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Colegio de Santa Catalina de Alejandria
June 2007
In the service of the Church
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
uch like the mythical phoenix, Colegio de Santa Catalina de Alejandria, or
COSCA, literally grew from the ashes. Unlike a phoenix, however, the first
time it grew was not from its own ashes but from those of the original St.
Paul Academy. A fire that tore through most of the town’s commercial district
in December 1953 also burned down Dumaguete’s church along with the very first
St. Paul Sisters’ school in the country. Taking advantage of a generous land
donation, they decided to rebuild on what was then the outskirts of the city,
leaving behind a vacant lot beside the church.
In 1955, Dumaguete became the seat of a brand new diocese and its quietly
repaired church became a cathedral. It was blessed to have as its first bishop
a conscientious leader who was ever mindful of his responsibilities as
shepherd. The Most Reverend Epifanio B. Surban, DD, promptly went to work in
setting up various services to answer the needs of his flock, the large
Catholic community throughout the diocese that then covered some parts of
Negros Occidental, and the entire provinces of Negros Oriental and Siquijor.
The Cathedral’s spacious compound, by now cleared of the debris from the fire,
naturally became the focus of Bishop Surban’s efforts. With the help of
volunteers and the Catholic community, he set up what would become two major
service providers. One was a maternal lying-in clinic that has now grown to
become Holy Child Hospital, a leading tertiary medical care facility in the
province. The other was a small school called The Little Flower Clinic that
only offered classes for kindergarten and Grade 1. Its first teacher was Mrs.
Urbana Canlas, a volunteer.
The Little Flower Clinic
The community that had long been waiting for affordable quality Catholic
education that could be had within the town center, embraced the nascent
school with marked enthusiasm. Bishop Surban, who had merely wanted to provide
for the least of his flock, had accidentally come up with the perfect solution
to the dearth of good schools in the town. The Little Flower Clinic was an
unqualified success right from the beginning. Parents soon petitioned the
Bishop for more grade levels to be added so they could continue to send their
children to a school that offered not only academic instruction but also a
good grounding in Catholic teachings.
Expansions came in quick succession, naturally leading to several changes in
its name. At first, with the addition of Grades 2 – 6, it became known as the
Parochial School. Then the eventual addition of a high school department
necessitated a change to Cathedral School. The addition of college courses
caused the name to be changed yet another time to Dumaguete Cathedral College.
Like a Phoenix
In April 1983, another fire gutted Dumaguete’s then main business center.
Unfortunately, this time it also ripped through the elementary and high school
buildings that during the school year were used by more than 2,000 students.
This was a major setback because a good number of classrooms were lost and
there was nowhere to put students coming back to school in a few weeks.
Moreover, the school was not financially ready to embark on a major rebuilding
effort within a very short period of time. It had to cut back on the number of
students it could accept.
Perhaps serendipitously, the drastic reduction in the number of students also
allowed the school to experience anew the circumstances of its founding.
Volunteers and the "can do" spirit came to the rescue once more. Again, the
school rose from the ashes like a phoenix. It continued to provide the
community with quality Catholic education even if some classes had to be done
in temporary rooms and everyone had to make do with the bare necessities.
Nevertheless, with the help of then new bishop, the Most Reverend Angel
Lagdameo, DD, new school buildings were eventually built within a few years.
In the meantime, the school’s name was changed to Colegio de Santa Catalina de
Alejandria, a reflection of this new beginning and portentous of better times
ahead. After all, it is a name carried by the patron saint of the Diocese of
Dumaguete, befitting its flagship educational institution.
Proud member of a University Town
Today, COSCA stands proudly as one of eight higher education institutes in the
University Town of Dumaguete. Never wavering from its commitment to provide
inexpensive quality Catholic education, it still benefits from being closely
identified with the Church. It now occupies the entire western half of the
Cathedral compound, making efficient use of prime property while providing
airy surroundings conducive to learning. Notwithstanding its location in the
heart of the business district, the school enjoys the kind of busy, yet quiet,
atmosphere more common on bigger campuses.
COSCA has retained its grade school and high school under the Basic Education
Department. It now offers 11 college courses under Liberal Arts and Education,
the College of Business, the College of Criminology, the Allied Health
Sciences, and Computer Science and Information Systems.
COSCA remains an integral part of the larger Dumaguete community. It shares
its resources with other schools and with the community, and actively
participates in community activities. Furthermore, it gives back to society
through its outreach programs in the most economically depressed areas of the
city. Most important, it has realigned all its programs to serve the different
ministries of the Church.
Being the diocese’s flagship education institution carries with it the duty to
support the Church in its numerous functions. The school is proud to be able
to help in any way it can. Currently, its various programs involve four of its
colleges and departments. The College of Education is partnered with the
Diocesan Commission on Catechesis. It has taken charge of making sure that
catechists are exposed to the best teaching strategies and are appropriately
trained.
