines commits its support to the “Alaga Ka” program of the Department of Health and PhilHealth which provides full coverage to indigents with the No Balance Billing provision. President Benigno Aquino III graced the “Alaga Ka” program launching on March 24, in the Quezon Memorial Circle, which was also attended by DOH Sec. Enrique Ona, PhilHealth President Alex Padilla, DOH Usec Ted Herbosa, different Metro Manila Mayors, private and civil society partners in health, and indigents who are receiving their PhilHealth benefits from different cities.
ULAP is working with PhilHealth and other private and civil society partners for upcoming advocacy and capacity-building activities for local governments in support of the “Alaga Ka” program.
For the launching event, ULAP is represented by its Executive Director Czarina Medina-Guce and staff Merry Ann Sanchez.
