10/01/2023
NONPAREIL
(Agduduma)
by Dexter Galban Macaraeg
Logline: A student paper adviser (SPA), Sir Reymond Paragon coaches his students in Scholastic Journalism, while four graduate students do not believe in the importance and relevance of campus journalism, were designated to represent in the Regional Schools Press Conference (RSPC) hosted by the University of Abra (UA) and eventually grabbed the overall champion trophy, which brought pride for the province and the region.
BACKGROUND:
The Campus Journalism Act of 1991 mandates the establishment of campus papers from elementary to tertiary levels. The same law had given birth to the much anticipated competition among student writers which is the National Schools Press Conference (NSPC).
The district/sectoral are a qualifying levels for student journalists who would like to compete in the division level of the conference which is a yearly competition in the rudiments of journalism writing from news, feature, editorial, literary and sports writing.
It is the enormous task of teacher coaches and school paper advisers to hone the writing competencies of the students in journalism as well as their creative and speaking skills in the collaborative desktop publishing and radio broadcasting categories where teachers are also enhancing their own skills. Journalism is a different discipline. Teachers would need to browse upon materials as well as undergo regular training to be able to re-echo journalism principles and hone the needed skills among their learners.
In the public schools, teachers are always faced by the problem of resources and training to be able to equip the learners on how to manage the school paper to come up with regular issues.
To meet the educational needs of the 21st century the teachers as trainers and coaches of student writers must play a more dynamic role and become far more than an administrator of top-down rules and regulations. Schools and their governing structures must let school leaders lead in a systematic fashion and focus on the instructional and learning processes, know-how on technology, and the performance of the school and the learners, as well as enhanced teachers competencies in teaching.