LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — Starting schoolyear 2023-2024, the provincial government will open the doors of its own college to the first batch of students from the different parts of the province.
This was after the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) unanimously passed on Monday, June 26, an ordinance that established the Pangasinan Polytechnic College (PPC).
This will be the first college fully-owned and run by a provincial government in the Ilocos Region.
The University of Eastern Pangasinan in Binalonan town, Urdaneta City University in Urdaneta City, Binalatongan College in San Carlos City, and Bayambang Polytechnic College in Bayambang town are run by thier own local government units.
“After 10 months of consultation with experts from the different public and private universities, Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), we finally have the Pangasinan Polytechnic College,” said Vice Gov. Mark Ronad Lambino.
Lambino said that the establishment of the PPC was in keeping with Gov. Ramon Guico 3rd’s commitment to provide accessible education for Pangasinan residents.
“This college will be designed to make sure that it will be accessible to all Pangasinenses who are in need of tertiary education. But unlike most colleges and universities, we will be employing a ladderized system, where there will be certificate and diploma courses, and even vocational programs,” Lambino said.
To do this, he said, TESDA programs will be incorporated into PPC course offerings so that after one year or two years, a student can already look for a job and help his or her family.
“And because it’s a ladderized system, every year you will gain credit from what you finished. This will help those who have limited time or resources to go to school because they are already working, and they wanted to go back to school,” Lambino said.
Lambino said that PPC’s first campus will initially be at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center here, where there are rooms that can be retrofitted and converted into classrooms.
“But the direction of our governor is to have two or three campuses. One in Lingayen, another one in central Pangasinan, probably San Carlos City, and another one in the eastern part of the province,” Lambino said.
He said that PPC students will be full scholars, enjoying free tuition and miscellaneous fees, “for as long as they abide with their contracts, academics-wise, behavior-wise.”
Lambino also clarified that the creation of the PPC will not compete with the state-run Pangasinan State University and the private universities in the province.
“The purpose is to bridge the gap of the need for education in the province. We are not here to be a competitor. They have their own programs, they have they own platforms, they have their own visions and missions. The PPC will also have its own direction,” Lambino said.
Under the ordinance, PPC will be run by a Governing Board headed by the governor as chair, with the college president as vice chair.
Other members of the board will be the presidents of the faculty association, supreme student council, and alumni association, the SP education committee chair, and representatives from the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Agriculture, business and industry sector, professional sector, CHEd, National Economic Development Authority, TESDA, and Department of Education. (PangasinanPIO)
