Dumaguete hosts National Schools Press Conference

CEBU, Philippines — The Dumaguete City Schools Division of the Department of Education will be hosting the 2018 National Schools Press Conference (NSPC), from February 19 to 23.

Dubbed as the 'Olympics of Campus Journalism,' the NSPC is set to gather the best student-journalists from the 17 regions all over the country.

Claudio Sun, spokesman of DepEd-Dumaguete, said that nearly 5,000 campus journalists (CJs) from the public and private, elementary and secondary schools nationwide are expected to converge at this capital city of Negros Oriental for the annual event.

The 2018 NSPC has "acknowledged the vital role of the campus journalists in promoting comprehensive education for all," Sun told The Freeman.

Sun said the journalism competition started with the Division Schools Press Conference (DSPC), where in each category, the top three or seven campus journalists, depending on the size of a particular region, qualify to the Regional Schools Press Conference (RSPC). The top three will then be chosen to represent their respective regions in the NSPC.

The campus journalists will be competing in three categories: 1) Individual Contests-news writing, feature writing, editorial writing, science and technology writing, sports writing, photojournalism, and editorial cartooning; 2) School Paper Contests-on news section, features section, editorial section, science and technology section, sports section, and layout and page design; and 3) Group Contests-such as radio script writing and broadcasting, collaborative desktop publishing, and TV script writing and broadcasting (for secondary level).

Two other contests, which are for exhibition only, are: Column writing (under the individual contests), and Online publishing for secondary students (under the group contests).

Sun said that expected to grace the NSPC event are Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones, DepEd's central office, regional, and division officials, and local government officials.

This year's official theme of the 2018 NSPC is "Embracing ASEAN Integration: Campus Journalists' Role in Advancing Inclusive Education."  (FREEMAN)