A consortium of three universities and one state college has been formed in Western Visayas for the continuing education of local government officials and employees in the region.

The creation of the Western Visayas Local Governance Resource Consortium (WVLGRC) was initiated by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) here with the support of the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), according to Prof. Jigger Latoza, director of the Center for Research and Publication of the University of San Agustin (USA).

USA is one of the four learning institutions comprising the consortium to also include University of the Philippines in the Visayas (UPV), Central Philippine University (CPU) and the Western Visayas College of Science and Technology (WCST).

The consortium will offer three facilities to include capacity development, knowledge management and public information and advocacy.

Latoza said that each university will identify and spearhead an aspect of governance within their competency.

One prominent feature of the learning center is the creation of a website to have a virtual classroom as part of the capacity development facility.

“Many of them are busy with their work, they could not come to Iloilo City, which is the center of higher education and graduate education. What can be done is to create a virtual learning facility where experts upload learning materials and target students download those materials,” Latoza explained.

He added that the plan is for the consortium to come up with a ladderized program that would lead to students earning a certificate, diploma or master's degree. For a start it will just be non-formal education and short-term courses with no credits.

Further, a pool of experts from among faculty and practitioners will be established. Also there will be regular trainings and seminars that will be offered to enhance the capacity of target project recipients.

The consortium through its knowledge management facility also would like to document good practices of local government units for others to replicate.

“LGUS already have gained so much/rich experience; they can learn from each other,” Latoza said.

On the other hand, through the public information and advocacy they would like to promote citizenship education and engage citizenry to become part of the governance process.

“They should no longer depend on their government for services,” he opined and eventually reduce the “welfare state concept.”

Latoza said that they hoped to put the consortium in place by April prior the pull out of the funding agency.*PNA