For quite a long time, Ilaguenos held onto the belief that resilience is a quality forced upon us by the speed of change and the sheer amount of continuous and exponential shifts needed to evolve, live and do work. It’s an unseen force that, until recently, was largely overlooked by most world leaders. The COVID-19 pandemic, on the other hand, is a disruptive force that highlights the need for resilience – a quality the LGU City of Ilagan and the entirety of the Isabela National High School body pioneer in. With the vision: building bridges, emerging stronger – Ilaguenos take pride in readying for the future fueled by an interconnected community.
To transform means to alter one's appearance, structure, condition, nature, or personality. It's an overused word that may be adapted to fit a variety of scenarios. There is nothing new about change. However, the dynamics of an even more unpredictable and complex future, ushered in by the COVID-19 pandemic, should drive us all to change. This is seen with the majority of our communication systems being relocated from traditional face-to-face interactions to digital platforms.
INHS’ launching of its own radio booth dubbed INHS ON AIR: Official Network for Academic Institutions via Radio is living proof of a proper execution of an almost impossible transition. INHS ON AIR is an official network for virtual academic instructions with the distribution of transistor radios courtesy of the City Government of Ilagan, spearheaded by our City Mayor Josemarie L. Diaz. The radio network covers topics in general studies ranging from academic-related subjects to reading and writing exercises to social issues campaigns. It bridges the gaps when it comes to unprecedented challenges highlighted by online learning as it opens an avenue for delivering quality and interactive education on an inclusive scale. INHS’ student body also adopted a school-based version of this as well: SSG ON AIR.
Radio-based learning is not only optimized in INHS alone, there are also 330 beneficiaries at Namnama Elementary School and Gayong-gayong Sur Elementary School of transistorized radios, which was sponsored by the Local Gov’t Unit under the office of the Mayor and office of SP Jayve as committee chairman on Education.
Project LAPAT or also known as Project Lapis Papel At Iba pa, is a project that reached the kindergarten and grade 1 pupils from Bigao Elementary School, accommodating the students’ material needs by distributing stationery items such as plastic envelopes that included a notebook, paper, pencil, eraser, ruler, scissors, and pad paper. In light of the markedly disrupted global economic system thanks to the pandemic, and with numerous Filipinos struggling to meet their basic needs, INHS SSG through the leadership of SSG President Johanne Kirsten Sumineg and City Counselor Jay Eveson Diaz raise the banner for exulting the Filipino trademark: emanating resilience and generosity. In addition, the LGU, in partnership with field offices, provided training for the teachers and parents for them to adapt to the new normal of education. These initiatives were conducted while observing the required health protocols for COVID-19.
What is the secret behind an organizational local government unit to educational institution pipeline that INHS and the LGU clearly exhibit? Anchored on the mutual desire for quality and accessible education for all, they both take on a complex future precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic by using a holistic approach to an interconnected system. The pandemic highlights how our world has evolved into a complicated, interdependent system. In such systems, a complete understanding of the individual parts does not always imply a complete grasp of the overall behavior, emphasizing the significance of a holistic, system-thinking approach. Why? Because complex systems behave and interact in unpredictable ways, thus why prediction is impossible. Because of the high level of unpredictability and the rapidity with which alterations are anticipated to occur, comprehensive adaptation is the only way to thrive in this type of environment. A process we have seen in the superb performance of all the city’s active stakeholders from modernizing public utility vehicles, to maximizing isolation facilities, to legislating appropriate resolutions to ensure free education for all – and building bridges for a smooth transition to digital learning.
Beyond these foundational elements, there is a need for an innovation portfolio mindset, and a focus on key areas of excellence. Isabela National High School and the Local Government Unit of the City of Ilagan targeted organizational adaptability; creating gateways and building bridges even at the height of limited resources and a crippling pandemic by rehearsing the future as we prepare for a range of possibilities. Such future innovation portfolios, therefore, provide us with options that are leveraged to address the shifts – a vision both organizations championed in. Through building bridges and emerging stronger, we walk closer to a liveable city. A liveable community we all deserve.
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