A 12-year-old student from Iloilo City emerged as champion in the recently concluded Diwa Pasiklaban sa Paaralan grand national finals at the Manila Ocean Park, with Kuya Kim Atienza as game master.
Diwa Pasiklaban sa Paaralan is the only ICT-integrated traveling quiz show in the country.
Ramon Galvan III of Children's Integrated School of Alta Tierra Inc. brings pride to fellow Ilonggos as the national finals winner in the newly formatted Diwa Pasiklaban sa Paaralan Caravan.
In school year 2009-2010, Diwa Pasiklaban sa Paaralan transformed itself into a high-tech competition, traveling the country on board a van that moves its laptop computers, server, LCD projector and sound system from one provincial destination to another, to promote ICT integration in education in all corners of the country.
The victory of Galvan was not an easy feat. He took part in two local competitions (first with fellow students from Iloilo held at Colegio de San Jose in Iloilo last December 9, 2009 and next, in a cluster finals where he competed with winners from Bacolod, Tacloban, Cebu, Cebu City and Dumaguete) before landing a slot in the grand national finals.
A reading enthusiast, Galvan went on an intensive training, both for Pasiklaban and for his upcoming participation in the Korea Invitational World Youth Mathematics Intercity Competition 2010 to be held in Seoul, South Korea from July 25-29, 2010.
Marco Chinayog of Step Learning Academy of Baguio City and Joaquin Labio of De La Salle Santiago Zobel School, Muntinlupa City were second and third placers respectively.
Other students who made it to the finals are Joshua Miguel Danac of St. Scholastica's Academy, Pampanga; Ricardo Roxas of St. Paul University, Tuguegarao City; John Joseph Chua of Colegio de San Bartolome de Novaliches, Quezon City; Emil Martin Jaducana of Corpus Christi Parochial School of Iligan, Iligan City and Chlex Wynsylph Villanueva of Holy Cross of Davao, Davao City.
In the high school category, Angeles City's pride, Camille Patricia Calma of Holy Angel University, won the gold.
The competition was conducted using the same high-tech format, with 10 laptops serving as playing consoles and a server that delivered 10 difficult, 10 average, and 10 easy questions in Science, Math, Languages, Literature, and General Information.
True to its nature of spreading the gospel of interactivity and ICT integration, contest organizers Diwa Learning Systems toured the participants in the country's science center, the Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center at the Mall of Asia and the country's first state-of-the-art oceanarium, the Manila Ocean Park.
Diwa Learning System's executive director Elma L. Ropeta said that a bigger Pasiklaban sa Paaralan is set for next year, with more local competitions. This year, the caravan went to 39 different locations and conducted 78 local competitions from Tuguegarao to General Santos City, participated in by 560 schools nationwide.
Pasiklaban sa Paaralan is a project of Diwa Learning Systems Inc., the only ICT-integrated educational publishing company in the Philippines. It is sponsored by Bato Balani magazine in celebration of its 30th year, Diwa 3G Textbooks, and Genyo in cooperation with the Manila Ocean Park, the Nido Science Discovery Center and Net 25.
For more information about Pasiklaban sa Paaralan, please visit www.diwa.ph or email to pasiklabancaravan@gmail.com. (PR)