The City Council, during last Monday’s regular session, approved on first reading a proposed ordinance amending Sections 2, 3, 4 and 5 of Ordinance No. 42, series of 2023 that established and declaring every second Sunday of September of every year as Students Day in the city and allocating funds for this purpose.
Under the proposed ordinance, the city government’s vision can be attained by actively involving the youth and students as future culture bearers, leaders and builders of the city. The celebration seeks to highlight the prime potentials and significant contributions of the local students to the city.
Further, it would strengthen the city’s education agenda, accelerating its realization through meaningful programs and engagements with the youth and students as the city’s very valuable human resource.
The ordinance defined students as learners who are enrolled and studying in any school within the city regardless of their residency or place of stay.
Among the activities during the celebration of Students’ Day include presentation of welfare programs for the city’s youth and students; students’ cultural, creative arts and talent shows-cum-solidarity games; adolescent care and mental health education; first aid and basic life support drills; seminar on emerging technologies and its proper usage and other appropriate programs to be determined by the concerned committee.
The ordinance asserted that the second Sunday of September of every year will be established and declared as Students’ Day in the city.
The ordinance added that the venue for the annual celebration may be done at the Baguio Convention Center or at any appropriate site where it is practical and convenient for the concerned stakeholders.
For the observance of the annual Students’ Day, the ordinance stipulated that the amount of PhP100,000 shall be allocated every year from the general funds of the city government to be included in the budget of the City Administrator’s Office for the implementation of institutionalized activities in the city which shall be spent pursuant to the program of activities to be prepared by the Students’ Day Committee to be created for this specific purpose composed of representatives from the Local School Board, Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), schools, students and concerned agencies or organizations.
The ordinance tasked the City Administrator’s Office to take the lead over this committee in the implementation of the pertinent provisions of the proposed amendatory measure.
The ordinance stated that Baguio is a home to more than 100,000 learners and students coming from the city, within the region, other areas in the country and other countries.
The ordinance explained that as a show of gratitude and manifestation of support and care, Ordinance No. 42, series of 2013 was enacted and approved over a decade ago.
However, the amendatory ordinance argued that it is more than a decade since the passage of this measure, thus, there is a need for it to be fine-tuned to fit the current context, to be more specific, purposeful and seeks to invite higher awareness among the youth and students. By Dexter A. See
