Iloilo National High School

The Iloilo National High School (INHS), the country’s first provincial high School founded in 1902, has become a successful case of “the school that could”, and has served to inspire many who emulate it.

The school is situated on a 6 – hectare lot within the heart of Iloilo City. It is surrounded by huge Acacia trees which provide shaded areas within the campus. These trees were planted by the Thomasites, the first American teachers; and among these trees stand the monument of Francisco H. Jalandoni, the philanthropist who donated the lot which now serves as school grounds.

Being a public secondary school constrained by the budget limits and bureaucratic structure, the school head has to think of noble ways, so that the school could do something, and make a difference in the lives of students. Or else, it will be swept in the dust bin of mediocrities.

The first innovation is the schools within the school program where one would see the 8 schools initiated in cooperation with and with the approval of the Department of Education. The INHS has the Special Science Class, the School for the Arts, the School of the Future, the Special Class for Sports, Out of School Adult High School, the Evening Opportunity Class, the Non Formal Education and the Class for the Performing Arts.

Special Science Class

The First Special Science Class in Western Visayas was launched at the Iloilo National High School in 1988 to meet the scientific and technological manpower needs of the country. Let me share with you the story that inspired me to initiate this special program. In 1986, a second-year high school drop out from the University of the Philippines with a highest grade of 65, wanted to enroll at the Iloilo National High School. I didn’t want to take him in considering that the school would prefer to take in the best students, not drop outs. However after administering an intelligence test to the student, I found out that he has an IQ 145, which is just like Einstein. So I took the child in, I enrolled him on the condition that the parents would have to cooperate with the school in every activity that it undertakes. We allowed the child to join the school competition in investigatory project, where surprisingly he won first place; again, in the division level where he won first place; and in the regional level where he again won first place; and in the national level where he ranked number one. The Republic of the Philippines sent him to Fort Worth Texas, USA in 1986 and he won 2nd place among the contestants from all over the world.

At that time, the school had no microscopes; and all the laboratory instructions were being done on the black board; laboratory activities were mostly lectures and the students didn’t have experience on hands-on experiment. It was then a miracle made possible by the remarkable cooperation of the parents, the school and the teachers. The rest was history. That singular outstanding achievement of a school drop-out transformed into a world-class young scientist became the basis for the rationale of the special science class program which I presented to Education Secretary Lourdes Quisumbing. At first the Education Department was not quite amenable to what I wanted to propose but I reasoned out that the country’s capital region, Manila, does not have the monopoly of the best minds in the world. As a provinciano from Iloilo, I sounded very insistent, so the Education Secretary approved the proposal on an experimental basis. The years that followed proved that the Special Science program produced highly competent students who later excelled in their fields of study. -Dr. Riza S. Amaguin

In 1995, the Department of Education borrowed the curriculum of the Iloilo National High School Special Science Class and had it adopted in every region of the country. So in 1995, the Department of Science and Technology administered a national competitive exam to all the 110 node schools all over the country. Since 1995, up to the present, the Special Science Class of the Iloilo National High School ranks number 1 in English, Science and Math.

Awards

"Best PCPS School in Region VI" PCs for Public Schools Project Best Practice Awards 2005 evaluated by the Department of Trade & Industry April 20, 2005) ( "Achieved the Accreditation-Level I Status" Ford Foundation, Inc. - Project Sterling Silver (S.Y. 2003-2004)

"SEAMEO SEARCA recipient Adopt a School Program for Quality and Equity in Education"(2003)

"Most Effective Secondary School of the Philippines" evaluated by the Department of Education (2001)

"Model Secondary School of the Philippines" evaluated by the SEI-DOST (2000)

"An Empowered School" cited by the Canadian Higher Education Group (2000)

References

<http://www.geocities.com/inhs_iloilo/> <Siason, N.D., 2009>