Bataan Polytechnic State College
January 2007

Setting the trend for quality and excellence

Everything BATAAN POLYTECHNIC STATE COLLEGE (BPSC) achieved proves that the institution is committed to serve through education. Its journey of 55 years is one of cooperation among people, one that transcends time and changes embarked upon towards a glorious state.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

BPSC is composed of three campuses, all of which have humble beginnings. Yet through dynamic leadership, competent faculty and hardworking employees, the campuses grew into very promising learning institutions in the province of Bataan.

The Main Campus, better known as the Bataan National School of Arts and Trades (BNSAT), was established in 1953 by virtue of Republic Act 903 sponsored by Representative Medina Lacson De Leon.

Bataan Polytechnic State College is
located in Balanga City, Bataan.Initially, BNSAT was mandated to offer junior college and secondary levels. It became a recipient of local and foreign grants such as the Asian Development Bank funded Technical Vocational Education Project in the early ‘80s, and the Philippines-Australia Technical Vocational Education Project (PATVEP) in 1989. Through PATVEP, instructors were sent to Australia for upgrading while shop rooms were renewed and equipped with machines and more instructional materials. These widened the school’s role as a regional training center.

In 1995, the Institute of Advanced Studies began when the Master of Arts in Educational Management opened with 52 enrollees. The program was strengthened after it tied up with the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) and Bulacan State University (BSU).

With five decades of service, the Main Campus — later renamed the Medina Lacson De Leon National School of Arts and Trades, in honor of its founder — earned the reputation as provider of skilled technicians and workers in the local and international employment scene.

On the other hand, the Balanga Campus began when the Bataan Community College (BCC) was established in 1970 through Provincial Board Resolution No.131. The college opened its doors to the public with 137 students of Junior Secretarial, Midwifery and Bachelor of Science in Management.

In 1982, BCC was renamed the Bataan Colleges (BC) through Board Resolution No. 93. Four years after, BC offered Education and Accountancy. In 1991, BC also offered Nursing and made a name for itself when its first batch of Nursing graduates conquered with a 91.55-percent passing rate in the board examination. The midwifery department also consistently performed impressively in licensure examinations via passing rates much higher than the national percentage, and by producing topnotchers.

Meanwhile, the Bataan National Polytechnic School—formerly the Bataan National School for Filipino Craftsmen—was established in 1965. BS Industrial Education was first offered along with two-year technical courses and the regular secondary course. Through the years, BNPS expanded its curriculum in line with its commitment to cater quality education pursuant to R.A. 7782 and R.A. 8292. As it provided community-based education, enrollment multiplied. BNPS executed relevant activities, programs and projects geared toward the attainment of its mission and objectives. In 1998, it became a Commission on Higher Education (CHED)-supervised institution.

On February 26, 1998, the Bataan Polytechnic State College was born. More than a year later, BNPS was integrated to BPSC, pursuant to provisions of the Higher Education Modernization Act and became BPSC’s third campus.

PRESENT TIMES

Branded as the youngest state college in the region, BPSC is currently preparing for universityhood. By being responsive to the ever-changing realities of the needs of the business and industrial sectors, it seems that the only way for BPSC is up.

Bataan Congressman for Second District Albert Garcia filed House Bill 5336 converting BPSC into a state university last March 6, 2006, and barely one month after the filing, the House of Representatives approved the HB on April 4 and transmitted it to the Senate for the next level of legislation.

Such elevation is a big step for the College, as it means being one step closer to universityhood. In the Senate, the "Son of Bataan" Senator Manuel Villar sponsored Senate Bill 2457 converting BPSC into a state university, and integrating the Bataan State College, which is primarily an agricultural state college in the province. This will expand the opportunity of the two institutions of higher learning to better serve the people of Bataan and of Central Luzon. As of November 8, 2006, the said SB has passed in the first reading and was referred to the Committees on Education, Arts and Culture, and Finance.

The proponents and authors of the said bill, Garcia and Villar, clearly believe that BPSC is ready and very much able to be converted. In the explanatory notes of both House and Senate Bills, the two lawmakers said that BPSC, "in spite of the limited resources under its command, has virtually succeeded in meeting the demands of upgrading and updating modern higher learning. As mandated by its charter, the state college has served the people of Bataan and the nearby provinces in the region through various courses offered in the three campuses, and has maintained a high level of competence as a learning institution".

They further stated that the rapid growth of the student population, one of the justifications for the College’s conversion, needs to be properly addressed. Universityhood will both broaden BPSC’s curricular offerings and ensure programs of instruction and training in the field of science, arts, engineering, education and other fields.

College enrollment has steadily increased over the last seven years. This trend is attributed to the attraction of BPSC’s strong and formidable faculty of instruction, tuition fees, and absence of pollution problems due to an environment that is conducive to a healthful process of learning.

Bataan State College expressed its full cooperation by submitting to the CHTE office copies of resolutions made by various associations within their college, all of which state that BSC earnestly agrees to be included in the State University of Bataan. BSC president Dr. Bonifacio Dumlao, together with the his department heads and presidents of various associations, told BPSC President Magpantay how BSC firmly believes that merging with BPSC will be beneficial to its faculty members, and will help them establish linkages, and collaborate with other institutions.

FLAGSHIP COURSES

BPSC offers relevant and market-driven courses that focus on the enhancement of skills and human development. Enrolment in all the campuses significantly increased in the last six years, an indication of the respect accorded to the institution by the community. The College offers courses in the fields of industrial and information technology, engineering, education, business, arts and sciences broken down into the following levels: one post-graduate, five graduate, seventeen baccalaureate, four diploma, and seven certificate courses.

