WITH the common vision of growing sports development at the tertiary level in the country, the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) recently forged a partnership to collaborate on various programs.
The memorandum of agreement (MOA) on the development of tertiary sports was made formal in a signing ceremony held on Wednesday at the CHEd Auditorium in Diliman, Quezon City, with officials of both agencies expressing hope that it will be the start of more productive efforts between the groups moving forward.
“I am so happy for this new forged partnership with CHEd. They have been a brother to the PSC because as a small agency, we cannot be effective and succeed without the help of other agencies,” said PSC Chairman William Ramirez during the signing ceremony.
“This gives us the missing link in providing a professional development in continuous sports education…” he added.
Among the objectives of the MOA is to maximize the engagement and collaboration of both parties in the formulation of a unified tertiary school sports development program to ensure that the Higher Education Institution’s Sports Development Plans are aligned with the national agenda and of the highest international standards.
PSC and CHEd also commit to work hand in hand in providing training for student-athletes, coaches and sports officials on Higher Education through Professional Development and continuing education to ensure that the highest coaching and training skills will be provided to tertiary athletes as the country strives to produce elite athletes for world-class performances.
In addition, the ongoing National Sports Coaching Certification Course will now fall under this partnership, effectively institutionalizing this continuing education initiative of the PSC.
For CHEd Chairman J. Prospero de Vera III, the partnership is a welcome development considering how it will allow both parties to effectively collaborate on various programs, which proved to be tricky in the past, he admitted, as the agencies had their own procedures on going about things.
“We welcome this memorandum of agreement as it will allow us to join forces with the PSC in joint projects that we can initiate. We commit the support of CHEd in all the undertakings on higher education sports development and wellness,” said Mr. De Vera.
Also present at the MOA signing ceremony were PSC Commissioner Celia Kiram, and Chief of Staff and PSI National Training Director Marc Velasco. For the CHEd side were CHEd Office of the Executive Director OIC Atty. Ryan Estevez and Office of the Deputy Executive Director OIC Atty. Lily Milla.
The PSC said the MOA will be discussed in the ongoing National Sports Summit 2021. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
