Ensuring that Cabuyao City’s youth will receive the training and skills that they can use in finding jobs or livelihood is very much a part of the agenda of the Cabuyao City Public Employment and Service Office (PESO).
As Cabuyao City PESO Head Karlo Hain emphasized, the main goal of his agency is to ensure that all Cabuyeños will get equal opportunities under the IHELP (Industry, Health, Education, Livelihood, and Protection) platform of the city government under Mayor Dennis “Denha” Hain.
It was in this regard that the Department of Education’s (DepEd) local schools division office (SDO) under Christopher Diaz conducted this November the 2024 Division Academic Learning Camp, as part of the implementation of DepEd's National Learning Recovery Program.
Enrichment activities
The series of activities aims to engage students in recreational and enrichment activities that will "sustain learning recovery across all learning areas in the MATATAG curriculum," according to Division Memorandum No. 636-2024 issued by the local SDO on October 22.
"Nakita naman natin na maraming nangyaring suspension of classes, and we are still recovering from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic," Grace Endaya, Education Program Supervisor and one of the program coordinators of the 2024 Division Academic Learning Camp, explained in an interview with OpinYon Laguna.
"Ito po ang dahilan kung bakit minabuti po ng ating city schools division office sa pamamagitan po ng ating SDO Superintendent Christopher Diaz na magdaos ng academic learning camps sa iba't ibang learning areas," she added.
Nine public elementary and secondary public schools in Cabuyao City participated in the series of activities, which cover major subjects under the MATATAG curriculum.
These include the Science and Technology Fair at the Gulod National High School; a "Read-a-thon" at the Mamatid National High School; a "Technolympics" at Southville 1 Elementary School; and a "Sining-Tanghalan" event at the Pulo Elementary School.
However, Endaya noted that these activities are not limited to public schools in Cabuyao City.
“Sa katunayan nga po, nakipag-partner po kami sa mga private schools dito sa Cabuyao City. Kasi po marami kaming mga kabataan rito na gusto ring manalo sa mga competition, and kapag nanalo po sila, sila po ang magiging representative ng ating lungsod at the regional level,” the local official said.
Practical skills
One notable aspect of the 2024 Division Academic Learning Camp, Endaya related, is that students who participated in the activities get a “hands-on” experience on various skills and
This was most notably demonstrated in the “Technolympics” at Southville 1 Elementary School, where participants get to demonstrate their knowledge and expertise in the fields of industrial arts, home economics, agri-fishery arts, and information and communications technology (ICT).
For instance, under the industrial arts sector, students are challenged to conduct electrical installation and maintenance for at least four hours.
"Mayroon po tayong coach doon at dalawang bata na nag-iinstall ng electrical wiring, cicruit boards, so bibigyan sila ng diagram tapos sila na ang mag-a-assemble noon," Endaya elaborated.
Students were also tasked on making "marketable" products from plastic waste; dressmaking; food preservation; fruit and vegetable carving; and invitation card making, among others.
To ensure that the end results of each task will be judged with expertise and accuracy, Endaya said the coordinators for the “Technolympics” enlisted staff from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) as official judges for the event.
Employability
Aside from ensuring that students “catch up” from the learning they had missed – first, during the two-year Covid-19 pandemic that resulted in the closing of schools, then in the series of weather disturbances that battered Laguna province during the past two months – Endaya pointed out that the end focus of these activities is to ensure the “employability” of students, particularly those who are now in senior high school.
“Ang goal po ng activities natin ngayon ay to ensure na makatapos man o hindi ng pag-aaral ang ating mga estudyante ay makakuha na sila ng skills needed para makakuha ng trabaho,” was how she explained it.
“Napapansin po ninyo, for instance, Grade 4 pa lamang po ay ine-expose na po ang ating mga bata sa Home Economics, cooking, food preservation, para pagdating po nila ng senior high school, pwede na po sila sa Home Economics strand,” Endaya added.
“Pwede rin silang makakuha ng National Certificate II [NC II from TESDA) na pwede na nilang magamit kapag naghahanap na po sila ng trabaho, or pwede na nilang magamit ang nasabing mga kasanayan para makapagtayo ng sariling kabuhayan kahit sa kani-kanilang mga bahay.”
(With report from Catherine Go)
HANDS-ON LEARNING For Cabuyeño youth
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