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Kabankalan Catholic College
March
2007
Pioneer in Negros Occidental
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
In 1927, a group of leaders gathered to establish a secondary school named
Kabankalan Institute. Years later, the name of the school was changed to
Kabankalan Private Academy.
The first commencement of the school was in 1940. Classes were suspended
during the Second World War (1941-1944) and resumed in the school year
1945-1946. The school’s Board of Trustees later got a permit to open a Junior
Normal College but this lasted only for three years due to poor enrollment.
In 1953, the Columban Fathers, through Fr. Thomas J. Cronin, parish priest of
Kabankalan, thought of putting up a new school but later negotiated to acquire
the Kabankalan Academy. In the process, most of the stockholders donated their
shares in exchange for scholarship privileges.
When the Columban Fathers took over, the first decision they made was to
transfer the site of the school near the church.
The school directorship under the Columban Fathers was not a permanent
position. The change of the directorship went with the reshuffling of the
parish priests in keeping with the standing regulation among the Columban
Fathers.
Through the untiring efforts of Fr. Cronin, a general college and an
elementary education was opened in the school year 1963-1964. Two years after,
he was able to get the services of the St. Paul Sisters of Chartres to assist
in the management of the school. Their experience in school management was an
asset. Through them, Kabankalan College became the center of learning in the
southern part of Negros Occidental.
The College Department was built on a hectare of land donated by the Zayco
family. In 1983, the owners terminated the management services of the Sisters
of St. Paul and the school administration shifted to the hands of the Diocesan
priests headed by Msgr. Josefino I. Illedan who severed as the President and
assisted by the Presentation Sisters.
On March 14, 1987, while the town was celebrating its 80th Foundation Day,
fire razed the high school building, the parish convent and the old Catholic
church. The catastrophe brought untold financial loses to the school. Massive
rehabilitation and reconstruction were immediately instituted as the school
faced the opening of the next school year. Meanwhile, the high school
department was temporarily relocated to the college campus while the permanent
three-storey building on the newly acquired lot adjacent to the College was
under construction. An additional phase to the physical structure of the
college is the St. Columban Arts Center which serves as the socio-cultural
venue not only for the students but also the community. At its back is the
annex concrete building that houses the new college canteen and the textbook
center on the ground floor and the college library on the upper floor.
In 1988, Kabankalan was made a new Diocese with Most Reverend Vicente M.
Navarra, D.D. as its First Bishop. This year, the College obtained the
services of the Religious of the Good Shepherd who served for a year. For
eight years, the academic heads were shifted to the lay members of the
academic community.
In 1996, the Carmelite Sisters of Our Lady (Carm, O.L.) was invited by Most
Rev. Vicente Navarra, D.D., Bishop of Kabankalan and time chairman of the
Board of Trustees, to assist Msgr. Rogelio B. Cruz, the president, in the
management of the school.
At the start of the academic year 2005-2006, the second bishop of the diocese
of Kabankalan, Most Rev. Patricio A. Buzon, SDB, D.D. temporarily took over
the presidency of the school.
PRESENT TIMES
From the 35 students in classrooms made of bamboo and nipa of Kabankalan
Academy in 1927 to the better and more conducive learning facilities of
Kabankalan College under the management of Columban Fathers, Kabankalan
Catholic College has become a major source of human resources of both public
and private educational institutions and business establishments not only in
the 6th District of Negros Occidental but also in the neighboring cities,
municipalities, and even other provinces.
Since its elementary and college departments’ humble beginnings in 1963-64,
Kabankalan Catholic College has already produced 3,372 elementary and high
school teachers. It has likewise produced 5,669 graduates of Bachelor of Arts,
Bachelor of Commerce, Information Technology and Associate Courses. In fact,
the recent survey conducted by the school revealed that 85 to 90 percent of
public and private school teachers in Southern Negros Occidental are graduates
of KCC.
Inspired by the quality of graduates produced by the ones before them, the
more updated, upgraded and qualified KCC administrators and mentors today join
hand in hand in their endeavor to produce graduates that would follow the
footsteps of successful KA/KC/KCC alumni like the former DENR Secretary and
Chairman of the Commission on Higher Education, Angel Alcala, former
Undersecretary of the Department of Budget and Management, Cynthia Castel, and
the best selling author and prominent lawyer, Atty. Alexander Lacson.
With the leadership of none other than the Bishop of the Diocese, His
Excellency, Most Reverend Patricio A. Buzon, SDB, D.D., KCC is now on its
journey towards a culture of discipline and excellence. Major changes have
been introduced to the school system particularly during the last couple of
years. Duties and responsibilities as well as lines of communication are more
defined. With the creation of Human Resource Development Office and the Office
of Planning and Development, concerns pertaining employees and development
plans and programs are now properly addressed.
In addition to these changes is the Revival of the Office of the Vice
President for Administration and Finance to take care of the financial and
business affairs of the school. The administration likewise re-activated the
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs to give full attention to
the academic matters of the school. Lastly, the administration created the
Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs to address student concerns.
Because of its desire to offer quality education, KCC gives priority to the
development of its faculty and staff. Through its Graduate Degree Program,
which is a faculty/staff scholarship program, quite a number of teachers are
pursuing and have finished their masteral degree. Guided by its vision to
provide options for the poor and its desire for its faculty and staff to be
fully qualified, KCC has linked with the Negros State College of Agriculture (NSCA).
Starting this academic year 2007-2008, KCC will be the venue of NSCA’s
graduate school program.
