Recognizing the importance of sports in education, outgoing Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones urged the incumbent and incoming officials of the National Academy of Sports (NAS) to continue providing programs to help student-athletes hone their physical skills while being academically competitive.
“We hope and we expect that you carry on and make sure that sports are part of education, part of the development of the learners, part of being good citizens, part of civilization itself,” Briones said during the oath-taking ceremony and thanksgiving early this month.
“Let us ensure that our learners will receive a quality education while helping them improve their skills in competitive sports,” she added.
High time
Along with the high schools for Sciences and high schools for the Arts, Briones also noted that it is “high time that we should have high schools and institutions specifically focusing on sports so that our learners and our people can start valuing the importance of physical fitness, physical preparation, and endurance, as well as combining them with academic work.”
Briones also discussed how different sports and physical education decades ago compared to today --- noting that Filipinos are sports enthusiasts, highlighting that basketball and volleyball are the country's favorite sporting events.
As NAS' Chairperson for the Board of Trustees, Briones administered the oath-taking of Private Sector Representative Board Member Cynthia Ann Lacson Tiu, Treasury Chief Jeffrey Mariano Tolentino, and Registrar Chief Mary Grace Valenzuela Ramoy.
NAS also officially welcomed Planning and Information and Communications Technology Division Project Development Officer V Cliford Millare Natividad, and Legal and External Affairs Division Attorney V Atty. Izah Katrina Tan Reyes to their team.
"It is a pleasure and honor to grace this afternoon’s very significant double event, which is the oath-taking ceremony of the personnel of NAS,” Briones said.
“And the thanksgiving for two years of hard work, two years of getting used to bureaucracy, and two years of identifying people who can push our efforts at improving sports and integrating it into the regular curriculum and program of the Department of Education," she added.
The said program was also attended by DepEd Assistant Secretary for Field Operations and National Academy of Sports Malcolm Garma, DepEd Bureau of Human Resource and Organizational Development Director Nina Bianca Sanglay, and other officials from NAS.