SPORTS ACADEMY. The world-class athletics stadium of the New Clark City will be used as training facility of the country’s first National Academy of Sports beginning next year. The Department of Education has teamed up with Philippine Sports Commission for the implementation of the sports academy. (File photo)
MANILA – To develop more promising students in sports, the Department of Education (DepEd) will team up with the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) on the implementation and establishment of the National Academy of Sports (NAS) this year.
“Ang DepEd at ang PSC, sa katunayan, ay magkatuwang sa mga initial preparations para sa pagbubuo nitong National Academy of Sports (The DepEd and PSC, in fact, are partners in the initial preparations for the establishment of National Academy of Sports),” DepEd Undersecretary for Field Operations and Palarong Pambansa Secretariat Revsee Escobedo said in a press release issued on Tuesday.
Escobedo shared that DepEd Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones would be the chairperson while PSC Chairman William ‘Butch’ Ramirez would be the vice-chairman of the NAS.
“Ang layunin ng pagtatatag ng (The objective of the establishment of) National Academy of Sports is to implement a quality and enhanced secondary education program, integrated with a special curriculum on sports,” Escobedo said.
The NAS was created on June 9, 2020 after President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11470 or the National Sports Academy Act to provide an avenue for secondary students who want to pursue professional sports.
Forming a new strand in the education sector, the NAS System aims to design a special curriculum for athletic scholars, provide holistic quality education to the learners who are excelling in sports, and integrate all sports academy to one governance and management system.
NAS System also intends to develop, strengthen, and integrate future campuses into the system and provide world-class sports facilities to produce globally-competitive players.
“Hinahangad ng batas na ito ay magkaroon tayo ng world-class facilities kung saan dito magsasanay ang ating mga potential na mga manlalaro para sa Asian Games at Olympics (The law aims to build world-class facilities wherein our potential athletes will train for Asian Games and Olympics),” Escobedo said.
For the succeeding steps, the organization would create NAS Road Map, focus more on the curriculum development, construct the NAS Main Campus, and draft its operational manuals to improve the system more.
Next year, he said focus will be on the main campus which is the New Clark City which houses world-class track oval and swimming pool used in 2019 when the country hosted the Southeast Asian Games.
He said the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) will allow the NAS to use the facilities for training of the student-athletes.
NAS will have an allotted PHP1.86 billion in the 2021 proposed budget, where PHP264 million will be for personnel services and maintenance and other operating expenses, and PHP1.60 billion will be for capital outlay.
Briones was delighted with the addition of the NAS in the education sector, which could give learners more avenue to pursue their specialization.
“Sa ngayon, medyo kumpleto na ang ating [programs], mayroon na tayong mga science high schools, mayroon na ding high schools for the arts, ngayon mayroon na tayong high school for sports (For now, we have complete programs, we have science high schools, we have also high schools for the arts, and now we have high school for sports),” she said. (DepEd PR)
