International school to rise in Palayan City

PALAYAN CITY, Nueva Ecija–An international college - which has campuses in the United States and three other foreign countries and with a student population of at least 15,000 - is setting up a satellite campus in this city to bring 21^st century e-learning as well as international students in this Nueva Ecija capital.

          Mayor Adrianne Mae Cuevas told reporters that the city government has forged a partnership with Concordia International College-Philippines (CICP) for the establishment of its first campus in the province in 2014.

          “This partnership will help bring computer education to the grassroots and afford the people of Palayan the opportunity to avail of world-class  education. It will thus put our city in the international map insofar as computer education is concerned,” Cuevas said.

          Cuevas signed a memorandum of agreement with  officials of CICP led by its president Violeta Jerusalem and David Kang, chief executive officer of its international partner Concordia International University, for the planned campus here which will initially operate at the Palayan City Industrial Technology (PCIT) school.

          Kang, a Canadian-Korean, is deeply involved in research and development projects on organic products such as oil extracts from moringa and oregano. He is planning to put up a pilot research facility in the city which has vast hectares of lands for agricultural production.

          Jerusalem said CIC has a global student population of 15,000, some 7,000 of whom are in its Canada campus which started operating in 2001. In the country, CICP, which started operating in 2011, has 5,000 students.

          Jerusalem said the plan to put up a campus in this city was conceived when she and Kang were invited by Cuevas and her husband, businessman Vince Cuevas to visit the city and explore the possibility of expanding further their institution’s reach.

          After the visit, she said they approved the proposal after noting the city’s potentials. “Palayan has very strong potentials that’s why we considered it in our expansion plans,” she said.

          Jerusalem said the Cuevas couple has very strong commitment to push forward the development of the city.

“Mayor Cuevas, for one, is a very committed person. But she has noticed that the community is not that involved. She wants it involved in education,” she said, adding they share the vision of the Cuevas administration to help the community in delivering e-learning.

Jerusalem said that the college - which has satellite campuses in Metro Manila, Pampanga and Baguio City - will bring to the city a mix of traditional classroom instruction and distance learning.

CICP, Jerusalem said, has academic partners abroad and could bring in international students. Aside from the US and Canada, it also operates in Australia and South Korea.

          Jerusalem said in this city, CICP will be constructing world-class facilities, including dormitories.

          Cuevas said facilities similar to those set up at the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) central experiment station in the Science City of Muñoz are being eyed in the site. She said they are eyeing at least 2,000 square meters of land for the campus and the research complex.

Jerusalem added that they will train qualified teachers in Palayan to become part of their team. “We believe in the capability of the Filipino human resource and together with our overseas faculty, we will support the dream of CICP and Mayor Cuevas in delivering 21^st century e-learning,” she stressed.

          The city government and CICP are eyeing to offer community scholarships for main course offerings, such as English proficiency, hotel and tourism, translation and interpretation and technical and vocational courses for culinary and hospitality business.

          Initially, 10 scholarship slots had been allocated for the school next year.

          Graduates of international courses will be issued certificates and accreditation for jobs in Canada.

The establishment of a CICP campus is expected to further enhance this city’s gradual transformation into an education center in the province next to Cabanatuan City, the center of trade and commerce.

Linked to other regions by a well-paved road network, this city, located 132 kilometers northeast of Manila, plays hosts to other institutions of higher learning such as a branch of the Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology and the Eduardo L. Joson College.

          The city government operates its own school, the PCIT, which was accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority. (Manny Galvez)