Enhancing Student Competency in Local Legislation: Before and After Insights
By:Fort S. Austria
DILG, ABG Lecturer
Generally speaking, the primary purpose of local legislation is to set standards, establish controls, and govern the actions of people. Legislation is sometimes referred to as statutory law or, traditionally, as an ordinance. It is a form of law enacted by a legislature or governing body.
Initially, students had almost no knowledge of the mechanics involved in preparing Barangay Resolutions and Barangay Ordinances, which outline the policies of the barangay. Members of the Sanggunian Barangay, as a collective body, are mandated to be well-versed in crafting these policies.
At the outset, the results of the pre-evaluation revealed that students lacked knowledge of the process for drafting barangay resolutions and ordinances. Thus, the discussion began with the basics and preliminaries of resolution and ordinance formulation.
During the presentation of the topics, students were able to grasp and understand the mechanics and intricacies of the subject matter, particularly in the formulation of resolutions and ordinances. They were taught the step-by-step procedures
involved in drafting such policies, as well as the significant guidelines for creating effective legislation. Simulation exercises were conducted to help participants internalize the concepts further. By the end of the module, students successfully prepared and submitted the required outputs, such as Barangay Resolutions and Ordinances.
Before concluding the module, students underwent an academic assessment through a post-evaluation. Notably, the results of the evaluation indicated that the module’s objectives were fully achieved, and students gained the expected knowledge of the subjects presented.
As a testimonial, the students expressed that the knowledge they acquired in the module will significantly assist them in performing their mandated tasks as local legislators, as well as in delivering effective and high-quality service as elected barangay officials.
