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==[[Sorsogon News]]==
==[[Sorsogon News]]==
'''Little-known college tops engineering exams'''
'''VP Binay inaugurates Sorsogon City housing units; to join Kasanggayahan Festival 2011 Fun Run tomorrow'''
*Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/77375/little-known-college-tops-engineering-exams
*Source: http://pia.gov.ph/?m=7&r=r05&id=59985
*1:55 am | Monday, October 17th, 2011
*Wednesday, October 19, 2011
:by  Juan Escandor Jr.
:by  Irma A. Guhit






SORSOGON CITY—Wanting in laboratory facilities but blessed with dedicated teachers, a little-known state college here has proven it can equal the finest engineering schools in the country. Its recent graduates have topped successive engineering board exams.
SORSOGON CITY ,October 19 (PIA) -- Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, Sr. will be the guest of honor in the inauguration of several housing units in Barangay Talisay, here in Sorsogon City today upon his arrival , this is in line with the celebration of this year's Kasanggayahan Festival (KF) 2011 with the theme : Going Beyond and an inspiration to local chief executives to go beyond in rendering service to the people, especially on the issue of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation (CCMA)." Sorsogon City Mayor Leovic R. Dioneda said in a briefing to the city officials and employees yesterday.
Sorsogon State College (SSC), some 500 kilometers south of Manila, has produced the likes of Joseph Cyril R. Gredoña and Daniel E. Forteza, who ranked first and second, respectively, in the mechanical engineering board exams last month.
The Vice President's presence here is part of his role as the chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC)
Gredoña—a son of a tricycle driver—garnered a grade of 92.70 percent, while Forteza—a son of a farmer/fisherman—got 92.65 percent in the exams.
to implement and oversee the government's thrust to coordinate activities of government housing agencies specially in line with the standards to be instituted as a CCMA mechanisms across the country according to Dioneda.
In April, another SSC graduate and a son of a shellfish vendor, Jhonrey Aguirre, topped the electrical engineering board exams with a grade of 89.65 percent. A college mate, Leandro Salamatin placed 10th with a grade of 87.05 percent.
In a press statement this morning, he said that as the local chief executive of the the city of Sorsogon he has seen the need to seek for the assistance and support of the vice president, he being appointed as the Housing Czar by no less than President Aquino and that the thrusts of the city government is to make their housing units more resistant to the adverse effects of bad weather conditions and at the same time serve as housing models for CCAM.
SSC first made its mark among engineering schools in 2006 when its graduate, Emmanuel Liwag, placed eighth in the electrical engineering board exams.
It can be recalled that Barangay Talisay is one of the areas usually severely affected during typhoons and storm surge aside from several other barangays here due to its proximity to Sorsogon Bay.
One of the oldest trade schools in the country, SSC became a state college in December 1993 with three national vocational high schools in the province integrated to it.
Mayor Dioneda said that the housing units to be inaugurated in barangay Talisay will also be replicated in other barangays here also considered highly vulnerable to natural calamities.
“We don’t have Ph.D.s in our faculty, which we still dream of until now. But we could say our instructors are good teachers while we see a high number of students with talents,” says Felino S. Jasmin, SSC director of branding and communications.
During today's visit, the vice president is also expected to inspect the five school mitigating, adapting and resilient to typhoons (SMART) here in the city , a project of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Water Treatment Facility and several housing units initiated by other local governments in the province.
He says most of the college instructors have at least 20 years of teaching experience.
VP Binay will also meet with other local chief executives here whose areas are usually affected by natural calamities and to discuss some concerns regarding ways to institute a quality housing provisions for those who are usually affected by severe weather disturbance, identify relocation areas and provide housing that can withstand such adverse effects of the change in weather conditions.
Jasmin points out that the school’s performance is measured by its passing rate in board exams, which must not go below the national passing rate.
Mayor Dioneda also said that he will be visiting the "All Weather Station" of the city that has been installed to help in the 24 hour monitoring activity of the weather condition here and a mitigating measure in creating a resilient community.
Against the national passing rate of 62 percent, SSC’s feat in the mechanical engineering board exams has become more meaningful because of the school’s 79 percent passing rate. Nineteen out of its 24 mechanical engineering graduates last school year passed the board exam.
The vice president will also meet with other agencies that work in disaster management to discuss concerns how to improve the housing situation in the province become a CCMA houses.
P150 per unit
His presence today and tomorrow will be an added attraction also to the celebration of the KF 2011 as he will spearhead tomorrow's fun run as organized by his fraternity brothers in the Alpha Phi Omega (APO) (MAL/IAG, PIA Sorsogon)
He says SSC only charges P150 per unit and a student here needs at least P5,000 for one semester.
The state college received a budget of P93.64 million from the national government in 2010 while the fees collected from 8,570 students totaled P44 million.
Jasmin says 260 personnel are paid from the budget given by the national government, while 147 personnel are subsidized by the income SSC derives from the fees it collects.
Noel Benavides, program chair of the engineering and architecture department, says SSC is still wanting in laboratory facilities, which are shared by 40 to 45 students in every class session.
He says the ideal class size in a laboratory is 25 to 30 students but the students have to make do with what they have.
This limitation, however, did not prevent the students from delivering very satisfactory performance in the board exams.
Jasmin says SSC caters to students from low-income groups whose parents cannot send their children to universities outside of Sorsogon, like Legazpi City, Naga City or Metro Manila.
Although SSC charges the lowest rate compared with those collected by other engineering schools, many students still have difficulty paying tuition and other fees.
Jasmin cites Gredoña and Aguirre who both struggled hard financially before topping the mechanical and electrical engineering board exams, respectively.
From Aroroy, Juban
The eldest among six siblings, Gredoña hails from the far-flung village of Aroroy in Juban, Sorsogon.
His parents were able to ask a landowner in Sorsogon City to allow them to build a small house in the city while Gredoña was in college.
Gredoña recalls that when he was in elementary school, he walked 2 kilometers to reach the school from their house.
Forteza, who placed second to Gredoña, also comes from a low-income family. His father, the only breadwinner, makes a living from farming and fishing in the village of Macabari in Barcelona town.
He was a consistent honor student from elementary to high school and found the questions in the board exams familiar. Still, he was surprised he made it to the top two.
Forteza says he hopes that his achievement will be a life-changing experience for his family, especially since a big company has offered him a job.


==Photo Gallery of Sorsogon, Philippines==
==Photo Gallery of Sorsogon, Philippines==
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