Private school administrators nationwide are adopting a new policy geared towards promoting better health and saving the environment.

Dr. Gonzalo Duque, president of the Dagupan-based Lyceum-Northwestern University and newly elected president of the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU), said their members have agreed to turn their group into a “socially-responsible and socially oriented association”.

DUQUE

Duque said PACU, the country’s largest association of school administrators, now wants to go beyond its primary role of defending the interest of school owners.

“We want to show to the people that PACU will not only be an association of colleges and universities that will cater to its members by defending their interests but will also cater to the needs of the students,” Duque explained.

Duque said their initial undertaking would involve environmental protection, particularly the planting of 20 million trees, through the NSTP (National Service Training Program).

PACU plans to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) soon with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for this.

Duque’s LNU already piloted this program last month when then Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Angelo Reyes arrived in Dagupan to sign a MOA .

Duque said PACU will also involve itself in different health campaigns such as the promotion of breastfeeding.

“We should erase the misinformation now engrained in the minds of mothers (that commercially-produced baby formula is the best substitute for breastmilk) by campaigning among our students that breastfeeding is still the best approach,” he said.

PACU will also support the dengue drive and other projects of the Department of Health.

ACADEMIC
OLYMPIAD

Duque also announced the holding of the first ever Academic Olympiad, scheduled simultaneously with the holding of the National Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA) Games.

The Academic Olympiads is aimed at promoting mental health alongside the advancement of physical health with the PRISAA Games.—LM

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