SCHOOL OPENING. Camille Joseph Khoury, manager of partnership and knowledge development of Colleges and Institute Canada (from left), Pangasinan Vice Governor Mark Ronald Lambino, Governor Ramon Guico III, and Pangasinan Polytechnic College (PPC) Interim President Dr. Raymundo Rovillos lead the ribbon cutting during the inauguration of the PPC Center for Lifelong Learning on Feb.14, 2024 at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center in Lingayen town, Pangasinan. The center will initially offer technical-vocational courses to 100 students either by the end of March or early April this year. (Photo by Hilda Austria)
LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – The establishment of the provincial government-run Pangasinan Polytechnic College (PPC) is expected to complement other higher education institutions (HEIs) by offering courses unavailable in other schools.
Commission on Higher Education (CHED)-Ilocos Region Director Dr. Christine Nabor-Ferrer, in a phone interview on Wednesday, said the school’s focus is to offer programs that are not duplicates of those being offered by nearby HEIs, and programs that cannot be accommodated by other learning institutions.
“Examples are multimedia arts, (and) agri-business, which are being offered in Pangasinan State University (PSU) campuses in Asingan and Sta. Maria but not in Central Pangasinan,” she said.
The initial courses to be offered by PPC are Bachelor of Multimedia Arts, BS Agri-Business, Bachelor of Public Administration Major in Local Governance, and Bachelor of Special Needs Education, which have pending approvals from CHED.
“Agri-business is one course that will be helpful in community development especially since in Pangasinan agriculture is a major industry, while the special needs education is not yet being offered in the province,” she added.
PPC targets to start classes in August this year but its technical-vocational school, the Center for Lifelong Learning (CeLL), will start offering programs either in the last week of March or the first week of April.
“What’s good about CeLL is that it is supported by experts from various component units or systems of the University of the Philippines. They are part of those designing the innovative curriculum of PPC because we would like to integrate trends in lifelong education,” Ferrer said.
About a hundred students from Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program (4Ps) member-families will be the first scholars of CeLL.
The PPC Campus and the CeLL facility are located at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center in this town. (PNA)
