UPV, DepEd-Iloilo join forces for youth formation

The University of the Philippines Visayas (UP Visayas), through the UPV Action Research Project of the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Department of Education (DepEd) Schools Division of Iloilo (SDO-Iloilo) through its Youth Formation Division (YFD), signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) for a province-wide collaboration on enhancing the latter’s youth formation program.

The signing happened on May 23, 2022 at MO2 Westown Hotel in Iloilo City.

The agreement formalizes the partnership between the two parties to develop the country’s youth for societal growth through planning, implementation, and evaluation of province-wide capacity-building activities on topics relevant to youth formation and writing research papers on youth formation-related topics.

UP Visayas Chancellor Dr. Clement C. Camposano lauded DepEd SDO-Iloilo for taking the step and collaborating with UP Visayas in what he calls, “a desire to not only connect but to engage” to advance civic learning in Western Visayas.

“This has been our ambition [from the very beginning of my administration] so that UP’s claim to leadership will be translated into service. This all starts by engaging, nurturing, and supporting other institutions, especially the education sector, its teachers, and the youth,” Camposano said.

He added that to sustain the project, there is a need to democratize the production of knowledge and the teachers need to have the right disposition to produce knowledge to successfully affect the youth. He pronounced that this is where the university comes in in the agreement.

DepEd SDO-Iloilo Superintendent Roel F. Bermejo said, “In DepEd SDO-Iloilo whenever a blessing comes, we would always say, ‘God is good all the time’. And so, we thank UP Visayas for this partnership and we are very excited about this new engagement that will not only involve our teachers but also benefit our learners and their societal growth.”

Bermejo also said that the forged partnership will enable them to reach their target objectives for their teachers and their learners in the Schools Division.

He added that this will also help them further the intervention package found in their development program called “BUYLO, Iloilo!,” which has been instrumental for them in these trying times of the pandemic.

“With this engagement with UP Visayas, this time, we are looking forward in the Schools Division to produce more knowledge to contribute to the holistic development of our learners who will be value-driven, career-oriented, culturally-rooted, and socially responsible,” Bermejo added.

The agreement was signed by UP Visayas Chancellor Dr. Clement C. Camposano, Division of Professional Education Chairperson Prof. Pepito R. Fernandez, Jr., and the College of Arts and Sciences Community Outreach Program-BIDANI Coordinator Prof. Josephine T. Firmase, DepEd SDO-Iloilo Superintendent Dr. Roel F. Bermejo, Social Mobilization Senior Education Program Specialist John C. Tamaño, and Youth Formation Division Project Development Officer Jennifer B. Pedroso.

The signing of the MoA was witnessed by the UP Visayas Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Dr. Philip Ian P. Padilla, UPV Action Research Project Manager Prof. Early Sol A. Gadong, UPV Action Research Project Co-Manager Mx. John Bert C. Tutisura, UPV Action Research Assistant Manager Mr. Prabhat Ranjan B. Ubas, COP-BIDANI’s Ms. Elna Mariel M. Nanta, DepEd SDO-Iloilo Schools Governance and Operations Division (SGOD) Chief Dr. Gilbert D. Solidum, YFD Project Development Officers Ms. Jennifer S. Cubos, Ms. Mariane Joy M. Polonan, and Ms. Cindy Grace S. Amor, and Social Mobilization Education Program Specialist Engr. Joneflor V. Bales.

The implementers of the project will come from the UP Visayas College of Arts and Sciences’ Division of Professional Education, Community Outreach Program-BIDANI, UPV Office of Student Affairs, and the Division of Social Sciences – Psychology Cluster. (Prabhat Ranjan B. Ubas/UPV-CAS Division of Humanities)