Lapu mayor bares accomplishments

Mayor Radaza delivers her State of the Children’s Report at the Hoops Dome. (CDN PHOTO/NORMAN MENDOZA)

Around 10,000 students from the different public elementary and high schools in Lapu-Lapu City lauded Mayor Paz Radaza’s accomplishments in her 2016 State of the Children’s Report on Monday noon at the Hoops Dome.

Radaza rendered the report as part of the celebration of Children’s Month.

In her report, the mayor said that children’s education is her top priority because she believes that it is the best weapon to fight poverty.

Thus, she makes sure that the city pours in a big portion of the city’s funds to hire more teachers, build more school buildings, purchase equipment and organize program for the children.

For this school year, a total of 197 classrooms are set to be constructed with funding from the national government and the city government. Some of these classrooms have already been completed while some are still undergoing construction.

Currently, the city is applying the innovation of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) called the Starbooks in at least 20 public elementary, high schools and colleges in the city.

Startbooks is a computer software that contains hundreds of thousands of digitized science and technology resources in various formats.

The city also hired additional teachers and assigned them in the different schools to handle remedial classes for students who are falling behind in classes. “We are doing it so that no one will be left behind. I want to see all of you graduate together,” said Mayor Radaza.

The city is also giving more focus on the Lapu-Lapu City College which provides quality and cheap education for all Oponganons.

Since its establishment, the school has been registering an increase in enrollment every year, thus enabling the city government to open a campus extension in Barangay Gun-ob to accommodate its growing population.

The construction of school building for the College of Hospitality Management (HM) is ongoing at the Gun-ob campus.

“Thank you to our Honorable Congresswoman Aileen C. Radaza nga mao gyud ang nihatag ug budget nga P50 million alang sa Phase 2 construction sa atong HM Building,” said the mayor.

The city also upgraded the library collection of the city college through the acquisition of more books and professional journals and the provision of Starbooks as well.

It also recently turned over 25 sets of additional computers for online research and upgraded the Computer laboratory, and other school facilities.

In fact, one of our BSE-MAPEH graduates, Gee-Ann A. Saga, who is now a teacher, was awarded with 2016 Student Medal of Excellence Award by the Coalition for Better Education, Radaza said.

“She is a true pride of our Lapu-Lapu City College,” she added.

Saga was awarded for teaching the children outside the school as part of their church’s outreach activity.

The city college also got above passing percentage scores during the Licensure Examination for Teachers conducted in September last year and March this year. The city is also providing free review classes for the LET examiners at the city college.

The College of Technology and College of Hospitality Management have also achieved a 100 percent passing rate in the National Certificate II Assessment.

On the other hand, the city college ROTC unit also ranked second in the Regional Annual Administrative Tactical Inspection with an average score of 93.13 among 26 colleges and universities in Central Visayas.

The city has also facilitated the scholarship grants to 15 Congressional scholars through the office of Congresswoman Radaza as well as the 270 Tulong Dunong scholars of the Commission on Higher Education.

Lapu-Lapu City is also making sure to provide scholarships to the out-of-school youths using the funds raised from the Alay Lakad. This year, the city is supporting 45 out-of-school-youths taking up skills training at the Cebu Technological University and Cebu Normal University.

The city also partnered with a non-government organization in sending children to school since 2009. A total of 283 street and urban working children have availed of educational assistance from the Aboitiz Foundation Inc.

The city also helped those out-of-school youths, persons with disabilities, elderly and even inmates to finish their studies through the Alternative Learning System (ALS).

A total of 783 students, including 57 inmates, were the latest batch of ALS graduates who can now go to college for higher learning.

At the start of this school year, the city hosted the First International Lego League Philippine Island Robotics Competition. A few months after, they organized their very own Lapu-Lapu City Robotics Cup where the winners competed in the Philippine Robotics Olympiad held last month in Quezon City.

The top performers in the Philippine Cup, including the young Oponganons, are now gearing up for the World Robotics Olympiad on November 25 to 27 in New Delhi, India.

The city is also distributing a kilo of rice, milk and medicines to all the identified malnourished children in the barangays.

Other health-related programs of the city are the giving of vaccines to Grade 1 to Grade 7 school pupils for measles, German measles, tetanus and diphtheria, benefiting a total of 7,908 children and mass deworming for the pre-schoolers.

“Our children are our future leaders, then it is just right that we look into their health,” said Radaza.

Under the Social Welfare office, 84 day care centers in Lapu-Lapu have benefited from the Supplemental Feeding Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas as an effort to eliminate malnutrition in the city.

The city also created the Home Care Center program, which takes care of children in need of special protection as well as Stimulation and Therapeutic Activity Center for children with disability.