KCC likewise keeps itself abreast with the fast changing demands from college
graduates in the coming years. Recently, the curricula of the different
programs were revised according to updated policies, standards, and guidelines
of the CHED.
In spite of its financial limitations, KCC has upgraded its facilities to
ensure students safety and comfort. The most recent is the completion of the
construction of the new elementary department building. With this new
development, the elementary pupils will have their very own Science
Laboratory, media center/library, and H.E room. As the school aims to become
the center of information, communication, and technology in the Diocese, the
administration has added two state-of-the-art computer laboratories. They will
not only cater to the needs of I.T. students but also the elementary and high
school students.
What makes KCC unique from the other colleges in Southern Negros is its being
the missionary arm of the Church and the center of evangelization. Hence, it
is the first institution in this area to offer Bachelor of Arts major in
Philosophy. KCC, together with the Little Way College Seminary, helps in the
formation of the future priests of the Diocese. Furthermore, starting this
academic year, the school added Religious Education to the major areas of
Bachelor of Secondary Education.
Due to rapid increasing demands for globalization, KCC has mandated that
English is the medium of instruction and communication in the campus.
FLAGSHIP COURSE
‘Education is the heading of human souls to what is best, and making what is
best out of them the training which makes men the happiest themselves also
makes them most serviceable to others.” These words from John Ruskin have
guided the college leaders and management since its creation in 1927.
The Kabankalan Catholic College has its humble beginning as an academy in
1927. But through the efforts of Rev. Fr. Thomas Cronin, SSC, a general
college and an elementary school were opened in the school year 1963-1964. Two
years after, under the St. Paul Sisters of Chartres who were requested by the
Columban Fathers to assist them in the management of the school, the
institution became the center of learning in the southern part of Negros
Occidental.
In 1967, the college conferred diplomas for the first time, and certificates
to the 55 graduates of which 35 were in the Teacher Education Program; 11 in
Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education (BSE) and 24 in Bachelor of Science
in Elementary Education. The 35 teachers education graduates is more than 92
percent of the total 38 graduates in the four-year degree programs.
Four decades later, the Teacher Education Program holds the distinction as the
most “choiced” program at Kabankalan Catholic College, although a good number
of new programs were added to the curricular offerings.
It is interesting to note that from 1967 to 2007 the Teacher Education Program
was able to produce 3, 372 graduates. This is more than 37 percent of the
total graduates of 9, 041.
Soon after graduation, the aspirant teachers started to look for their place
in the field of teaching “from Kabankalan to any point of Negros Island.” Some
have even found their fortune in Iloilo, in Manila and even outside of the
country like Thailand and the United States.
With its long years of service to the community, the school was able to
produce quality and competent graduates as manifested in the achievements and
accomplishments they gained from their respective workplace. Many of the
graduates are occupying high positions in both the public and private
educational institutions in Southern Negros as Vice President for Academic
Affairs, College Deans, Program Chair, Principals, Education and District
Supervisors. A good number of the graduates have already retired from the
service.
At present, the school is continuously coping up with the trends and demands
of education in the region. New schemes and strategies are implemented to
improve the quality of teaching in the Teacher Education Program – KCC’s
forte.
Kadahigan
Providing a distinct face to the Filipino culture
The Filipino culture is immeasurably a huge chest of treasures. The Philippine
archipelago of 7,107 islands is, in fact, a wealth of wonders. The Department
of Tourism, indeed, hit a perfect harmonious chord when it coined an acronym,
“WOW,” which actually means to transcend beyond the lush virginal forests and
towering mountain ranges, ascending falls and charm-glided pond, valleys of
colorful foliage and dewy vegetation.
“Kadahigan,” the cultural arm of Kabankalan Catholic College, tries to expand
and nourish the Filipino inherited wealth by providing his culture with a
distinct face. This is through a showcase of dances that narrates his life in
the countryside along the seashore or by the rice field or at the mountain
top. “Kadahigan” colors the face of the Filipino culture through the
kaleidoscope of songs articulating his love, aspiration, dream, joy and even
grief.
Not content in just putting a mask to the face of Filipino culture to show a
smile, “Kadahigan” opens the heart to a beautiful reality and to shouts for
joy! This beautiful reality is the fact the Ilonggo dialect is one of the
sweetest stringing of words here in this sun-kissed country we call home.
Kadahigan believes that for a future to be forward with eagerness, the present
must be lived fully to be appreciated and be made as a vast reservoir of
culturally coated tools in the form of songs, dances, oratory dramatics,
visuals and other forms of aesthetics.
Thus, join the KCC students, faculty and staff as they fill the hall of St.
Columban Arts Center with the haunting lyricism of “Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika”…
as they echo their ancestors’ sorrow as they sing “Ay, Ay Kalisod!”… as they
perform those laboriously choreographed ethnic dances and those influenced by
the colonizers… then gyrate with them in the stains of “Mr. Suave” and
“Ocho-Ocho” which have captivated the lives of the bare-breasted Igorots of
the Mountain Province down the pearl- diving naked Tausog boys along the Sulu
Sea.
Allow “Kadahigan” to carry you to a historical and musical chariot of songs,
dances and many more literary forms, all providing a distinct face to the
Filipino culture. And going deeper, to the rich Ilonggo culture and heritage.
In “Kadahigan”, the past, the present and the future are intrinsically woven
to provide a musical and magical charm. And the future will still be what is
today.
Source: Manila Bulletin Online
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