BOE: Proposed NMI Descent Institute will overlap with many PSS programs

The State Board of Education and the Public School System have expressed reservations about a bill that proposes to create a Northern Marianas Descent Institute that will not only provide education and job trainings but will also preserve and promote the islands’ culture and heritage.

Board of Education chair Marylou S. Ada and Education Commissioner Rita A. Sablan, in a joint letter to Rep. Raphael Demapan (Cov-Saipan), chairman of the House Judiciary and Governmental Operations Committee, said they recognize the bill’s purpose but have reservations about it because it will overlap with the existing programs and initiatives of the public schools. They asked that the funds that will be made available to the proposed institute be made available to PSS instead.

Ada and Sablan pointed out that PSS continues to expand its cultural and heritage studies in Chamorro and Carolinian through extracurricular activities and events such as the primary grade forensic league and the annual Chamorro and Carolinian language, arts and crafts, and performing arts competition within the Guam and CNMI, where students have always placed in the top. They also cited the creation of student organizations such as the Chamorro Club, Refalawasch Club, and the integration of the Chamorro Carolinian Language Heritage Studies into other content area in public schools.

The overlap was also noted in the constitutional mandate of the education board under Article 15.

“Please note that the CNMI Constitution and statutes mandate that the State Board of Education formulate policies and exercise control over the PSS. .In addition, and more specifically, the board is also committed to the preservation of our cultures and languages,” Ada and Sablan told the lawmaker.

They said the board has implemented policies and administers curricular programs to promote, preserve and develop content knowledge and skills to all children under the CCLHS, Northern Marianas History, and under its Social Studies standards and benchmarks, which includes the cultural heritage studies of the CNMI and the Pacific. They also cited other programs such as career and technical education in schools as initiatives to help local students prepare for college.

Ada and Sablan revealed that 47 percent of student enrolled at PSS are indigenous students. PSS has over 10,000 students this school year.