Philippine Community School in Tripoli

RIEF PROFILE OF PHILIPPINE COMMUNITY SCHOOL IN TRIPOLI

DepEd School ID: ________

HISTORY

In 1991, Atty. Luis D. Flores, then Labor Attaché in Libya, conceived the idea of establishing a school that would cater to overseas Filipino children of school age. Together with Dr. Bernardo dela Merced, Ms. Aleth V. Ramirez, and some civic-minded Filipinos in Libya, the Philippine Community School (PCS) was organized as a non-stock, non-profit corporation in accordance with the Corporation Code of the Philippines and was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission on 01 December 1992. The school has steadily grown and developed from a simple community elementary school with only a handful of students to an institution providing quality education to Filipino children in Libya.

The PCS formally opened in April 1991 with Ms. Aleth V. Ramirez as the school Directress/ Principal. It had 46 students. The school was housed in the Labor – OWWA office at Gargaresh Road, Tripoli. It had two regular and two combination classes. The PCS’ first teachers were Ms. Marissa Campos, Ms. Teresa Velasco, Mr. Jamal Alghazal, and Mr. Rafael Baquiran, The building had three classrooms, two toilets, chairs, and a sofa set all borrowed from the OWWA. Ms. Ramirez personally attended to the accreditation of the PCS.

In 1992, the PCS completed its elementary department which entail a move to Gurji. It eventually moved to Janzour, because of the addition of the high school department in 2000, which was completed in 2003.

In 2001, the PCS was requested by the Libyan Revolutionary Committee Chairman for Foreign Schools, Hon. Omran Alwaheshi, to present a big cultural show to an audience of Libyans and other foreigners at the Deaf and Mute Center in Tripoli. The show lasted for seven hours. Due to the impressive performance that the school gave, it was cited as the best school in Tripoli in 2001.

Before the unexpected occurrence of civil unrest in the country in 2011, PCS has grown into an institution with a school population of almost 700 enrolees under the tutelage of 24 teachers with 5 non-teaching staff housed in a four-storey building sprawled in a more or less 1 hectare lot. There were 12 air conditioned classrooms, other facilities like the library, guidance office, 2 computer rooms, and a sick room on the ground and second floor. The office of the director, the principal’s office and the accounting office were on the third floor. The fourth floor, a wide open space served as a venue for indoor P.E. activities. There were six toilets on the ground floor and three rest rooms on the second and third floors. A very spacious playground and a cemented space designed with volleyball and basketball courts, at the back part of the school building served also as a place for flag raising activities and physical fitness exercises daily. Adjacent to this was a sprawling bungalow which served as the school canteen. Next to the structure was a workshop for industrial and agricultural arts surrounded by garden plots.
In February of the same year, PCS had informed the Secretariat of the Inter-Agency Committee on Philippine Schools Overseas of its temporary closure, leaving its campus with all the equipment and properties which were not recovered. Ms. Ramirez, together with a high school teacher, who volunteered to continue her services in spite of the situation, had started classes in September, 2012 at the school’s new location in Ghot Al Sha’al. Reports and other pertinent documents were submitted to the Embassy for endorsement to the Ministry of Education of the host country.

Due to the continuing unrest in 2014, PCS was not able to physically hold classes, instead, it launched its online classes during school year 2014 – 2015 serving almost 40 learners. And in 2017, it resumed its operations, holding classes at the former Philippine Embassy building in Gargarish which is currently rented by the school.

At present, the Philippine Community School in Tripoli is continuously serving the school-age dependents of the Overseas Filipino workers in the recovering country, Libya thru online distance teaching- learning. The school is still headed by Ms. Aleth V. Ramirez, Directress / Principal.

VISION

The PCS in Tripoli shall emerge as a premier Philippine educational institution in Libya. It shall provide a venue for the pursuit of excellence in academics, arts, sciences, and technology, through community partnership. Specifically, the PCS shall take the role of a catalyst for human development. It shall continue to inculcate values as a way of strengthening the moral fiber of Filipino individuals based in a foreign country, maintaining pride for their race and heritage, and preparing them for exemplary global participation in the arts, sciences, humanities, and business. It foresees this Filipino generation enjoying an ideal quality of life in harmony and peace, and building a nation that the next generations will nourish, cherish, and value.

MISSION

The PCS in Tripoli is dedicated to the development of a Filipino learner as a leader. It aims to graduate dynamic learners who are intellectually, physically, socially, and spiritually committed to the achievement of the highest quality of life.

As an educational institution committed to educating the children of overseas Filipino workers in Libya, the PCS is dedicated to the formation of every pupil/ student’s Filipino social values and to inculcating in them the country’s rich cultural heritage hence, the development of responsible citizens with great social concern. With a staunch commitment to the delivery of quality education, it shall produce PCSians who outstandingly value the virtues of reaching out and helping others as vital ingredients to nation – building.