Young pushes for city college

CEBU, Philippines - Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young will revive the move to establish a Cebu City College, a proposal that has been reintroduced several times but never got a nod in the previous City Councils.

Young said he will introduce revisions to the “rather complicated” proposal of former councilor and committee on education chairman Gerardo Carillo and have the new proposed ordinance ready by yearend.

“Hopefully, by the end of the year the draft will be complete,” Young said.

The establishment of a Cebu City College is among the plans Mayor Michael Rama enumerated in his State of the City Address last Friday.

Unlike the previous proposal, Young said he would not want a single physical structure for a school, but satellite colleges in eight different locations. He is eyeing at spaces at the high schools in Barangays Pardo, Labangon, Guadalupe, Talamban, Punta Princessa and Pasil, as well as the Gothong High School.

However, should there be a main campus, Young said the structure will be built somewhere in Barangay Cogon Ramos.

Young said the courses to be offered by the college are yet to be decided on, but the lineup would certainly include vocational courses for skills development. The Department of Manpower Development and Placement would also be integrated into the college’s system because DMDP itself offers short skills courses.

Likewise, the Cebu City Medical Center College of Nursing will also be integrated into the Cebu City College.

The idea for a city college has reportedly become urgent owing to the continuous increase in the tuition and other fees imposed by universities and colleges operating in the city. The City College is seen to provide opportunity for city students to avail of affordable tertiary education. – THE FREEMAN