By Rene V. Carbayas
ISABELA CITY, Basilan – Out-of-School Youths
(OSYs) from the 22 barangays of Isabela City in Basilan converged Friday at
Farmland Resort in Lanote, this city for the one-day Peace-ta(han) Youth
Summit.
Robinson Wee, youth development specialist of the Education
Development Center (EDC) called the OSY as out-of-school youths no more, but
“OutStanding Youth” now as they have completed the technical skills training,
some of TESDA, others are EDC-led short course skills training programs, and
some are continuing education with the Alternative Learning System (ALS) of the
Department of Education (DepEd).
Wee acknowledged and thanked the different partner-agencies and
organizations which formed the Out-of-School Youth Development Alliance (OSYDA)
and helped the youth achieve a level of competency in their chosen field.
The Peace-ta(han) Youth Summit last May 8 was the gathering of
346 young people from Isabela City that showcased their skills, knowledge, and
friendship towards contributing to the establishment of peaceful communities.
The Summit was also an opportunity for the youth to have
demonstrated what they learned from DepEd’s Acceleration and Equivalency/Basic
Literacy program and skills training courses by participating in the knowledge
and skills demonstration.
The activity offered seven thematic sessions in which young
people can participate such as skills demonstration on bread and pastry and
food processing, Peace Advocacy through painting, music and song-writing,
dance, novelty recycling, project proposal writing, and Quiz Bowl for ALS
students.
Speaking on behalf of the OSYDA chairperson, former city councilor
Nur Ladjagais said that as always, Mayor Cherry Akbar has a heart for the youth
and “she wants to see our young people generate good education and be able to
acquire and be productive to become part of our community development and be
our first partners.”
“She wants to congratulate those in the front lines for being
instruments to catering to the youth to become part of our development process
and not only for Isabela City but all throughout the province of Basilan,”
Ladjagais added.
At the closing ceremony, the participants of each thematic
grouping have displayed their output and thematic facilitators have awarded the
best output so far from each thematic grouping.
Moreover, EDC has awarded livelihood starter kits worth P98
thousand and distributed to NC-II holders. This include 2 welding machines,
gloves, masks for NC-II passers in welding; 2 ovens, utensils, electric beater,
etc. for bread and pastry; 2 burners and cooking utensils for food processing;
and 2 sewing machines and measuring tools for dressmaking.
For dressmaking in Baluno, the office of the city mayor gave out
4 rolls of fabric and some zippers, tailor chalk, pins, needles, garter, and
thread with a total worth of more than P12 thousand.