The municipal government of Magalang in Pampanga is pushing for quality education programs for the youth. 

Mayor Maria Lourdes Lacson  said that before the start of the in-person classes, she personally visited the 35 public schools in the town to see the condition of the facilities and ensure their readiness and safety for both learners and teachers. 

“We inspect the schools to know their needs. Based on our assessment, we saw that some have problems in their physical design; while some need repair and maintenance. For these schools, the local government augmented to ensure the safety of the facilities,” Lacson said. 

The mayor added that municipal government allocated additional funds on top of the Special Education Fund for the repair and maintenance of classrooms. 

It also stationed traffic marshalls in every school to ensure the security and safety of students attending face-to-face classes. 

Meanwhile, the mayor also mentioned that the two-year online class and modular learning impacted the students’ learning, citing that assessments indicated that their literacy and numeracy skills need to be improved. 

“This is one of our major problems concerning the education sector. This is what we are trying to address now in coordination with our school supervisors on how to prioritize increasing the literacy of students to  prepare them for their next grade levels. We are in talks of amending plans and policies that seek to strengthen and enhance student learning,” Lacson stressed. 

She added that the educational programs intended to support the students’ academic and financial needs are continuously given by the local government. 

Among these is the Special Program for Employment of Students, as well as various scholarship programs to assist and help students complete their education. 

In fact, Lacson said the local government sent scholars to Taiwan in September to pursue and finish their four-year degree programs. 

“We want to stress the importance and value of education so we want our programs to be all-encompassing. We do not want poverty to hinder the youth from going to school because we believe that they will be our future partners in achieving good governance,” she said. 

The mayor also assured that their scholars are financially supported until they graduate from college, and even during board examinations. (PIA 3)