SULU – Hundreds of applicants underwent a series of screening here for Sulu Schools Division’s Teacher I position “to boost proficient and quality education in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).”
“We are implementing a systematic and professional selection of teachers,” Dr. John Magno, ARMM’s Department of Education (DepEd) secretary said.
Just this week, the Teachers’ Assessment and Competency Examination was conducted with panel interview as well as teaching demonstration before regional officials that include Dr. Magno, Atty. Sittie Mariam Balahim, DepEd-ARMM assistant secretary for operation; Fatima Abubakar, Director II of Bureau of Secondary Education; and Atty. Mojahid Guro, Chief Legal Officer, among others.
“We are selecting the best among our applicants, so that they will be able to produce achiever students,” Dr. Magno said. “We want our teachers to be globally competitive.”
Intensive screening of applicants’ pertinent papers such as Transcript of Records, General Weighted Average, seminar-training certificates and Licensure Examination for Teachers board rating, among others, were also conducted beforehand.
Twenty nine-year-old Al-Fadim Maih S. Asaali II was among the hopeful applicants who underwent the screenings. “I am hopeful I would be accepted and would receive an item after these screenings,” Asaali said.
After graduating from Mindanao State University-Sulu in 2012 with Secondary Education Degree, major in Social Sciences, Asaali worked in South Western Mindanao Islamic Institute for four years. He is now a Grade 9 Araling Panlipunan volunteer teacher at the Jolo School of Fisheries receiving no compensation.
Another applicant was Elementary Education degree holder Sagida Pula, 24, also a volunteer teacher at the Hamid Halim Elementary School. “I am hopeful I will be able to pass the screening as long as I do my best,” she said.
Dr. Magno said that the series of screenings were conducted to institutionalize the selection process wherein applicants were assessed in equal footing and to eliminate nepotism that beset the region’s Education department in previous years.
Meanwhile DepEd-ARMM turned-over on Tuesday, July 21, medical logistics to Health and Nutrition Section of the Sulu Schools Division and to representatives from 89 public elementary and secondary schools in the province.
The distribution of logistics was led by Dr. Magno and Shareen Lakibul, RN, chief of Health and Nutrition Section of Sulu Schools Division. The logistics include 89 blood pressure equipment, one set of dental chairs with compressor, 10 nebulizer packs and 3,000 units of anaesthesia.
Sittie Pieron Du, RN, who serves as DepEd-ARMM’s chief of Health and Nutrition Unit, said the turned-over logistics “will help in catering to the medical needs of students, as well as of the teachers.”
The Sulu Schools Division has 106 school nurses, four dentists, four dental aides and one medical doctor serving more than 500 public elementary and secondary schools.
Pieron added eight other schools divisions across the region are also set to receive medical logistics this year, with Sulu as the first recipient.
“The logistics will benefit the students, and improve their nutrition status,” said Darwisa Anduli, RN, a school nurse for 17 years. Anduli is a school nurse at Salih Yusah Elementary School and Hadji Gulamo Rasul Elementary School, both located in this town. “Our teachers need not to go to hospitals for health attention,” Anduli said.
For the first quarter of 2014-2015, the Health and Nutrition Section of Sulu Schools Division recorded 7,622 cases of dental caries, or tooth decay, which takes 20.29% of total ailments from elementary and secondary students. (Bureau of Public Information)
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