Baguio, Benguet lead Cordillera press, science, math school tilts

By Gina Dizon

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Baguio City and Benguet romped off with most of the prized winners of the recently conducted regional schools press conference, and science and math fair participated by elementary and secondary school students from six provinces and two cities in Kalinga last week.

Baguio emerged overall champion with 298 points in the regional press conference followed by Benguet 1st runner up  with 226 pts, Kalinga  2nd runner up with124.5 pts, Tabuk City 3rd runner up  with 124 pts, Mountain Province 4rth runner up  with117 pts, Ifugao, 5th runner up  with 110pts,  Abra, 6th runner up  with 99.5 pts and Apayao, 7th runner up  with 66pts.

Events in press conference in English and Filipino were news writing, editorial cartooning, editorial writing, feature writing, sports writing, copyreading and headline writing, science and technology writing  and photojournalism; and group events namely radio broadcasting & script writing, television broadcasting & script writing, and collaborative desktop publishing.

Baguio City too, emerged champion in regional science and mathematics festival followed by  Benguet 1st runner-up: Tabuk City 2nd runner-up, Apayao, 3rd runner-up: Abra 4th runner-up,Mountain Province 5th runner-up, Ifugao 6th runner-up, and Kalinga 7th runner-up.

Baguio-based students receive journalism trainings from Baguio-based  media practitioners, netizen Alex Bomogao said.

Some Baguio -based media conduct journalism trainings for Baguio and Benguet students and also in Kalinga and Ifugao.

Regional DepEd education supervisor  Thelma_Dalayon said  pupils and students from Baguio and Benguet are closer to media outlets and media sources, unlike in some remote  schools where  newspapers are not even seen.

Baguio and Benguet hosts a number of media outlets including print, radio and TV.  

While there is no data to prove why Baguio and Benguet-based students are performing well in said competitions, the conduct of training is a strong motivation and reason for students to excel, Dalayon said.

In the science and math competitions, Benguet and Baguio have  their science schools and more schools to choose from, Dalayon added.

Another factor is the financial support the local government  gives. In Baguio they give financial support and incentives from their special education fund (SEF) to their competing delegates.

Other schools from other parts of the region solicit from politicians and parents supporting their   student-delegates for some costs like transportation .

In some cases, teacher-chaperons answer for some expenses.

DepEd is responsible for operational expenses during the event.