The RHS Baseline Survey

During the meeting held on 12 July 2008, the SGC received from the school principal the following basic information for the current school year:

1. A total of 8,803 students are currently enrolled in the Caniogan campus. Note that the former annexes are no longer considered as extensions of the RHS main campus. Thus, the number of enrollees are much lower than those of the previous years, when it even reached a high of 25,000. The current statistic is broken down as follows:

a. First Year - 2,608 or 30% of the student population
b. Second Year - 2,221 or 25% of the student population
c. Third Year - 2,140 or 24% of the student population
d. Fourth Year - 1,834 or 21% of the student population

2. Of the students enrolled, 4,325 are boys and 4,478 are girls.

3. For the school year 2007 - 2008, the number of students who did not enroll for the next level is as follows:

a. From 1st year to 2nd year – 304
b. From 2nd year to 3rd year – 185
c. From 3rd year to 4th year – 155
d. 4th year students who did not graduate - 77

4. The current rating for performance in achievement tests is 45.50%.

5. The ratio of RHS students who graduated and went on to continue with college or vocational courses is currently at 60:40, with more students not being able to study beyond high school. With the current student population, this means only 734 students who will graduate this year will likely be able to continue with their studies.

Based on the above data, the members of the council acknowledged that an integrated program is needed to address two basic problems:

1. Keeping students in school until they graduate

2. Providing faculty support to improve the method of teaching so as to improve the quality of education

These two inter-dependent goals need an integrated approach in order to achieve significant and lasting impact towards improving the lives of students of the Rizal High School and, by extension, their families and communities. As a primary objective, the SGC aims to develop a holistic program that will address these twin problems with practical programs that will involve the school’s stakeholders – including the students and the faculty members themselves.

As a starting point, the Council decided to conduct a school-wide survey to determine basic baseline information that will help it to understand the situation, and be better equipped to identify the appropriate approach for the integrated program. The survey will ask these basic questions:

1. Personal information of students, including family size, income and its source. This will help us establish the demography of students of RHS.

2. Skills preference to determine what skills are already available, and what other skills the students are inclined to develop.

3. Problems that students perceived to be as challenges in their studies. This will help us determine what aspects of the school environment need to be addressed for improvement.

4. How much does a student spend to attend school regularly? This will provide us the economic profile of students and how this affects their chances of staying in school.

5. If the student sees the possibility of dropping out of school before graduation, what would have been the cause? The answers will help us better understand the underlying problems of students dropping out of school.

The Council’s Vice-Chair, Ms. Myrna Neri, is currently coordinating with members to fine-tune and finalize the survey form. We are enlisting the help of the schools faculty to administer the survey that will cover the entire student population. Students and teachers of Statistics classes will assist in processing the results. Target survey date will be on Friday, 25 July 2008.

Notice of Meeting #3 - Update No. 4

In order to give way to the Class Presidents' Summit called for by the Rizal High School Alumni Association, Inc., we are moving the meeting of the School Governing Council (SGC) to July 12, 2008, Saturday.

Time, venue and agenda will be announced later.

Notice of Meeting #3 - UPDATE

The SGC meeting will be held on 05 July 2008, Saturday, at 1:30PM. Venue will be at the Principal's Office.

Notice of Meeting #3 - Update

Ms. Cruz will not be available on 31 May 2008, as she is in a DepEd seminar in Tacloban City. We will reset the meeting to a suitable date after the opening of classes in June, so as to provide participants from RHS ample time to prepare for school opening.

Details to follow.

Notice of Meeting #3

The Council shall have its first Planning Session for the Integrated Support and Incentive Program (ISIP) on 31 May 2009, Saturday, starting at ten in the morning.

Details will be announced later.

Notice of Meeting #2

Ms. Josephine Cruz, Rizal High School Principal, has invited the members of the Council to attend the first Faculty Meeting for the School Year 2008 - 2009. This will be held on 08 May 2008, at eight in the morning.

We would like to take this chance to introduce the SGC to the faculty, as the teachers play very significant roles in the success of this endeavor. They are both beneficiaries of our anchor program, and at the same time can be very influential advocates of change and improvement.

We hope to see you there.

