STA. RITA -- Private high schools from Pampanga’s second district will battle it out during the Cluster 8 Schools Press Conference this September 16 to 17 at the Santa Rita College of Pampanga.
The cluster conference is a qualifier for student journalists who would like to compete in the division level of the conference, which is a yearly competition in the rudiments of writing journalism from news, to features, and sports, among others.
This leads to the National Schools Press Conference (NSPC) which is the highest competition for journalism for both private schools and public elementary and high schools in the Philippines.
The journalism contest starts in the provincial level with the Division Schools Press Conference (DSPC), where the top three to seven in each category, depending on the size of the certain region, qualifies to the Regional Schools Press Conference (RSPC), and from which the top three will be chosen to represent their respective regions in the NSPC.
Collaborative media categories, like radio broadcasting and desktop publishing, are also anticipated events in the competition.
The competing schools include Santa Rita College, Dominican School, Saint Catherine Academy, Guagua National Colleges, and Santa Cruz Academy of Lubao, and Saint Mary’s Academy, among others.
Winners who would qualify for the division level will be competing with other private as well as public schools. Winners will be able to represent their province in the regional level. Regional level winners are then fielded to the national competition.
The yearly conferences are part of the provisions of the Campus Journalism Act of 1991 that aims to promote campus journalism through establishment of campus papers and honing of student journalists through training and competitions.