Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia said he expects the 748 graduates of the Bacolod City College to give positive contributions to Bacolod City, during BCC’s 12th commencement exercise Friday at the Bacolod City Government Center.

Leonardia said “As far as BCC is concerned, we had already prepared you.” He said it is now up to the graduates to find opportunities that are made available to them.

“We are trying our best to create a climate and an environment in Bacolod for business, industry and all the other machines of the economy to be working,” he said.

Leonardia, who took the first flight from Cebu to be at the affair, said that inspite of the major programs and achievements or projects of this administration, education is still the best program that they can pursue and provide to the people, particularly those who may not have so much in life.

When he suggested and founded the BCC in 1997, its tuition fee was at P30 per unit, he said.“Today, 2012, our tuition fee is still P30 per unit. And let me assure you, as long as I am mayor of Bacolod City, it will stay at P30 per unit,” he added.

BCC started in 1997 with only 135 students, and today its enrolment has reached 3,736, Leonardia said. It has graduated a total of 4,783 students, he said.

CHED PRESENCE

Leonardia said the presence of Commission on Higher Education VI Virginia Resurrection can attest that BCC is qualified, contrary to the misinformation spread against it recently by some quarters.

Resurrection, who was the guest speaker, advised the graduates that as they take their new world into their hands, they should take them up reverently even if it is a small piece of clay because a million thumbprints are in it already.

She also encouraged them to explore, dream and discover and steer themselves in any direction they choose, rather than be disappointed by the things they did not do. Decisions are the hearts of one’s success, she added

Resurrection said “I do believe that education’s primary purpose is not only to deepen our understanding of the world butalso strengthen our humanity. So we may become more just and humane, to have the courage to change the world for the better.”

She also congratulated the graduates and their parents for having a mayor who is giving quality higher education as one of the priority programs of his administration.

BCC ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Meanwhile, Leonardia pointed out that in the licensure examinations for teachers performance last April 2011, the BCC, Bachelor in Secondary Education graduates registered a passing percentage of 50 percent against the national passing percentage of only 26.28 percent.

It means that out of the 21 schools in the province, BCC is number three, he said. In the Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, the national passing percentage was only 15.81 percent but BCC’s was 50 percent, which means it ranked number two out of 21 schools in Negros Occidental, he added.

Leonardia said that in September 2011, the national passing percentage was 31.45 percent in Bachelor of Science in Education, but BCC’s was 42.86 percent, and of the six schools in Bacolod City, it ranked number three.

In B.S. in Elementary Education, the national passing percentage was 22.68 percent, but BCC’s was 61.29 percent, which means that out of the six schools in Bacolod City, it is number two, he said.

Leonardia also acknowledged Jason Asuelo who ranked number 14 out of the 53,000 examinees and Jonalyn Taray who is the first BCC graduate to pass the examination on information technology.

NEW BUILDING

“We feel we already have uplifted our standards, and we would like to share with you that great things are coming and we will pursue a 3-storey, 54 classroom building, with a library and laboratory, within the next year, for the BCC. “Of course, I can only do that with the support and cooperation of the Vice Mayor and our city councilors,” he added.*CGS

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