MAASIN CITY (PIA) — Incoming college students from this city, the neighboring towns, and elsewhere will soon have more options on what courses to take for the School Year 2025-2026.
This developed as the Southern Leyte State University – Maasin City Campus (SLSU-MCC) made known its intention to open two new course offerings next year, the Bachelor of Science for Information Systems (BSIS) and the Bachelor of Science for Entrepreneurship (BS Entrep).
The offering for the new field of studies, in addition to SLSU-MCC’s existing ones, the Bachelor of Science in Social Work (BSSW) and Bachelor of Science in Public Administration (BS Public Ad), was the main subject of the Stakeholders Forum on Friday afternoon, December 6.
The forum was attended by representatives of national government agencies, parents, students, alumni, and the local media, wherein questions on the new course offerings were duly addressed during the open forum that followed immediately after the detailed presentations of each course.
Jude Duarte, SLSU president, assured everyone that the two new courses underwent rigorous processes, with quality education high on the agenda, and always in keeping with the Memorandum Order of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
BS Information Systems
Rannie Sumacot, one of SLSU-MCC’s faculty who is the proponent of BSIS, explained that it is a program that studies the importance of technology in relation to systems adopted for businesses and organizations.
“This is different from BS Information Technology, for BSIS will focus more on developing software systems, analyzing and utilizing data to further develop businesses,” Sumacot said.
In addition, BSIS would respond to the growing demand for technical skills, especially in technology-dependent industries, which will definitely fit in a growing business environment of the city and province.
According to their survey, out of 1,200 senior high students in 16 schools in Maasin City and neighboring towns, a large percentage showed interest in the program, Sumacot added.
BS Entrepreneurship
In the second soon-to-be offered course, BS Entrep, Juvenal Sumaya, another faculty member and proponent of the program, said the course will help students create and grow their own business.
On their fourth year of schooling, BS Entrep students are required to have a functional business plan up for actual implementation, where the usual requirements for a legitimate business entity to operate, such as mayor’s permit, among others, are complied, Sumaya pointed out.
Representatives from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) pledged to help mentor the students as they go along, as well as the possibility of providing starter kits to start their own business.
A staff from the Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA) also offered technical assistance for both new courses, as long as some specifics are met for similar approaches to access the needed support.
Class limit
Each one of the new courses are targeted to open at the start of classes in August 2025, with a maximum carrying capacity of 35 students per course.
The enrollees would undergo the usual entrance admission requirements, considering that tuition fee is free, Duarte announced.
“I will make sure these are quality courses under my administration, and that these are in line with the needs of the industry,” Duarte declared in his message. (MMP Southern Leyte, with reports from Dahlia Orit, Radio Pilipinas Sogod)
