Mayor Raymund Tongson has approved the annual implementation of the School Heads Advancement Program for Excellence (SHAPE) which will encourage more aspiring education leaders in the Schools Division of Himamaylan City to step up.
Initiated by the schools division through Superintendent Gladys Amylaine Sales, Tongson gave the program the green light on Thursday, April 4, ahead of Himamaylan’s DepEd Day celebration in the afternoon that was part of the city’s Himaya Festival.
“Locally-initiated programs such as SHAPE show how our teachers in the DepEd Schools Division of Himamaylan City are very eager to take on the mantle of leading,” Tongson said.
Tongson aims to set SHAPE as one of the Himamaylan City Local School Board’s programs centered on the development of its teachers.
The program prioritizes and emphasizes the need for completing a comprehensive review series for all aspiring school heads within the division.
It offers professional development exercises to these aspiring schools in order to update them on their tasks and responsibilities as outlined in the Philippine Professional Standards for School heads.
“As part of our initiative, we have identified the need for technical assistance in implementing various ICT systems particularly during the conduct of the pre-test and posttest for school heads aspirants,” Sales said.
The Schools Division of Himamaylan City has also proposed a partnership with the Schools Division of Sagay City to utilize the latter’s localized online system for the National Qualifying Examination for School Heads (NQESH) mock test.
“Through this partnership, we aim to further prepare our principal aspirants for the upcoming NQESH,” Sales said.
The Schools Division of Himamaylan City currently has 38 complete elementary schools, 10 secondary schools, 6 integrated schools, and 8 private schools.
Meanwhile, the city government has released P726,000 to 726 public school teachers in the city since January.
This is the realization of Tongson’s promise last year to add on to the bonuses they received during the year-end of 2023.
A total of P1,208,000 will be given as additional bonuses to 1,208 public school teachers with each receiving P1,000.*