GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/07 February) – The ground works for the planned Region 12 campus of the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) will finally begin this month in a 4.5-hectare lot in nearby Koronadal City.
South Cotabato Gov. Arthur Pingoy Jr. said Tuesday he was officially notified by officials of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Region 12 that the PSHS campus’ development will begin within this month and the construction works would take about a year to be fully completed.
“The new campus is targeted to open to its first batch of students by (June) 2013,” he said.
Pingoy said the construction of the classrooms and other required facilities will be mainly funded by the DOST and augmented by various funding pledges.
He said Rep. Carol Jayne Lopez of the Youth Against Corruption and Poverty party-list group committed some P5 million for the construction of the campus’ dormitory.
The governor said the local government has been also trying to secure additional funding commitments for other necessary needs of the new PSHS unit.
The provincial government earlier spent some P7.3 million for the acquisition of the school’s site in Barangay Paraiso in Koronadal City.
The 4.5-hectare lot, which was formally turned over to DOST-12 last September, was the provincial government’s counterpart to the project based on an agreement with the agency.
The DOST central office earlier approved the establishment of a PSHS campus in Koronadal City as part of its expansion program in Region 12.
Pingoy said Koronadal City was identified as ideal site for the proposed PSHS campus being the regional seat and center of Region 12.
Region 12 covers the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, North Cotabato and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, Kidapawan and Cotabato.
The PSHS, which operates as an attached agency of the DOST, is a specialized public high school system that focuses on high quality science-based education and training.
The PSHS system, which was initially patterned after the Bronx High School of Science in New York City, was established by the government “for the purpose of giving an education highly enriched in science and mathematics to exceptionally gifted Filipino children,” its website said.
Two years ago, the provincial government also helped establish an extension campus of the University of the Philippines Manila-School of Health Sciences in Barangay Carpenter Hill, Koronadal City.
The local government funded the acquisition of a six-hectare lot for the university campus and the construction of its initial buildings and dormitory facilities. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)