Sunday, August 24, 2008 Elementary students undergo scout training
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Leaving the luxury of their homes, dozens of elementary pupils from all over the province have joined the annual Patrol Leader Training Course (PLTC) organized by the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) here.
Camping for three days at the Capitol grounds last Friday, the pupils underwent various seminars and workshops in preparation for future leadership tasks in their own respective schools.
Around 60 pupils from public and private elementary schools in the province participated in the event.
According to Edgar Timbol, council scout executive for Pampanga, the training also advance the ideal of becoming "well rounded individuals" among scout participants.
"Being a boy scout and participating in this kind of trainings would enable our young ones to become potential leaders and in their small spheres, in school and at home with their friends, become leaders themselves," Timbol said.
The PLTC is composed of lecture, training drills, sharing and cooperative activities that intend to inculcate social responsibility and leadership traits among the participant.
Advancing from the PLTC, participants could then participate with the Crew Leadership Training Course (CLTC).
The CLTC is the high school component of the scouting training while the PLTC is for the elementary scouts.
Timbol said the trainings of the scouts do not end with the three-day training. He said training participants would be monitored on their respective schools after the trainings to ensure if the scouts are putting into practice what they have learned in the training course.
He also lamented that the "spirit of scouting" and the pride of becoming a boy scout is fast declining in the provincial level.
"We hope that through these activities we could once again revitalize the interest of the pupils and students to become scouts and have the training to become able and efficient leaders," Timbol added. (IOF)
