DepEd looks to research pros for help

THE DEPARTMENT of Education (DepEd) has tapped four academicians, most of them from the University of the Philippines (UP), to conduct research on issues affecting the education sector.

In a recent memorandum, Education Secretary Leonor Briones urged DepEd officials to cooperate with the four new consultants and assist them as they conduct their research aimed at improving the delivery of department services.

“The DepEd recognizes the need for further research on specific issues affecting the education sector,” she said, as the reason for engaging the services of Dr. Proserpina D. Tapales, Dr. Jennifer Romero Llaguno, Dr. Jocelyn Cuaresma and certified public accountant Leilani Galvez.

Tapales is an expert in local governance being a retired professor from the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG) and a doctor of philosophy in Political Science who obtained her doctorate degree from Northern Illinois University.

Cuaresma is an associate professor at NCPAG and served as executive director in the Office of the President. She has authored books on local governance which were published by the Institute of Development Policy and Management of the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies of the National University of Singapore.

Llaguno is a senior fellow at the Institute for Studies of Asian Church and Culture, Department of English and Comparative Literature and has authored numerous scholarly writings on women’s issues.

Galvez, apart from being a CPA, has earned Masters in Public Administration units and served in a number of executive and legislative offices, including the Office of Political Affairs under the Office of the President, Ministry of Tourism and House of Representatives Office of the Deputy Speaker.