Student enrollment continues to soar indicative of the community’s confidence on the quality of education provided by the College. Both faculty and students never fail to reap various awards for curricular and extra-curricular competitions.

For the next five years, the College will intensify development thrusts for BS Nursing, Engineering courses, and Information and Communications Technology courses after these have been identified by CHED as part of its priority courses for the next medium term. Moreover, BS Nursing and the Engineering courses continually bring the College enough reason to be extremely proud as performance in licensure examinations never ceases to beat the national passing rate. Graduates of Nursing, Midwifery, and Engineering courses also manage to land top ten spots in the national ranking.

Maintaining momentum, venturing into milestones: The BPSC Development Agenda

Always conscious of perfecting its delivery of services to the community, the Bataan Polytechnic State College (BPSC) continually places itself under scrutiny by applying for accreditation. In 2004, evaluators from the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines (AACCUP) granted Candidate Status for Level 1 to three of its programs. For this year, BPSC will apply at least three more academic programs for the same level.

Immediately after the 2004 visit, BPSC took necessary steps to satisfy and meet the points discussed by AACCUP. The College began by plotting out an in-service education plan for both faculty and non-teaching staff, now dubbed as the Human Resource Development Plan.

BPSC also adopted a new organizational structure. This was followed by the revision of the College Code and the writing of the Manual of Operations. The Institutional Development Plan was also evaluated, afterwhich a new one was generated which now includes the following agenda:

 BPSC has started to intensify resource generation schemes through various business ventures within its competitive niches in metals, garments and apparel and food industries.Advancing academic quality and excellence for national development through continuous faculty re-education and retooling; instruction, facilities and course content for global competitiveness; strict enforcement of admission and retention policies; adoption of academic pluralism; inclusion of practical research as major curricular component; and ladderization of programs;

Enhancing student welfare and development through institutionalization of a socialized tuition fee scheme; establishment of new linkages with local and foreign scholarship benefactors; enhancement of various information systems; intensifying the career guidance program; and enhancement of the Sports and Cultural Programs;

Catalyzing the socio-economic development of the province through research and extension via development of new knowledge and technology and its transfer to the community; nurturing of positive research culture; non-formal education and skills enhancement services to conserve and preserve the natural environment within Bataan;

Expanding investment opportunity via adoption of corporatization principles; establishment of academe-industry links within BPSC’s competitive edge; and establishment of a business incubation hub;

Empowering BPSC and the community through information and communications technology (ICT) by making ICT an indispensable part of daily operations; capitalizing on the high level of prioritization afforded to ICT by the national government; plotting out several strategies and activities to make BPSC a regional ICT center;

Promoting transparency and accountability in governance through strengthening of the Internal Audit Control Unit; and establishment of a consultative and participative mechanism for planning and budgeting; and decentralization of governance;

Activating the pool of BPSC Alumni by conducting a Graduate Tracer Study and the establishment of an Alumni Center;

Modernizing BPSC campuses by zoning and academic programs; construction of buildings for priority courses; construction of a building that will house academic and administrative services; and development of Orani Campus as Center for Sports and Physical Development;

Investing in human resource development through career mapping of every faculty and employee; review and enforcement of selection and promotion policies; and adoption of a system of fair faculty loading; and

Leading the province in the preservation and promotion of its rich historical and cultural heritage through the establishment of the Center for Bataan Studies, where researches on local culture and tradition will be housed and discussed, and interest groups and clubs related to the promotion and enrichment of local cultures.

BPSC is one of the many state universities and colleges (SUCs) that have been slowed down by financial constraints. For several years now, annual budget has been systematically reduced by the national government. Unfettered by economic problems, BPSC has pushed forth in fulfilling its original three-fold task as an institution of higher learning – instruction, research and extension. At the same time, it continues to plan out and mobilize the recent addition to the three tasks placed among SUCs: production. 

. The Higher Education Modernization Act of 1997 assures that BPSC can retain and disburse incomes. More importantly, this law provides that it can also exercise powers similar to that of a corporation under the Corporation Code of the Philippines. For its part, the Board of Trustees has imposed upon itself the unending responsibility ensuring that BPSC enjoys the benefits of legislation aimed to sustain its various programs and projects to further the cause of the College vision and mission.

The city of Balanga and the province of Bataan both recognize the crucial role that the College plays in its bid for industrialization and urbanization. Thus, both local government units have ceaselessly opened various opportunities for the College to venture on.

BPSC encourages members of the academic community to be more active in getting into income generating projects. It has also recognized that there is another strength that is yet to be optimized: human resource. The expertise of the faculty and the non-teaching personnel can very well be a rich source of income for the College. Various forms of incentives are extended to faculty members who managed to come up with extraordinary research.

Utilizing state-of-the-art equipment and technology, BPSC currently offers goods borne from its research in Food, Foundry, Garments, Machine and Electronics Research. These are housed at the Tanghal-Likha, BPSC’s business and display center. BPSC has also developed a number of training packages in Applied Technology, and Information and Communications Technology.

CHED extended funding support for one of BPSC’s greater research programs, Development of Foundry Technology in Central Luzon. Several organizations and agencies grant technological and financial aids to several programs such as the Germany and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) sponsored Expansion of Dual Education and Training (EDET) program which made possible the delivery of around P23 million worth of machines, tools and equipment. The Department of Science and Technology, and the Philippine Council for Industry and Energy Research and Development have also provided the College with various grants and assistance.

External linkages with other organizations and industries have also been firmed up here and abroad. Numerous Memoranda of Agreement were signed, establishing partnerships with those in the industry. Professional relationships with other reputable colleges and universities in the Asia Pacific Region have also been maintained and strengthened.

Source: Manila Bulletin Online

 
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