The Provincial Government of Samar launched the Kurikulum Para sa Edukasyong Kultural para sa Lalawigan ng Samar during the opening ceremony of Panurundun: Samar Day 2022 on August 11, 2022. The event was attended by the different Provincial and Local Government Officials, representatives from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Police Force, and teachers under the Department of Education Samar, Catbalogan City, and Calbayog City Division.
The Kurikulum para sa Edukasyong Kultural ng Lalawigan ng Samar is part of a bigger project titled, Cultural Heritage Values Interpretation Towards Education and Utilization for Community Development: A Cultural Mapping Continuing Project which is spearheaded by the University of Santo Tomas Graduate School – Center for Conservation of Cultural Property and Environment in the Tropics (GS-CCCPET) headed by Assoc. Prof. Eric B. Zerrudo, Ph.D.. The Curriculum Development Team is composed of four academic staff from the UST Institute of Religion namely, Prof. Joan Christi Trocio-Bagaipo, Ph.D., Assoc Prof. Ma. Sanita A. Quilatan, Ph.D., Asst. Prof. Marites Rano-Redoña, Ph.D., and Assoc. Prof. Chito M. Sawit, Ph.D. Joining the UST team for this project are Ms. Ricamela Saturay Palis, an academic staff of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts – Philippine Cultural Education Program, Ms. Ma. Cynthia Tajanlangit-Matas, an Alternative Learning System (ALS) expert from Negros Oriental State University, and a Samarnon Cultural Educator, Roland Peter J. Nicart, from the Eastern Samar State University.
The project, which is the conversion of cultural heritage resources into a curriculum, is sourced from the data gathered from cultural mapping throughout the province of Samar. The narratives gathered were classified into themes and were matched based on the hierarchy of cultural competencies for K-12 and Adult Learning Students. This pioneering project addressed the need for Philippines cultural education.
This project is supported by the provincial Government of Samar headed by Gov. Sharee Ann Tan together with Congressman Michael Tan, the Department of Education Region VIII, and the Department of Tourism region VIII.
