Cebu schools all set for achievement tests
By: Juju S. Manubag
Cebu City, Feb. 28 (PIA) – All schools in Cebu are now ready for the National Achievement Test (NAT) and Regional Achievement Test (RAT) on March 2 and 14 respectively.
In an interview with PIA, Department of Education (DepEd)-7 Information Officer Dr. Rebeca Clara Falconi said the various elementary and secondary schools in Cebu City are now ready for the examinations.
Falconi further said all Grade III pupils in public elementary and Madrasah schools will take the NAT exams on March 2 while Grade VI pupils of public and private elementary schools will take the NAT exams on March 14.
The second year high school students of public and private schools will take the said examinations on March 10, Falconi added.
DepEd-7 will administer The Regional Achievement Test (RAT) to all public school students on March for grade VI and fourth year high school and on March 8 for grades 1 to 5 and first year to third year high schools, Falconi said.
DepEd’s Chief of the Quality Assurance & Accountability Division Dr. Marcial Degamo said that 40 percent of the results of the said examinations will form part of the 4th grading period grade and the other 60 percent will be taken from the 1stto 3rd grading periods, this was learned.
The achievement tests are an annual undertaking of the DepEd before the end of classes to assess the academic performance of Grades I to VI and high school students in all learning areas.
They are also used as tools to gather data for research, evaluation that will be used for school improvement planning. (PIA-7/JSM)
Solon calls on gov’t to cut all red tapes in the release of OFW standby fund for Libya situation
By: Minerva BC Newman
Manila, Feb. 28 (PIA) – Senator Chiz Escudero called on key agencies concerned to cut all bureaucratic red tapes in the release of the OFW standby fund which is meant for situations such as this in Libya.
Escudero, chairman of the Senate committee on justice and human rights, said the government should adopt a ‘one-size-fits-all’ evacuation program to ensure that every Filipino in the troubled Libya is reached and assigned a place for pick-up and evacuation.
This should be the policy that the government adopts. The situation in Libya is a powder keg waiting to explode full blown and the political tension there will be exacerbated by the social and ethnic problems among almost 81 tribes vying for domination, Escudero commented.
"All mechanisms, legal, financial, physical to afford protection for our people should be interfaced with all efforts from all fronts. These are our modern heroes who keep our economy afloat. We should protect them from threats and dangers anywhere,” Escudero said.
The senator went on that no stone should be left unturned in terms of getting them out of harm's way. “If our OFWs get the perception of being neglected, they might become ambassadors of ill-will rather than goodwill in foreign lands," Escudero added.
Records from the Department of Foreign Affairs shows there are 26,000 Filipinos currently working and living in Libya.
Of these, only 13,000 may be likely evacuated and the 13,000 were reached through the efforts of the Philippine embassy there and others found ways to contact the personnel of the foreign mission on their own.
A big number of Filipinos remains trapped in areas near the Libyan capital of Tripoli. In Al Kufrah alone, 100 OFWs have been abandoned by their Korean employers and have been pleading for help in light of the sporadic shots and explosions being heard from surrounding areas.
The Philippine government has chartered planes from the Philippine Airlines and Qatar Airways. Each flight to Manila costs P13 million and can accommodate 200 to 300 people per flight.
The government is allocating P100 million contingency fund for the Libya situation, this was learned. (PIA-7/Minerva BC Newman & reports from the office of Senator Chiz Escudero)
Over 200 women benefit from free breast, cervical screenings
By: Nancy R. Cudis
Cebu, Feb. 28 (PIA) – Over 200 women benefited from the breast and cervical screening activities at the Reinhard Wirtgen Memorial Hospital in Alegria, Cebu and at the Eduardo J. Aboitiz Cancer Center (EJACC) in collaboration with the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) OB-Gyne Department.
An NGO in Cebu, Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) initiated the screening activities on Feb. 12 and 19 in partnership with the Integrated Midwife Association of the Philippines-Cebu Midwife Clinic and VSMMC Breast Clinic.
EJACC program coordinator Ronald delos Reyes said regular breast and cervical screening is very important to know and detect at an early stage any abnormalities and pre-cancerous growth or early malignancies of cancer.
“Cervical cancer is preventable with early detection and treatment,” Gertrudes Calsada of IMAP Cebu Midwife Clinic pointed out while Dr. Claudin Biodongan of VSMMC Breast Clinic said, learning the facts about breast cancer could save lives.
Jocelyn Leyson, a recipient of the screening, said that she availed of the free screening because she considers it an opportunity for early cancer detection and prevention.
To her, it was better to know any early malignancies and treat it rather than to shell out for an expensive cancer treatment for late cancer stages.
Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among Filipino women while cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women, Ronald delos Reyes said.
In its campaign against breast cancer, EJACC urged women to adopt early detection measures, such as monthly breast self-examination by age 20, yearly health examination by age 30, and yearly mammogram by age 50.
Delos Reyes also advised women to take preventive measures like maintaining a healthy lifestyle and nutrition, exercise, proper hygiene.
Avoid stresses and vices, using barrier contraceptive, maintaining monogamous sexual relationships, and getting human papilloma virus vaccination.
Cervical cancer can be detected through various screenings such as pap-smear, visual inspection with acetic acid, colposcopy, HPV testing, and single visit approach. (PIA-7/RAFI-IO, Nancy R. Cudis)