What is history of cordova catholic cooperative school?

Answer 1

Cordova Academy, a Catholic Institution, situated at Poblacion, Cordova, Cebu, was founded in 1967 by Rev. Fr. Martin van't Westeinde, MSC., when he was assigned as the Parish priest of Cordova, Cebu. In that year, it offered first and second year levels with only 139 students. The school, in cooperation with the parish, has since been serving faithfully in spreading and deepening the Christian faith and life among the inhabitants of Cordova

In 1968, the third year level was added and in the following year, the fourth year was opened. In 1970, the school had its first batch of high school graduates. In the course of the time the school population steadily increased, and Cordova Academy has indeed continued to contribute to the educational, social, spiritual and economic development of the youth of Cordova.

It took the school one and a half decade before series of calculated moves and risks were advanced in order to make Cordova Academy's role be recognized and appreciated.

In 1989, 49 students were the first Educational Service Contracting grantees of Cordova Academy which was one of the 15 ESC pilot schools nationwide of the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education's (GASTPE) ESC Scheme. In 1998, the ESC slots were even increased to 500 grantees when a proposal was forwarded to His Eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal who wrote a letter to the DECS Sec. Ricardo Gloria as support of the proposal. The proposal was sent to President Fidel Ramos through Ex President of the Republic of the Philippines Corazon Aquino during her visit to the Cooperative (VICTO's Silver Anniversary).

ESC is a great help; however, the lump sum payments discouraged participating schools to continue because of the difficulty in fund management among small schools.

However, Cordova Academy has never stopped dreaming to be more innovative in serving the youth especially the poor but deserving students. In 1994, the concept of cooperativism was born through the effort of Mrs. Aurea B. de Ramayo.

In as much as the school principal of Cordova Academy happened to be the manager of Cordova Multipurpose Cooperative and the Board of Trustees Chairman was Mr. Nicanor Baguio who was at the same time the CMC Chairperson and with Rev. Fr. Bob Villanueva, MSC, the School Director, a special arrangement of fund transfer was implemented. Cordova Multipurpose Cooperative supplied the needed fund for the school operation. This was felt most during the times when a change in DECS-GASTPE personnel, which resulted to a two and a half years delay in its ESC payments.

The School Administrators, PTA, BOT, Teachers, and other school leaders embraced the decision to add Cooperative School to the name Cordova Academy but without changing its being a parochial school.

During the administration of Mrs. De Ramayo, both in Cordova Academy /Cooperative School and Cordova Multipurpose Cooperative a new building was constructed, some facilities were realized and a unique way of handling faculty and staff with a Christian relationship was implemented.

In the same way, Cordova Academy has been very instrumental in the revival of Cordova Multipurpose Cooperative (CMC) when the Cooperative experienced crisis in 1987. All funds of the school had been deposited to answer the financial needs of Cordova Multipurpose Cooperative. CMC in turn helped Cordova Academy especially when funds from the government (Educational Service Contract) are delayed. Since then, the Cordova Multipurpose Cooperative and Cordova Academy have established a symbiotic relationship which prompted the school administrators to infuse cooperative principles in the Catholic education it offers to the students.

Cognizant of this give and take relationship, the school's Board of Trustees in its August 2009 regular meeting after His Eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal approved the idea of converting Cordova Academy into a full bloom cooperative, decided to register the school with the Cooperative Development Authority.

Finally, On September 28, 2010, Cordova Catholic Cooperative School received its Certificate of Registration from the Cooperative Development Authority being the first educational cooperative in the Philippines.

credits from: coopschool.webs.com

by: Lavs3k