The College of Business is working with the clerks of parishes on parochial
management. It has devised methods of making it easier for the clerks to
handle the day-to-day running of their respective parish offices. The college
teaches them office systems, bookkeeping, accounting, documentation, and
record keeping.
The Computer Science and Information Systems department is hard at work at
connecting all the Diocese’s parishes, which now covers most of Negros
Oriental plus the island of Siquijor. It has designed a diocesan-wide area
network to simplify the keeping and management of records that range from
baptismal and wedding particulars, to that of confirmation and funeral data.
Thus, common parish services like the issuance of certificates are
significantly simplified and its speed considerably made faster, while
maintaining security for the data and the network.
The Allied Health Sciences department in a way closes the loop and brings
COSCA full circle. The department works closely with Holy Child Hospital, the
other diocesan flagship institution and its next-door neighbor in the
Cathedral compound. The department supplies the hospital with adequately
trained, dedicated, and eager personnel who embody the spirit of service.
PRESENT TIMES
With its 50th founding anniversary barely three years away, COSCA is embarking
on a series of new course offerings, events and activities building up to the
grand celebration in 2009.
The newest course on offer is that of Bachelor of Science of Radiologic
Technology, a highly technical Allied Health course that is in demand
worldwide. As a field, it offers the student 14 areas to specialize. These
areas run the gamut of health technologies from X-rays, CT-scans, and
ultrasound scanning, to MRIs, vascular technology, and nuclear medicine.
Spanking new laboratories at the school ably support this exciting course –
the first such course in Dumaguete. In addition to these and in preparation
for employment all over the world, the students’ internship training will be
done in premier hospitals in Dumaguete and Cebu Cities.
As yet in a state of flux, one major activity currently being hammered out is
the expansion of the COSCA Community Extension program. Envisioned to
eventually have a college scholarship component to be able to fully help the
adopted communities, a major fund drive is underway for a special endowment
for the program. Already, the Board of Trustees has approved the first
Community Extension college scholars to start June of 2007.
The school is leading all Diocesan Catholic schools in a diocese-wide overhaul
and improvement of curricula and teaching methodologies. Always based on
teacher-student needs, the changes scheduled are all calibrated against
Philippine and world standards as determined by professionally conducted
examinations and research. These positive changes that take into account each
individual student’s needs are expected to result in better performances all
the way from elementary to college.
Partnerships with foreign schools for student and faculty exchange are
forthcoming, and very soon, an international curriculum for foreign students
will be in place. Moreover, in answer to requests from the working public, two
special courses are now being set up to address areas of real need. One is on
real computer and technological literacy for adults, and the other is on the
acquisition of appropriate education units in order to become good licensed
teachers.
These and more are planned as fitting birthday presents and tributes for the
50th founding anniversary of a school that has helped, and is continually
helping, to educate and empower the people of the Diocese of Dumaguete.
FLAGSHIP COURSES
Molding Conscientious and Responsible Citizens
Following COSCA’s establishment in 1959, Bishop Surban also put up or took
over other schools of basic education in the towns and smaller cities of the
Diocese. This resulted in the creation of a feeder system for the college and
helped determine the focus of its courses.
COSCA concentrates on affordable programs that would graduate young men and
women equipped with a set of skills closely matched to specific industries and
sectors. The focus is not merely that of imparting a good Catholic education,
but more important, that of producing good citizens who are conscientious and
responsible employees or entrepreneurs. They come away from COSCA with an
informed and shaped Catholic conscience.
Of the 11 courses on offer, three best illustrate this. The first is that of
the Bachelor of Science in Criminology. Set up in 1992, it has now produced
quite a number of graduates who have joined government agencies like the
Philippine National Police, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, the
Bureau of Fire Protection, and the Parole and Probation Office. Some of them
have opted for employment in the private sector as security officers,
Questioned Document Examiners for banks, and as teachers. Although a study is
yet in its initial stages, it is hoped that the kind of education they had at
COSCA helps them everyday to make a positive impact on the culture of their
workplaces.
Another good example is that of Hotel and Restaurant Management. By the time
they graduate, the students’ skills have been sharpened by on-the-job training
in cruise ships and the best hotels in Cebu, Manila and soon, in Malaysia and
Hong Kong. Although the hospitality industry is rife with negative stories
that may well be apocryphal, COSCA graduates remain unfazed and sport a
confidence born of proper formation. In fact, their Catholic work ethic has so
impressed their foreign employers that they have been instrumental at
arranging hotel apprenticeships for students of their alma mater.
