Superintendents Leadership Program Makes 47 Graduates

To acknowledge the hard work of the superintendents, assistant superintendents, and officers in charge who compose the first batch of participants in the Superintendents Leadership Program (SLP) in finishing the course, the Department of Education organized a culminating and thanksgiving activity held last 14^th of February, 2014 at the Bulwagan ng Karunungan, DepEd Complex, Pasig City.

The event was graced by DepEd Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro; Usec. Lino Rivera of DepEd; Mr. Oscar “Cary” Lopez Jr., who represents his father Chairman Oscar Lopez Sr., Chairman Emeritus of the Lopez Group Foundation Inc.; Ms. Rina Lopez Bautista, President and Executive Director of Knowledge Channel Foundation Inc.; Dr. Robyn Biti, Counselor of Australian Embassy; and Br. Michael Broughton, Vice Chancellor for La Sallian Mission. The facilitators of the program, Prof. Juan Kanapi, Prof. Ginny Santiago, Fr. Albert Alejo, Prof. Kuku Lopez, and Prof. Eduardo Morato, were also present.

In his welcome message, Usec. Rivera emphasized that the culminating program marks the crossing over of Batch 1 from the conference rooms in the Eugenio Lopez Center in Antipolo where the training was conducted to the real classrooms in the field. Usec. Rivera reminded the participants to put in practice what they have learned by quoting his old professor: “You can learn about swimming by taking down notes from the lecture of your swimming instructor, but you will not really learn how to swim unless you jump in the water.”

Ms. Rina Bautista recognized the preparedness of the participants in waging an educational revolution. “As chief executives in your respective divisions, we hope that you will continue transforming your schools and the educational system to be more in step with our times given the reforms in education,” she said. Mr. Cary Lopez also expressed his congratulatory message to the participants, which he called “agents of change”. He ended his talk with a quote from Che Guevarra saying, “Let the world change you then you can change the world.”

According to Bro. Broughton of La Salle, the participants are selected because of the belief that whatever they have learned will be passed on to others. He said that it is the country that is the end-beneficiary of the training program. Dr. Biti of the Australian Embassy also commended the participants. She said that the work that the participants have been doing is going to bring K to 12 to life. “Australia and the Philippines have been long time partners and we both believe that education will create a resilient nation,” she added.

The concluding remarks were given by no other than the visionary leader of Philippine education, Bro. Armin Luistro. It was also he who called the participants “generals” in the field of education. He also recognized the support of the partners like K Channel. “With K Channel, we are hoping that the first batch will continue to think of IT and multimedia resources as important tools in education,” he said.

DepEd and partners ensure to give continuous support to the participants until they finish their PhD degree. As Bro. Armin puts it, “the next step is to ensure that the seeds that have been planted will re-tilled, watered, and taken cared of until fruits are harvested”.

SLP is a program developed by DepEd in partnership with Lopez Group Foundation Inc., Knowledge Channel Foundation Inc., De La Salle University, Australian Government, and the Philippines-Australia Human Resource and Organizational Development Facility (PAHRODF). It is a 12-module course intended to provide the officials the required level of competency necessary amidst the reforms in Philippine education. Since the program started in October 2012, a total of 107 superintendents and assistant superintendents have participated in the two batches.

Batch 1 started their first module last October 2012 and finished the twelfth and last module this February. Out of the 47 participants belonging in the first batch, 33 will pursue Executive PhD degree in De La Salle University College of Education.