PIA Press Release
Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Tabuk City schools top Kalinga Division press con

TABUK CITY, Kalinga,Jan.17(PIA)-- The Tabuk National High School (TNHS) and Tabuk Central School (TCS) of this city topped the recently held Kalinga Division Press Conference held last Saturday January 14 at TCS.

Based on the summary result of the press conference, TNHS led the top five for the high school level with a total score of 56 followed by St. William’s Academy with 30 points; St. Tonis College Inc. High School Department with 25 points; Rizal National School of Arts and Trades (RNSAT) main with 21 points and St. Michael’s Academy with 14 points.

For the elementary level, the top five are TCS with 32 points, followed by St. Tonis College Inc. Elementary Department with 30 points; Liwan West Elementary School (ES) with 27 points; Bulanao Central School 24 points; Pinukpuk ES with 22 point, and Calaocan ES with 20 points.

Division Press Conference Coordinator and Supervisor Dr. Marylinda Santos said the top five winners in the individual category regardless of their school ranking will compose the province’s contenders to the regional press conference in Baguio City next week.

In preparation for this, Kalinga DepEd Division she said will be providing the participants a briefing and seminar this coming Saturday.

With the theme “Promoting Digital Literacy through Campus Journalism,” this year’s competition she said has incorporated new guidelines in the contest particularly on newspaper layout, photo journalism and broadcasting where the contestants are required to use laptops and digital cameras to measure their capabilities in utilizing said gadgets.

To cope with the changes and trends in the digital learning approaches, school paper advisers she said must learn the trade and endeavour to be computer literate to be able promote the use of technology in the production of their school papers.

The training of school paper staffs should also start from the first month of classes not only to provide them the needed skills, knowledge and exposure but also the experience of being a campus journalist, she said.

As part of their training, the production of school papers she said should also be done on a regular basis to realize its purpose which is to inform the students of their school activities and not only for the purpose of the competition.

There is no reason she said for schools not being able to cope with the digital technology considering that almost all schools in the province were given computers as part of the Department of Education’s Inter Connectivity Technology program which is under the immediate management of the school principal.

Campus journalism, just like the regular sports competition, should be given importance by every school administration considering that this would not only encourage competence but could also help hone the skills of students and encourage them to pursue a career on journalism in the future, Santos stressed. (JDP/GGD- PIA-CAR, Kalinga)