To enrich the learning experience and sustain the social consciousness of basic education learners amid the pandemic, the Alliance of Private Schools in Tarlac Province (APSTAP) conducted a Private School Schools Press Conference from last October 19, 2022 held at Moncada Catholic School.
Faculty experts from the TSU-CASS Communication Department were tapped to serve as speakers and were tasked to choose winners among the participants. More than six hundred students from 19 private schools in Tarlac joined the journalism conference to compete in individual categories like Feature Writing, Science and Technology Writing, News Writing, among others, in English or Filipino.
Before the actual competition, participants were given a brief lecture given by the extension service providers through a canned video presentation prepared beforehand. After the lecture, they were given time to write for their articles. Topics were provided by the guest speakers.
With the theme, “APSTAP: Fortifying Campus Journalism in the Era of Fake News", the private school press conference aimed to capacitate learners on the importance of responsible journalism and fair and ethical use of social media especially with the prevalence of social media usage in implementing distance learning.
This completed extension activity of CASS is contributory to Goal 4 (Quality Education) of the Sustainable Development Goals Agenda. Through this kind of activity, students especially student-journalist are given quality and relevant education which promotes lifelong learning opportunities for them in delivering their duty as voices of their colleagues in the campus.
