By Danny O. Calleja
LIGAO CITY, March 2 (PNA) -– Rep. Fernando Gonzalez of Albay’s third congressional district has inspired Bicol youth towards becoming future country leaders.
“Leaders are prime movers of the country’s future and I look at you to be among them in days to come,” Gonzalez told participants to the 2015 Regional Leadership Congress for Supreme Pupil and Student Government Officers and Leaders held at the Ligao National High School here over the weekend.
Themed “Responding to the Needs of Adolescent Issues and Concerns: Equipping Leaders’ Skills in Reaching Out to Peers,” the grand gathering was attended by over 700 delegates from 13 schools’ division of the Department of Education (DepEd) in Bicol.
“Without leaders, we go nowhere. We would know where to go, how to proceed and how to do things a little better when people like you would take the lead, the initiative and the sacrifice towards coming up with leaders that would guide the nation to progress as well as safeguard our educational system leading to the improvement of our schools,” Gonzalez said.
The leadership congress is an annual gathering of elected Supreme Pupil Government (SPG) officers and Supreme Student Government (SSG) officers of the current school year.
This event also serves as a venue for pupils and students to develop their knowledge and skills as future leaders of their localities and of the country, according to DepEd assistant regional director for Bicol Gilbert Sadsad.
The yearly activity, he said, is corollary to DepEd Order No. 49, Series of 2011 that mandates programs, projects and activities of the Supreme Pupil/Student Government aimed at sharing best leadership practices in running the school’s core organization and equipping each participant with knowledge, skills and attitude of effective leadership.
In the activities, participants are made to interact meaningfully with others through leadership sessions and group dynamics; identify and apply leadership skills from the training; and be enriched with the knowledge and skills in developing leaders through the pupil/student government, he said.
Highlights of the three-day congress included the sharing of best leadership practices among the student government leaders and Teachers Development Program (TDP) for teacher-advisers of the pupil/student bodies conducted under the management of the Division Education Program Supervisors simultaneous with the sessions for the pupil/student delegates, Sadsad said.
Participants came from the schools divisions for the provinces of Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate and Sorsogon as well as the cities of Legazpi, Ligao, Tabaco, Iriga, Naga, Masbate and Sorsogon, he added. (PNA)