PAGADIAN CITY—Over 3,000 campus journalists and their teacher-advisers are descending on this capital of Zamboanga del Sur ahead of the National Schools Press Conference organized by the Department of Education from Jan. 22 to 26.
Director Isabelita M. Borres of host DepEd Region 9 said this coastal metropolis, the regional center of the Zamboanga peninsula, has complied with all the requirements needed to host the NSPC after the visit of the DepEd Central Office evaluation team.
Accommodations are ready for the participating campus scribes from elementary and high schools of the country’s 17 regions, Borres added.
She said the 2017 NSPC, a DepEd major annual program, complies with the Campus Journalism Act of 1991, which seeks to upgrade the journalistic skills and competencies of the country’s school writers.
This year’s NSPC, considered the mental counterpart of the Palarong Pambansa, has Education Secretary Leonor M. Briones as opening program keynote speaker and Gov. Antonio H. Cerilles welcoming the delegates.
The five-day event, with the theme “The Role of the 21st Century Campus Journalists In Upholding Good Governance, Leadership and Transparency,” seeks to “demonstrate understanding of the importance of journalism by expressing it through different journalistic endeavors and approaches.”
It also provides a venue for an enriching learning experience for students interested in journalism as a career, or those who intend to use the skill sets learned through campus journalism to give them an edge in their chosen careers, DepEd 9 said.
The NSPC also sustains the government’s advocacy on social consciousness and environmental awareness, and enhances journalistic competence through healthy and friendly competition, it added.
Borres said the NSPC will be highlighted by English and Filipino individual writing competitions in news writing, feature writing, editorial writing, sports writing, science writing, and photojournalism. It also features group contests to select the country’s best school papers.
Also to be contested are radio broadcasting, television script writing, collaborative and desktop publishing with online application, Borres said.
The event ends with the selection of the most outstanding elementary and high school campus journalists and best school paper advisers. Winners in both individual and group contests will be awarded by DepEd with Certificates of Recognition and Plaques of Appreciation.