Department of Education Region I officials and education leaders in the Province of Ilocos Sur participated in the Ilocos Sur Education Leaders’ Conference with the theme, “Reinvigorating Ilocos Sur thru Zealous Academic Leadership” at the Provincial Farmers Livelihood Development Center, Vigan City, Ilocos Sur on February 9, 2023.

 

Serving as one of the speakers at the conference is Regional Director Tolentino G. Aquino, who was ably represented by Assistant Regional Director (ARD) Ronald B. Castillo. In his talk, ARD Castillo emphasized the vital role of education leaders as catalysts for transforming valued teachers.

 

He also presented the current realities in the education sector as stated in the Basic Education Report 2023 of Vice President and DepEd Secretary Sarah Z. Duterte. Included in his presentation is the status of the reading assessment of learners based on the Philippine Information Reading Inventory (PhilIRI) and the Regional Summative Test administered to randomly selected learners for Grade 6 and Grade 10 in June 2023.

 

He also stressed that education leaders should refresh themselves with the Mission-Vision of the Department and always remember it by heart to develop the full potential of the learners contributing to nation-building.

 

ARD Castillo ended his presentation with an urgent call for action to transform the teachers as front liners in education through the support of the basic education leaders to address the pressing challenges in education to realize this year’s DepEd agenda: MATATAG para sa Bansang Makabata, Batang Makabansa.

 

Other speakers at the conference include TESDA Regional Office I RD Vincent A. Cifra who presented a topic on TESDA as Partners in Community Development and CHED Regional Office I RD Danilo Bose who highlighted his talk on Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) response to developing worthy young professionals.

 

An open forum was conducted after the morning session.

 

The conference was also attended by Schools Division Superintendent (SDS) of Candon City – Dr. Anselmo R. Aludino; Dr. Jorge M. Reinante of SDO Ilocos Sur; and Dr. Gemma Q. Tacuycuy of SDO Vigan City.

 

The Education Leaders’ Conference was organized by the Provincial Government of Ilocos Sur and the Ilocos Sur Community College.