Pangasinan gov’t to open free polytechnic college

By Jeanne Michael Penaranda

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – Pangasinan, considered one of the educational centers in Northern Luzon, is eyeing the opening of a college to be funded, operated and managed by the provincial government.

Proposed to be called the Pangasinan Polytechnic College (PPC), the new school will offer free college education and vocational courses to qualified residents, according to provincial officials which approved the creation of the college.

Residents, especially the youth, welcomed the announcement but others expressed concern that the provincial college might be competing with at least four city and municipal colleges universities in the province as well as the state colleges and universities based in Panga- sinan and the private tertiary schools like the Lyceum Northwestern University, Virgen Milagrosa University, PHINMA University of Pangasinan, Perpetual Help College, the WCC Aeronautical and Technological College and the Pan Pacific University.

The already existing local colleges and universities are the University of Eastern Pangasinan in Binalonan town, Urdaneta City University in Urdaneta City, the Binalatongan College in San Carlos City and Bayambang Polytechnic College in Bayambang town.

Vice Governor Mark Ronald Lambino said the Pangasinan Polytechnic College will be the first college fully owned and run by a provincial government in the Ilocos Region.

He said the establishment of the PPC was in keeping with Governor Ramon Guico III’s commitment to provide ac- cessible education for residents of the province.

“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,” he said.

Lambino said programs of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) will be incorporated into PPC course offerings so that after one or two years, a student can already look for a job.

“And because it’s a ladderized system, every year students will gain credit from what they 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,” he said.

Lambino said the PPC’s first campus will be at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center in the capital town of Lingayen 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,” he added.

He said PPC students will be full scholars, enjoying free tuition and miscellaneous fees for as long as they abide by their contracts, academics- and behavior-wise.

He also clarified that the creation of the PPC will not compete with the staterun Pangasinan State University and private universities in the province.