A National Academic Festival (NAF), hailed as the first of its kind, to be participated in by some of the best tertiary students throughout the country will soon form part of the yearly activities of the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU).

Dr. Gonzalo Duque, president of the Lyceum-Northwestern University and the first Pangasinense elected president in the 75-year old PACU, proposed the NAF to further enhance academic excellence among students in the country.

DUQUE

Duque, who received a plaque of appreciation from the Dagupan City Council for having been elected PACU president, told the councilors that the NAF can be an effective means to develop the Filipino nation through academics.

“We will invest in the National Academic Olympics with the vision and direction that it would become a world academic festival soon,” said Duque.

The PACU president said that if his proposal is adopted by the PACU board of directors, the NAF would be launched in April next year with the competition to be started in June.

Duque said the current national inter-school competitions for higher educational institutions (HEIs) is the Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA) which he is seeking to expand with the inclusion of competitions through academics under NAF.

The infrastructure created and maintained by PRISAA can both be replicated and further utilized if HEIs come to an agreement to adopt an academic wing to the national competitions of the PRISAA, Duque said.

He said what may start as a simple friendly competition could, in time, provide the impetus for the birth of future intellectual groups and melting pot of the nation yearly.

He said there are a number of international scholastic competitions being held in different parts of the world, but all these “are not necessarily as comprehensive and impact-generating as compared to the model that we are to develop.”

Duque foresees the NAF to evolve into something bigger, like a possible international academic competition and will create an opportunity to promote friendly cross-cultural competition among the best of the best students worldwide.

DAGUPAN
COUNCIL OK

The Dagupan city council, headed by Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, agreed to adopt the suggestions of Duque seeking the creation of a special task force that will study and propose solutions to the growing problems of education in the city.

Fernandez has already asked Councilor Danilo Torio, chairman on the committee on education, to propose a resolution adopting the proposal.

City Schools Superintendent Aurora Domingo had enumerated the problems faced by the education sector, including infrastructure limitations and threats such as flooding and termites.

Duque said he is willing to sit down with the members of the task force so that the approach to the problem of the education sector can be identified in a wholistic manner.—LM

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments