EDUCATION Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones lauded the Department of Education (DepEd)-Central Luzon on its efforts in the ongoing construction and development of the Bataan High School for the Arts (BHSA).
“I am interested in the development of the BHSA. This school will further improve the talents of our young individuals, while promoting Philippine culture and arts,” Briones said after her site visit on May 11. “I congratulate the regional office for your efforts in establishing this school, which is necessary along with the emergence of technology.”
Despite the current construction, the BHSA has started its pioneering class with 40 pupils this year through blended learning. It offers the following strands: visual arts, theater arts, media arts, creative writing, folk dance, ballet, and music.
Overall completion of the BHSA’s construction is expected next year. The facilities include an administration building, a 3-story dormitory building, a congregation hall, an academic building with 10 classrooms, and a 5-story building with cafeteria, studio, and practice rooms.
Meanwhile the DepEd chief also recognized Bataan as a strategic location for the creation of the said school, as the province is rich in culture and heritage due to its contribution to history.
“Bataan occupies a special place in history, [as well as in] the hearts and minds of Filipinos,” Briones added. “No Filipino should call themselves a Filipino if he does not know [the province].”
She was joined by Regional Director May Eclar, who is the officer in charge and school director, Schools Division Office-Balanga Superintendent Rolando Fronda, as well as Officer In Charge-Deputy Director Bryan Santos.
BHSA is administered and supervised by the DepEd, in coordination with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and the Cultural Center of the Philippines through the virtue of Republic Act 11190.
The school is implementing a general secondary curriculum prescribed by Republic Act 10533, or the “Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013,” with a special focus on the arts that will aid in recognizing early the talent and exceptional giftedness of young children, thereby ensuring the nurturing of artists of excellence, including the preservation and promotion of Filipino heritage.