Creation of new high school backed

BAGUIO CITY – (16 March 2021) – The City Council, during last Monday’s regular session, supported the passage of House Bill (HB) 7995 which intends to convert the Baguio City National High School (BCNHS) Hillside Annex into an independent national high school to be known as the Hillside National High School and providing funds for the said purpose.

In a resolution, the conversion of the BCNHS-Hillside Annex to an independent national high school will surely enhance the totality of the learning environment with conducive classrooms, improved learning facilities and equipment and personnel right sizing.

Further, the conversion would encourage better leadership and management of the school which in turn will better serve the whole studently amidst the prevailing Corona Virus Disease (COVID) 2019 pandemic and in the future.

The council anchored the passage of the aforesaid resolution on the constitutional provision that provides affirming the State’s obligation to protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels, and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all.

Moreover, the State shall establish and maintain a system of free education in the elementary and high school levels and likewise, the State shall uphold and enhance the right of teachers to professional advancement.

The council claimed that Baguio City is the center of education in the north and that the aforesaid branding is clearly manifested by the rapidly increasing number of students enrolled in the city aside from skilled, competent and high-quality professional graduates that the city produces every year.

According to the body, BCNHS-Hillside Annex is one of the two remaining annexes of the biggest secondary public school in the Cordillera Administrative Region and is situated at Hillside barangay, around 2.2 kilometers away from the main Campus of BCNHS.

The council stipulated that the annex school officially started operation in 2011 and currently serves learners from at least 9 barangays namely Hillside, Sta. Escolastica, Greenwater village, Scout Barrio, Upper and Lower Dagsian, Gabriela Silang, Camp 7 and Camp 8.

For the current schoolyear 2020-2021, there are some 270 enrollees under the present blended learning under the care of 10 teachers, 2 non-teacher personnel and a designated school head.

The council asserted that being an annex, the school has no plantilla positions on its own and that teacher items were reportedly borrowed from the main campus and other junior high schools within the Division of city Schools.

The body emphasized that teachers can be moved and assigned to the main campus whenever exigently needed and that the same heavily impacts the progress of teacher leaders, thus, affecting their long-term career path which, in the process, could affect their work and teaching efficiency. – Dexter A. See