Key officials of DepEd Region 8 from the 13 Schools Division Office, together with the Assistant Secretary for Alternative Learning System – Hon. G.H. Ambat, came together to Catbalogan City last March 3, 2017 to formally launch the Regional Portfolio Day.The Portfolio Day highlighted an open market which featured the accomplishments/outputs which were recycled or made by the Junior, Senior and ALS Learners of Eastern Visayas. These were displayed in the booths provided for each Schools Division. Each booth was decorated and filled with the products made by the learners themselves and were made available for the audience to buy and take home. Products ranged from packed pastries, hot and cold beverages, intricate paintings, hand-woven banig, delicately-designed driftwoods and many more. The bazaar did not just highlight the various products of Eastern Visayas but it also showed how creative and resourceful the learners of Region 8 can be.

During the Program, it was shared to the audience how the idea of the Portfolio Day came about. It was conceptualized during a brief morning meeting between Dr. Ramir  B. Uytico, DepEd Regional Director, and Hon. Sharee Ann Tan-delos Santos, Governor of the Province of Samar. Both are interested in making the lives of the learners more meaningful so they came up with displaying the accomplishments of the learners so as to show how good they can be and for them to earn extra money as well. In the words of the Governor: “The kids will know the importance of money if they earn it themselves.”
This launching was actually a sequel of the conduct of the Samar Kids Can! Bazaar held last December 2016 to January 2017 in Catbalogan City. Such bazaar transpired as part of the division banner project of Samar Division – Project E-Kultura.
The Regional Portfolio Day is an innovative activity under the leadership of Dr. Uytico, pursuant to DepEd Order No, 36 s. 2016, entitled “Policy Guidelines on Awards and Recognition for the K to 12 Basic Education Program,” and in cognizance of the evidence-based performance evaluation which is an essential part of the learning process.

Regional Memorandum No. 066, s. 2017 further provides that after the launching, the conduct of the School-Based Portfolio Day shall be done every quarter with the following suggested activities: (1) distribution of cards; (2) parent-teacher-adviser conference; (3) display of pupil/student outputs; and (4) PTA Meeting. The Regional Portfolio Day served as the kick-off of the institutionalization of such school activity in the entire region.

The mentioned event took place in Catbalogan City and was sponsored by Governor Tan and co-sponsored by the Schools Division Office of Samar.

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