Notice of Meeting #1

To All Council Members,

The Council will have a meeting on Saturday, 26 April 2008, at three in the afternoon. The meeting will be hosted by the school's Principal, Ms. Josephine Cruz, at her office.

Agenda for the meeting shall be as follows:

1. Review of the updated School Improvement Plan (SIP) of the Rizal High School
2. Discussion on the details of the proposed Integrated Scholarships and Incentives Program (ISIP) for both faculty and students
3. Other issues that may be raised by Members
   

Everyone is enjoined to attend, and to come on time.

SGC Primer

Primer on the School Governing Council of the Rizal High School

This document presents the basic framework of the School Governing Council (SGC) of the Rizal High School. It describes the rationale behind its creation and its objectives in relation to the school’s own School Improvement Plan (SIP). Also discussed here is a brief summary of the proposed Program of Action of the Council in furtherance of its goals. This primer aims to provide stakeholders of the school, which include the school administrators, faculty, personnel, students, alumni and the business and civic communities, relevant information on how the Council can provide a unified and holistic approach to program development and management for the furtherance of the school’s development and improvement objectives.

Overview

The concept of a School Governing Council was born out of the current trend of decentralizing the management of public schools. The growing autonomy of the local government units presents an opportunity for public schools to coordinate more closely with the LGU’s in order to appropriately allocate financial and logistical resources to address real and actual issues that schools are facing. This is effectively complimented by the thrust of the Department of Education (DepEd) to devolve certain critical decision-making functions to local school administrations. The DepEd encourages schools to adopt this new paradigm through School Based Management (SBM) initiatives that involves other stakeholders outside of the traditional school structure. Many studies show that effective implementation of SBM has a significant impact on the performance and achievement results of schools as compared to those that do not have a similar program.

SBM encourages Principals, as school administrators, to tap other stakeholders like the alumni, the local government and non-government organizations, to address areas of improvement within the context of the school’s unique needs and requirements. The partnership among the local government unit, the school and the community of stakeholders have been proven to be very effective in providing timely and appropriate resolution to the many issues affecting our schools today. It is therefore our desire to adopt the best practices in SBM implementation and use them to reduce attrition in student enrolment and achieve significant improvement in the quality of education provided by the Rizal High School.

Under the School-Based Management paradigm, the Principal and the school’s administration will remain as primarily responsible for the formulation, development and implementation of policy directions. These policies and programs are expounded through the School Improvement Plan, which identifies the development goals of the school for the next three years. The School Governing Council, on the other hand, shall be a multi-sectoral committee composed of representatives from the school’s stakeholders. Its primary role shall be to assist the Principal and the school administrators in attaining the goals set forth in the School Improvement Plan. As such, the SGC will not implement programs or projects on its own. Its mandate is to identify issues and propose solutions based on the SIP, and then coordinate and work with individuals and organizations who can effectively implement these programs and advocacies. The SGC will also work with the school administration in monitoring and evaluating programs, and shall ensure that progress is sustained and results and feedback are properly communicated to all stakeholders.

History

Rizal High School was once acclaimed as the largest secondary school in the world in terms of enrollment, with over 20,000 students reporting to classes on its main campus and several satellite campuses. This distinction may have landed the school a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for several years, but it also exposed an inherent problem in managing such a large population of students. Statistics on performance and achievement began showing signs of decline.

In more recent years, the satellite campuses were given more autonomy, and eventually became independent schools with their own administration and faculty. This pragmatic move reduced the number of students in the original campus to more manageable levels. Providentially, the Department of Education started promoting School Based Management to decentralize vital decision making that directly affect the effectiveness of school policies and programs. This initiative empowers public schools to set their own policy directions and tailor them to address their specific needs in close coordination with local governments and community stakeholders.

Building on the positive feedback from other schools that have implemented similar initiatives, Dr. Josephine M. Cruz, incumbent Principal of the Rizal High School, invited representatives of the school’s stakeholders and non-government organizations in an exploratory meeting aimed at establishing a School Governing Council. The first meeting was held on February 23, 2008, where Dennis E. Concepcion of RHS Class 1981 was elected Interim Chair of the Council. On March 1, 2008, an organizational meeting was held at the RHS Principal’s office. Attending the meeting were representatives from the alumni association and foundation, parents, students and faculty. Also in attendance were representatives from non-government organizations VOICE and HOPE. VOICE is a Church-based NGO working with volunteers to bring values education to public schools, while HOPE assists school administrators in preventing and dealing with child abuse.

