DAVAO CITY—The National Literacy Coordinating Council has bestowed the 2016 Special Award for Excellence in Literacy to Davao City after the local government successfully sustained its impressive record in providing quality education to the public.
City Administrator Zuleika T. Lopez received the award on Thursday in a ceremony in Quezon City attended by top education officials.
Lopez said the award recognized the city’s efforts “in making sure that Dabawenyos are not only equipped with basic literacy and numeracy skills, but that there is an empowering environment that will allow them to learn.”
As of last year, the city had a 99-percent literacy rate for children aged 10 years and above, said Loraida Fabro of the City Planning and Development Office.
Davao City received the Hall of Fame Award for its education programs in 2013, after dominating other local government units in the effective implementation of literacy programs in 2008, 2010 and 2012.
Lopez said the award was “the cherry on top of the cake, as it reinforces the Hall of Fame Award you bestowed on us in 2013 and it will strengthen our resolve to improve our current literacy effort for our people, especially as education is among the 10-point agenda of the City Government.”
Davao City, the only contender for the 2016 Special Award of Excellence in Literacy, was assessed by NLCC earlier this year, including an examination of the continued application of the literacy programs and their impact on the public.
Sr. Roseanne Malilin, chairman of the NLCC Board of Judges, noted the service excellence award is the topmost honor “singly recommended for contenders who have been bestowed the Hall of Fame Award.”
Davao City is the only qualified city in the Philippines in the past 10 years. It has been implementing education programs in urban and rural communities—benefiting lumad, Muslims, children, mothers, persons with disabilities, children of prostituted women, and the youth.
Validated sites were the Samahan ng may Iba’t-ibang Kakayahan sa Dabaw (Sakadab) in Los Amigos, Bahay Pag-asa, Children’s Village Davao City, the Davao City Treatment and Rehabilitation Center for Drug Dependents in Bago Oshiro, the Ray of Hope inside the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology compound, the Public Security and Safety Command Center, Central 911, and the
Davao Healthy Lifestyle Programs on Jacinto Street.
“We share this award with everyone who helped make this recognition possible—the Barangay Literacy Coordinating Councils, the Department of Education Davao City Division, and all Dabawenyos for inspiring us to always give our best,” Lopez said.