To reinforce good manners and right conduct to teenagers, the municipality of Kabayan, Benguet has institutionalized the conduct of recollection within the mystic town.
In its Students’ Values Formation Ordinance, the municipal council stated, the municipality shall recognize the role of youth in nation building and promote and protect their physical, mental, spiritual, intellectual and social well-being.
“As the partner of the Department of Education, the local government of Kabayan aims to intensify its goal to maintain values, spiritual formation and moral ascendancy to God, neighbor and country,” the ordinance stated.
Recollection is defined by the municipal council as a concentration of one’s attention and awareness at the meaningful spiritual and moral values of the young to God, others and country.
The mayor will craft the internal rules and regulations in collaboration with the Association of Religious Ministers of Kabayan (ARM-K) and memorandum of agreement with the DepEd-Kabayan district.
To implement the program, the ARM-K shall prepare the modules to be used during recollection, which focuses on various matters including but not limited to: caring for self and family; concern for others and community especially the vulnerable and less privileged; role of the youth in upholding respect to people and laws of the land; and cultivating sincerity, honesty, obedience, love of country and worship of the Almighty.
The group will not focus on the tenets and beliefs of any religious sect to avoid comparison, confusion or discrimination with religious sects in the municipality.
The recollection shall be at least be one or two days in a venue conducive for the activity to be prepared by the DepEd-Kabayan, which will also act as facilitators during the event.
Activities during the recollection may include the following: character building, role playing, community immersion, teacher-parent collaborative learning and simulated activities, among others.
The recollection will be scheduled during the first week of school opening for grades 7 to 10, while for grades 11 to 12, it shall be on the week before their graduation.
For its implementation, the municipality will appropriate P300,000 from the general fund. Parents will also be asked to provide counterparts during the activity such as providing one or two meals during the collaborative formation.
The ordinance was given a favorable review by the Benguet provincial board. – Ofelia C. Empian