Thus was born the first School Governing Council for the Rizal High School. Invited to join the council as founding Council Members were the following:

Comm. Pablo P. Perez (Ret.)	RHS Alumni Foundation
Mryna P. Neri	RHS Alumni Association, Inc.
Dennis E. Concepcion	RHS Class 1981
Florencia T. Laxamana	RHS Faculty
Rex Aquino	RHS Faculty
Vanessa Ann C. Santos	RHS Supreme Student Council
Bernard Perez	Barangay Chair, Caniogan Pasig
Ursula Moosmann	VOICE – NGO for Values Formation
Jose Villaviza	HOPE – NGO for Child Welfare
Alfredo Tengco	RHS Parent Representative
TBA	City Government Representative

Elected to a three-year regular term as Chair and Vice-Chair are Mr. Dennis E. Concepcion and Ms. Myrna P. Neri, respectively. Ms. Florencia T. Laxamana is the Council Secretary.

Objectives

The main objectives of the School Governing Council are:

1. Assist the school in achieving its goals and objectives as stated in its School Improvement Plan (SIP), and provide inputs to continually evaluate and improve the same.
2. Provide recommendations to the Principal on matters that can help in addressing relevant issues and problems affecting the school and actively participate in the resolution of these issues.
3. Develop and promote an integrated program of projects and advocacies in support of the SIP and provide the framework by which stakeholders of the school can come together and work towards the achievement of goals and objectives that will have the most significant positive and sustainable impact to the school and its students.

Organization

The School Governing Council is a committee composed of representatives from stakeholder groups of the Rizal High School. Its members are invited by the Principal from among the following community stakeholders:

1. School Administration, Faculty and Other Non-teaching Personnel
2. Students
3. Parents
4. Alumni
5. Local Government
6. Business Community and Civic Organizations
7. Non-Government Organizations with focus on Youth and Education

Individuals and organizations may be invited by the School Principal to join the Council as members. Individual members may be invited in their personal capacities, while organizations may nominate a member or officer to sit in the Council on its behalf. At any given time, the Council may not have less than seven (7) and not more eleven (11) regular members. The number of members should always be an odd value (7, 9 or 11).

After the Council has been constituted, members from amongst themselves will elect a Chair, a Vice-Chair and a Secretary. Each of these elected Officers shall have a term of three (3) years. They will exercise the following functions:

1. Council Chair
1. Preside over the meetings of the Council.
2. Coordinate with the Principal and the school administration in the implementation of the Council’s Programs and Advocacies.
3. Assist the Principal in identifying and inviting prospective members of the Council
4. Provide leadership towards the attainment of the goals and objectives of the Council.
5. Liaise with the school stakeholders for the promotion of and in support of the Council’s Programs and Advocacies.
2. Council Vice-Chair
1. Preside over the meetings of the Council in the absence of the Chair.
2. Assist the Chair in the implementation of the Council’s Programs and Advocacies.
3. Perform any other function as the Council may designate from time to time.


3. Council Secretary
1. Preside over the meetings of the Council in the absence of both the Chair and the Vice-Chair.
2. Act as the Official Custodian of all records and documents of the Council and disseminate the same as needed.
3. Coordinate communication between the Council and other stakeholders of the school.

The Council shall meet on the first Saturday of the first month of each quarter at ten in the morning, unless another date and time has been set and the members of the Council have been notified of the change at least one week before the original or new schedule, whichever will come first. Special meetings may be called to discuss important matters outside of the regular meetings. Ad-Hoc committees formed for specific purposes may be convened for meetings and other activities anytime deemed as appropriate by the Ad-Hoc Committee Chairs.

The Council may invite resource persons from time to time to assist in the formulation, development and implementation of its programs and advocacies. The Council will ensure that in the course of its operations, it shall remain apolitical, non-sectarian and shall always adhere to universally accepted tenets of transparency, accountability, and equality.

