Lawmaker initiates enhancement program for teachers

HOUSE Deputy Speaker for Mindanao Ma. Isabelle Climaco-Salazar is setting the stage for the conduct of a comprehensive enhancement program for Zamboanga City’s over 5,000 public school teachers.

Salazar said the program dubbed as “Professional Enhancement Training” (PET) project is primarily aimed to improve and enrich the teachers’ skills as well as help update teachers’ techniques.

Salazar, who represents the city’s second district, said the PET project will be a collaborative effort of her office and the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Civil Service Commission (CSC).

Salazar said the project will commence early part of May and will be a six-day training, free of charge, that will cater to the more than 5,000 teachers of elementary, high school, special education and adult learning systems.

She said the teachers’ enhancement program forms part of her Security, Health and Education (She) advocacy project.

She said the participant-teachers will be clustered into three groups and each group will undergo a two-day seminar and workshop.

Salazar, herself a teacher, sees it fit for all teachers to be flexible and dynamic in their teaching ways to make learning fun and enriching.

Salazar stressed that the ultimate beneficiaries of the program are the youths or young children who deserve quality education to adequately prepare them for the future.

In line with her She advocacy project, Salazar has initiated the conduct of a caravan, a comprehensive outreach program in all of the barangays in the west coast from January to March.

Salazar's district covers the 37 barangays in this city's west coast.

Aside from the grant of free medical and dental services, the caravan also included training of barangay officials and tanods on security and disaster risk reduction and consultation with barangay officials and folks concerning projects and programs to be implemented in a specific barangay.

Salazar has vowed to intensify further the implementation of programs on security, health and education during her second term stressing that this is intended to empower people in the barangays.

These programs are to complement the initiatives of the local government, Salazar said.