The third example is the Midwifery course of the Allied Health Sciences
department. Designed to impinge upon future midwives’ minds the sanctity of
life including that of the unborn, their education makes sure they can also be
responsible barangay health workers and entrepreneurs. Essentially a maternal
and child care expert by the time she graduates and is licensed, a midwife can
either work for others or set up her own micro-business like a maternal
lying-in clinic. Either way, in the COSCA midwife, society is assured of a
professional who greatly values life.
In the service of the community
Cultivating responsible citizenship in students is mostly a matter of setting
a good example. Oftentimes, this area is inadvertently given short shrift for
a number of reasons, foremost of which is that of lack of resources. It is
fortunate that the current leadership at COSCA is upbeat even about this lack
and consequently has tapped the expertise of the Diocese’s best community
organizers in order to get the students involved. Students training to become
responsible citizens now get invaluable exposure to the sector of society that
requires the most help.
Set up in 2006 in answer to a series of crimes and predatory attacks on
students who outnumber residents in this University Town, the COSCA Community
Extension Program is showing - in just a few short months - some degree of
success.
In October 2006, after conferring with officials of the two most economically
depressed and densely populated barangays of the city, COSCA adopted as its
partners Poblacion Barangay 8 and sitio Canday-ong of Barangay Calindagan.
Both located within half a kilometer from the city center and the school,
these areas proved to be fertile ground for some serious student-citizenry
interaction.
Measured Steps
COSCA took measured steps to ensure that education in marketable skills was
given the highest priority. Weekly activities were set up under the National
Students Training Program and the students were given free rein in planning
activities based on general guidelines. Everything was aimed at encouraging
the people to get an education or to stay in school long enough to graduate,
find work, and move on to better lives.
Hotel and Restaurant Management students had activities focused on food
service and housekeeping skills for housewives and young women. They shared
what they had learned in the classroom, starting with the basic skills like
table setting and napkin folding. Their short-term goal was to empower these
women with skills that could easily get them employed in the burgeoning
tourism industry of the province.
Students from the Computer Science programs designed and implemented a
computer literacy project for the youth. Using the school’s computer labs,
these barangay youth were afforded a fast track into the 21st Century where
before they had no such access. More than anything else, the exposure was
calculated to catch their interest and whet their appetites for more learning.
The project showed the barangay youth possibilities other than lives of crime
or just sitting around waiting for things to happen to them.
Building Confidence
For those more inclined to starting their own micro-businesses, students from
the Commerce and Accountancy program designed lessons on basic accounting,
bookkeeping and other business practices. A quick course on entrepreneurship
was also added to the mix to give interested people from the barangays an idea
of what to expect if and when they set out on their own. Although less than a
handful of the participants might realistically be expected to set up
micro-businesses soon, the entire experience was designed to give everyone the
confidence to recognize good business practices and again, allow for better
employment opportunities.
In support of all these trainings, students from the Allied Health Sciences
department determined that they could best help by looking after the people’s
health, and scheduled free periodical health services in both communities.
They conducted a medical mission in December, a dental mission in February,
and blood checkups for adults and circumcisions for those boys who wanted it
in March and April.
Other departments, like Liberal Arts and Education, similarly pitched in. It
chose to embark on a literacy program for both adults and children. The
department considers a priority area the illiteracy in that stratum of society
at or below the poverty line. As yet undergoing intensive re-design, the
literacy program should soon better fit the goal of equipping the people with
the ability to both read and understand what they’re reading.
Warm Response
Although COSCA’s Community Extension Program is still relatively new, some
progress can be seen through both communities’ warm response to the trainings.
As the best example, the women who took food service skills training
enthusiastically showed off their newly acquired skills through a friendly
competition that judged the best performances. The confidence that the
empowering training gave them clearly shone in all their faces. They were not
helpless anymore; they now had choices.
Most telling, the students who participated in the Extension Program came away
grateful for the blessings that they had taken for granted. The abject poverty
they encountered in the barangays had disheartened them at first, making them
doubt that they could make a discernable difference. Nevertheless, the women
and the youth they trained exhibited such zeal for knowledge that it quickly
dispelled their misgivings. In the end, the students proved that helping is
its own reward and have volunteered again for the program.
To build on this momentum, COSCA is now planning a more comprehensive strategy
that will cover not only the acquisition of skills. It is including spiritual
formation and the provision of financial aid through college scholarships for
barangay youth. Since the extension program was designed to also encourage the
youth to get further education, adding college scholarships is a natural
progression to helping them out. Not being total dole outs, however, the
scholarships will only cover tuition and other fees. The scholars will have to
have their family’s and the barangay’s help for uniforms and books, but they
will be well on their way to breaking the grip of poverty.
Source: Manila Bulletin Online
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