TALISAY City Mayor Eduardo Gullas reinstated Dr. Richel Bacaltos as president of the Talisay City College (TCC).
After three years since he was removed as TCC president by former Talisay City Mayor Johnny De los Reyes, Bacaltos vowed to restore the local college’s honor and glory as one of the country’s top training schools for teachers.
Bacaltos told reporters that following his assumption as TCC president last July 1, Gullas ordered him to implement changes in the city-owned college, including removing 20 contractual faculty members.
Bacaltos said they decided to let go of the 20 contractual teachers to follow the requirements of the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) in terms of qualifications for qualified teachers.
Some of those who were removed were newly-hired contractual teachers.
He said their initial plan was to invite old teachers of TCC to teach again, but since majority of them have been hired in full-time positions, the school plans to hire qualified teachers.
Aside from changing their staff, Bacaltos also ordered by Gullas to conduct an inventory of TCC’s physical facilities to determine if they are still in good condition.
He was also ordered by the mayor to fast-track the issuance of government permits for TCC’s courses, particularly its Hospitality Management course, which has been left unaccredited since 2010.
Dr. Edgar Martinez, who served as acting TCC president and caretaker since 2013, had earlier promised to comply with Ched’s requirements to get authority for their HM course after some of their graduates were warned that their credentials could be questioned.
Gullas, on the other hand, plans to put up a “Talisay City University System” that will connect TCC with the city’s 18 public national high schools and their proposed technical-vocational school that the City will establish at the old Lagtang Public Market.
He said that putting up the “Talisay City University System” will allow students, especially those in senior high school, to have more choices as to where they could avail themselves of tracks that they want to pursue.