First, I’d like to greet everyone with a happy and meaningful World Teachers’ Day celebration, especially to our 568 strong faculty members serving on our five campus system.

I’m very proud of the amazing work you do because a huge part of our institutional success is anchored on the quality of service you provide to our dear students.

After the successful opening of our doors for the implementation of the full face-to-face classes here at VSU, we now take a break for a day as our way of paying tribute to our core workforce who continue to uphold our brand of excellence all in the service of our beloved nation.

As I write this message to all of you from Belgium, a small gathering of all faculty members will be held at the RDE Hall this afternoon, October 5, spearheaded by the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs (OVPAA) through the Office of the Director for Instruction and Evaluation (ODIE) so that we can austerely celebrate this very special occasion.

I really wanted to join you personally in this said activity but because of our persistent efforts towards building greater international partnerships, I’m joining a full delegation of VSU seasoned researchers here in Europe to fortify our linkages with foreign universities and strengthen the overseas mobility of our faculty and staff that some of you will soon benefit from in the coming days.

The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) chose a very fitting theme for the World Teachers’ Day celebration this year: “The Transformation of Education Begins with Teachers”.

I couldn’t agree more with this because I fully understand that at the very center of educational quality is the hardworking teacher who not only prepares students to become globally competitive graduates but also inspires them to become responsible citizens of our country.

That’s why the many efforts that we have done for the last seven years of my administration is mainly about opening greater opportunities for our faculty members to obtain advanced degrees for their continued growth and development now that we’re operating in a time of a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world.

We’ve sent a record number of faculty and staff on a full-time grant for graduate studies in the Philippines and abroad under my humble stewardship of VSU. For those who did not qualify for externally-funded scholarships, we’ve increased significantly the allowances for the internally-funded VSU Fellowship Grant so that we can be inclusive in implementing our faculty development program.

On top of that, we’ve also opened locally-funded scholarship grants to our deserving honor graduates who can potentially be recruited to join our ever-growing workforce here at the university. In fact, the first graduates of this special scholarship program are now hired in selected offices of VSU hoping that they too will be able to give back to our beloved VSU.

We’ve also embarked on many research projects in the past years to involve more faculty members so that they can also use their valuable learnings in research as an important input in their effective delivery of real-life instruction.

All of these efforts and initiatives have been done to transform our dear teachers to become world-class professionals who will stir a more productive and vibrant future for the institution we all consider as our second home.

You see, the concept of transformation is a conscious choice that all of us have to make every day. John C. Maxwell was right when he said that change is inevitable but growth (or transformation) is something optional.

What did he mean by this? While we continue to offer and work for greater opportunities for all our faculty and staff, it is now up to you to take this opportunity and use it for your greater growth and development both as a professional and as an individual.

UNESCO’s call to transform education through teachers is a two-way street. For one, it will require institutions like us to pour out massive investments on our core workforce hoping that this will cascade to an overall improvement of the educational experience of our learners.

And second, in your conscious decision to improve yourself in your respective disciplines, you will undergo struggles, discomforts and even birth pains that will allow you to shed off your old habits and beliefs, and eventually result in you going beyond your present form.

Transformation, therefore, is difficult but this is very possible. We did it here in VSU when a rural provincial high school established in 1924 transformed into what is now considered a national leader in agricultural and environmental education and research in the entire country.

My hope for all our faculty members on this occasion of World Teachers’ Day is to embrace change and transformation just like how a caterpillar metamorphosed into a marvelous butterfly. 

As poet, activist and scholar Maya Angelou once said, “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty”.

Thank you very much for your enduring service to our beloved Visayas State University. Akong dakong pagtahod ug pagyukbo sa tanang magtutudlo dinhi sa atong tunghaan ug sa tanang dapit sa kalibutan.

Again, Happy World’s Teachers’ Day to all of you!

[Photos courtesy of Kenneth M. Labastida] 

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