FOLLOWING Department of Education-Davao Region (Deped-Davao)'s decision to close the Salugpongan Tatanu Igkanugon Community Learning Center Inc. (Salugpungan) and its affiliated schools, Compostela Valley Governor Jayvee Tyron L. Uy said that more schools will be built in sitios to address the lack of schools in remote areas.
“Now that the issue has been settled, there is a need to ensure that former students of these Salugpungan schools will continue their education. We are now building better schools in the affected communities,” Uy said.
Uy added that he agrees with Deped's decision to totally close the operation of the school citing that even before, these schools failed to secure Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) when they put up structures in their province.
“We find no problem in the decision of the Deped-Davao to close down Salugpungan schools in Davao Region. We concur with the reasons cited by the Deped the non-compliance of the Salugpungan schools to the basic education curriculum, material misrepresentation and the failure of these schools,” Uy said.
On Tuesday, October 8, two months after the school was suspended, Deped 11 revealed its decision to close down the private school based on the result of the investigation of the five-man fact-finding committee created by Deped.
The department also requested Salugpungan to turn over all its student records to the Deped Schools Division Office for proper custody.
It can be recalled that on May 31 this year, a Salugpongan School, accused to be teaching Communist ideology, was demolished by the communities through a resolution to give way for a new two-classroom school building in Sitio Puting Bato, Ngan, Compostela, Compostela Valley.
A school building that costs around P1.2 million was turned over to the community to address the problem of lack of school facilities in the far-flung areas and provide them a conducive learning environment. The local government hired two licensed teachers to facilitate the classes.
Aside from Sitio Puting Bato, they already turned over new schools for Sitio Bongloy in Pagsabangan, New Bataan, Purok 3 in Panansalan, Compostela and Sitio Sapang Lubog in Pantukan.
New schools are also set to be turned over for Side 4, Mangayon, Compostela, and Sitio Danauan in Manurigao, New Bataan, the farthest Sitio in the province.
“We made this possible through the generosity of the private sector that funded these schools and our volunteers who helped us in the construction. Because all of these efforts, we are optimistic that sooner, students can go to better schools, their lives restored to normal and our communities attaining lasting peace,” Uy said.