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By Dominic B. dela Cruz
Staff reporter
San
Nicolas, Ilocos Norte—The multi-awarded
local government unit here once again stamped its class as it was awarded third
in the National Literacy Awards.
The award was given to San
Nicolas government officials led by San Nicolas mayor Melanie Grace P. Valdez
on Sept. 18, 2014 at Benitez Hall in Teachers Camp in Baguio City.
Ms. Valdez expressed her
elation for the award as San Nicolas ranked in the top five national finalists
and took third place under the Class A municipalities category.
The first-term mayor said the
competition was not a joke as they competed against bigger, more progressive
and richer municipalities in the country in terms of education.
The
Ilocos Times learned that the San Nicolas
was the lone municipality for Region I in the national level search.
Last year, the municipal
government placed second and with the result placing them a rung lower this
year, Ms. Valdez said she will look into the reason why this happened.
She added that there may
still be a need to further strengthen the local government’s program in the
Alternative Learning System (ALS) and to give more support to the Dept. of
Education’s literacy programs.
She stressed that she has
already tasked the Municipal Literacy Coordinating Council (MLCC) to be more
active and to look into all the aspects of the literacy program.
ALS for barangays
San Nicolas’ 24 barangays have been informed of the literacy
programs of the municipal government. Barangays here have then enrolled their
respective students in the ALS program as they bat for a 100% literacy rate
here.
Relative to this, the
municipal government has already approved the purchase of bus purposely for ALS
to be dubbed “ALS on wheels”, which will be a mobile learning center for ALS.
They hope to acquire this next year.
‘Neophyte’
AS she listened to the
acceptance speech of other winners, Ms. Valdez said she realized that the other
local governments have concentrated more on the education aspect. San Nicolas,
she admitted, is still a “neophyte” in terms of education programs.
To cope with the other LGUs,
Ms. Valdez said she will also look into these but she added that she will also
consider agriculture, sports, culture, environment and other aspects.
The municipality of Plaridel
in Bulacan took the top award, earning it a place in the award’s Hall of Fame.
Daet came in second.
2 categories
The NLA has two categories—the Outstanding Literacy Program award
and the Outstanding Local Government unit award.
In
the explanation, the organizers said, “The Outstanding Literacy Program Award
shall be given to a civil society organization, non-government organization,
private organization or educational/academic institution, which has developed
and implemented a literacy program that made a positive impact on learners and
the community.”
Meanwhile,
the LGU Award is given to LGUs that have developed and implemented policies,
programs and projects conducive to literacy advancement and have efficaciously
made a positive impact on their barangays and the quality of life of their
people.
The
LGU category is further subdivided into four categories: highly urbanized city,
component/component independent city, class A municipality (first to third
class) and class B municipality (fourth sixth class).
The awarding was organized by
DepEd through the Literacy Coordinating Council and in cooperation and
coordination with other government organizations.
Caps
SN. TAKES
THIRD. The San Nicolas delegates led by mayor Melanie Grace P. Valdez receive the
3rd place award in the 1st to 3rd class municipality in
the National Literacy Awards held at Baguio City. (Photo courtesy of SN gov’t)
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