CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—The number of city colleges in Central Luzon has increased to eight as the City College of San Fernando (CCSF) in this Pampanga capital opened on Friday with 606 scholars.
The CCSF joined the Kolehiyo ng Subic and Gordon City Colleges in Zambales; Limay Polytechnic Institute in Bataan; Mabalacat College in Pampanga; Eduardo L. Joson Memorial College in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija; and Alarilla College in the City of Meycauayan and Baliuag Polytechnic College in Bulacan, according to records of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd).
The CHEd has no data on total enrolment in the region’s city colleges. CHED has 3,866 scholars this year in the region, according to Dr. Maura Consolacion Cristobal, regional director.
The creation of the CCSF indicated the “increasing intervention of the local government in easing poverty through access to education,” said San Fernando Mayor Oscar Rodriguez.
The CHEd gave CCSF a permit to operate for school years 2009-2010 and 2010-11.
In providing scholarship to 606 students, CCSF made a record by having the highest number of college scholars in the region’s city colleges, Rodriguez said.
These also raised the number of the city government’s scholars to more than 16,000. The rest are high school students, according to Councilor Jimmy Lazatin, chair of the education committee.
CCSF will operate on a P7.5-million supplemental budget from the city government until December 2009, according to Dr. Ronnie Mallari, the college president.
Classes are held 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays at the Pampanga High School, which the city government also supports.
Mallari has assembled 25 faculty members to support the first course offerings in business administration, elementary and secondary education, hotel and restaurant management and information technology. Students have to maintain an average grade of 83 to ensure continued scholarship.
Local officials also launched the “Adopt-A-Scholar” program to increase the participation of the private sector in providing education to the youth in the city that, based on its public governance program, aims to be a “Habitat for Human Excellence by 2030.”
In the eight-point agenda of the city government and the multi-sectoral governance council—education is top, working along the vision of “edukasyong abot-kamay, kinabukasang abot-tanaw.”
Donations of P5,000 for tuition can support more students, Mallari said, adding that of 1,500 applicants, only 606 passed the rigid qualifying exams.
Tax reforms have enabled the city government to raise its education budget to P130 million, which includes P33.5 million for over 10,000 scholars, according to Councilor Alex Patio, chair of the committee on ways and means.
Rodriguez said the CCSF has to be opened because out of 42 students who complete high school in the city, less than 30 enter college.
“This (CCSF) is a form of empowerment to our young Fernandinos. We cannot waste their future,” he said.
Youth leaders presented theater skits and cultural numbers to echo the dreams of young people to get education and better their lives.
Bernadette Cabrera, a public school teacher, cancelled her plan to work overseas when her daughter Demie, 16, was accepted in the CCSF.
“I am overwhelmed. Masuelo ku pu. Mepanatag ku (I’m gratified. I’m at peace). Demie said we would not have to be separated anymore,” she said.
Ryan Zapata, 18, is able to resume his studies through the CCSF. He stopped in 2006 when his father, a tricycle driver, could not afford to help him get a college degree.
“Masaya ku pu uling makapag-aral na ku (I’m happy because I’m able to study again),” said Zapata who plans to help his four siblings finish college soon as he finds work after graduation.
[Those who want to adopt a scholar may contact Dr. Mallari at (045)9618957.]
The CCSF joined the Kolehiyo ng Subic and Gordon City Colleges in Zambales; Limay Polytechnic Institute in Bataan; Mabalacat College in Pampanga; Eduardo L. Joson Memorial College in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija; and Alarilla College in the City of Meycauayan and Baliuag Polytechnic College in Bulacan, according to records of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd).
The CHEd has no data on total enrolment in the region’s city colleges. CHED has 3,866 scholars this year in the region, according to Dr. Maura Consolacion Cristobal, regional director.
The creation of the CCSF indicated the “increasing intervention of the local government in easing poverty through access to education,” said San Fernando Mayor Oscar Rodriguez.
The CHEd gave CCSF a permit to operate for school years 2009-2010 and 2010-11.
In providing scholarship to 606 students, CCSF made a record by having the highest number of college scholars in the region’s city colleges, Rodriguez said.
These also raised the number of the city government’s scholars to more than 16,000. The rest are high school students, according to Councilor Jimmy Lazatin, chair of the education committee.
CCSF will operate on a P7.5-million supplemental budget from the city government until December 2009, according to Dr. Ronnie Mallari, the college president.
Classes are held 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays at the Pampanga High School, which the city government also supports.
Mallari has assembled 25 faculty members to support the first course offerings in business administration, elementary and secondary education, hotel and restaurant management and information technology. Students have to maintain an average grade of 83 to ensure continued scholarship.
Local officials also launched the “Adopt-A-Scholar” program to increase the participation of the private sector in providing education to the youth in the city that, based on its public governance program, aims to be a “Habitat for Human Excellence by 2030.”
In the eight-point agenda of the city government and the multi-sectoral governance council—education is top, working along the vision of “edukasyong abot-kamay, kinabukasang abot-tanaw.”
Donations of P5,000 for tuition can support more students, Mallari said, adding that of 1,500 applicants, only 606 passed the rigid qualifying exams.
Tax reforms have enabled the city government to raise its education budget to P130 million, which includes P33.5 million for over 10,000 scholars, according to Councilor Alex Patio, chair of the committee on ways and means.
Rodriguez said the CCSF has to be opened because out of 42 students who complete high school in the city, less than 30 enter college.
“This (CCSF) is a form of empowerment to our young Fernandinos. We cannot waste their future,” he said.
Youth leaders presented theater skits and cultural numbers to echo the dreams of young people to get education and better their lives.
Bernadette Cabrera, a public school teacher, cancelled her plan to work overseas when her daughter Demie, 16, was accepted in the CCSF.
“I am overwhelmed. Masuelo ku pu. Mepanatag ku (I’m gratified. I’m at peace). Demie said we would not have to be separated anymore,” she said.
Ryan Zapata, 18, is able to resume his studies through the CCSF. He stopped in 2006 when his father, a tricycle driver, could not afford to help him get a college degree.
“Masaya ku pu uling makapag-aral na ku (I’m happy because I’m able to study again),” said Zapata who plans to help his four siblings finish college soon as he finds work after graduation.
[Those who want to adopt a scholar may contact Dr. Mallari at (045)9618957.]