Membership in the Council, although by invitation only, shall always be on a voluntary basis. Council members shall not receive any remuneration, monetary or otherwise, from the school or from any other sources. Representatives may be replaced by their respective member organizations, provided due notice is given to the Council. Council Members are to serve for three (3) year terms.

The Faculty Club, Supreme Student Council, the RHS Alumni Association and the RHS Alumni Foundation are ex-officio members of the Council. Their Presidents or Chairs shall serve as Council Members, or they may assign a representative from among their officers.

Operations

The School Governing Council shall operate exclusively under the auspices of the Rizal High School. It is not, and shall not be an independent body outside of the operational framework of the school. It shall exist on the basis of the policies and regulations of the school and shall strictly adhere to its stated goals and objectives.

The Council’s programs and advocacies must always be consistent with the School Improvement Plan (SIP) of the school. Based on the SIP, the Council shall:

1. Identify areas of improvement
2. Formulate programs or advocacies to address these areas
3. Set performance and/or achievement targets
4. Identify stakeholders that can implement the program or advocacy and invite them to participate in the program either as lead organization or co-implementor
5. Monitor the progress of the program or advocacy and communicate to all stakeholders the status vis-à-vis the set targets
6. Evaluate the impact of the programs and advocacies on the attainment of the school’s goals and objectives as stated in the SIP and the set targets

The Council shall not maintain funds of its own. It shall be the responsibility of the school to provide the venue and other materials for its meetings. The school shall also provide logistical support for its other activities and operational requirements. If any identified program or advocacy requires funding, the manner by which funds will be sourced and managed shall be included in the program plan and framework. The Council shall not in any way be involved directly in the management of any fund intended for programs and advocacies. However, an accounting of funds collected and used for any project or advocacy emanating from the Council, if any, must be submitted regularly and will form part of the Status Report to be provided to the stakeholders.

In view of the above, the Council shall appoint a partner foundation that will manage funds intended for its programs and advocacies. Funds entrusted to the partner foundation shall be used exclusively for the use of programs and advocacies identified by the Council. A Memorandum of Agreement shall be signed between the Council and the partner foundation towards this end.

Program of Action

The First Regular Meeting of the Council shall be on __ April 2008, Saturday at ten in the morning. The meeting shall be held at the RHS Principal’s Office.

During the organizational meeting held last 1 March 2008, copies of the School Improvement Plan were distributed to Council Members for review and familiarization. The following action items were adopted:

1. An updated School Improvement Plan will be presented to the Council during the First Regular Meeting. However, it was noted that the current SIP can already be used as an interim material for identifying areas for improvement.
2. The Council shall identify priority areas for improvement. During an initial review of the current SIP, the Council Chair called the member’s attention to the high drop-out rate of the school. It was agreed then that one of the Council’s first priority will be to address this issue.
3. An initiative to adopt the Gramin Banking model for Micro-finance in establishing small support groups for students who are most likely to drop out of school was proposed by the Chair and accepted by the Council. It was further agreed that a program to support this initiative will be discussed and finalized during the First Regular Meeting.
4. In support of this first initiative, the Principal committed to provide the Council the profiles of students who are most likely to drop out of school. This information will help the Council in understanding the problem and identifying the appropriate response.
5. During the previous meeting, the need to upgrade the competency and skills of teachers was also identified as a vital area of improvement that can positively affect the quality of education provided by the school. Any program of action, therefore, should have in its core the twin goals of reducing the drop-out rate of students and upgrading the skills and competency of teachers so that students can stay in school and receive the quality of education that will make them better equipped to be productive and responsible citizens.
6. The Council shall finalize and adopt a more comprehensive Program of Action, to be named the "Integrated Support and Incentive Program (ISIP)", and shall present the same to the different stakeholders of the school to generate support and encourage them to channel resources towards an integrated and holistic management of programs aimed at addressing the priority needs of the school. The program is designed to benefit all sectors of the school community, and shall identify and prioritize projects that can generate significant short and long term benefits.
7. The Council shall conduct a planning session on 31 May 2008 at ten in the morning.