College of Education

The Kabacan Provincial High School was converted to Mindanao Institute of Technology (MIT) on June 20, 1952 as stipulated in RA No. 763 duly signed into law by Elpidio Quirino .

Pres. Ramon Magsaysay appointed Prof. Emeterio A. Asinas of Central Luzon Agricultural College, now CLSU, as the first MIT President on August 19, 1954. MIT had two departments: the College Department and the High School Department. The College Department was composed of two sections: Agriculture and Home Economics. In 1956 these sections became departments with the addition of the Department of Trade and Industrial Education.

It was Atty. Nunggo E. Pahm the Registrar 1 of the MIT who pushed for the offering of Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education under the General Education Department which was established in 1956 with Dr. Donato B. Pableo. In SY 1961-1962, BSEED opened with fifty-five (55) first year students. Before the first batch of graduates of forty-two (42) students marched on June 5,1965, the status of the department was elevated to the Teacher Education Division. On February 15,1968- September 9, 1975, Prof. Sergio H. Ramos was designated as the first Division Head.

Prof. Serafin T. Depakakibo took over the leadership of the Division at Prof. Ramos retirement and he converted Teacher Education Division to the College of Education and Humanities. However, Prof. Depakakibo needed to leave for a doctoral program in USA.

Consequently, on June 23, 1977, Prof.Francisca P.Molon was designated by the University President Dr. Jaman S. Imlan as the new dean as Prof. Serafin T. Depakakibo was leaving on scholarship for a doctoral program in the USA.

Prof. Molon introduced several innovations during her term, namely: the establishment of the CHRISLAM Elementary School at Lumayong in 1978; the transfer of humanities and behavioral science subjects to the College of Arts and Sciences; the conversion of the BSEEd to Bachelor of Elementary Education pursuant to BOR Res.No.42,s.1983 and the offering of Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSEd) pursuant to BOR Res. No.154,s. 1984. Apart from this, it may be mentioned that it was during Dean Molon’s tenure that the College of Education hopped from one building to another. Upon her assumption, the College was housed in Teacher Education Building, ARDEX, the building in front of the now USM Annex Elementary School. By 1980, the College transferred to the newly constructed College of Engineering Building. After this, the College moved to the University College Bldg. of the CAS in 1983. On July 9, 1989, Dean Molon retired.

The CED Associate Dean Dr. Maniaga P. Mantawil, the Datu of Kabacan and heir –apparent of the Sultan of Radja Buayan of the Royal House of Maguindanao, succeeded Dean Molon after his retirement on July 9, 1989 when the renovation of the College of Education was completed.

Dr. Mantawil was promoted as Director for Instruction on August 17, 1992, whereupon Dr. Abdul L. Gonsang, a seasoned DECS Administrator, the former Principal of the USM-Chrislam Elementary School at Lumayong, Kayaga, Kabacan and the Dean of the Middle East and Asian Studies (IMEAS) was designated by Pres. Pahm as the Dean of College of Education. In 1994 the College of Education was transferred to the newly renovated General Education Building renamed which was the College of Education building.

Dr. Florecita G. Tabora, the dean of the Graduate College took over the deanship of the College of Education on February 14, 2000 because Dr. Gonsang had to take a leave as he contracted tetanus. Dr. Tabora transformed the College of Education into what could be physically termed as “the glory that was the College of Education”. However, on May 25, 2003 while the college was preparing for AACCUP Third Level Accreditation, a conflagration razed the structure to the ground.

President Oliva sought the assistance of Hon. Emmylou “Lala” Talino-Santos, Representative of the 1st Legislative District of Cotabato Province and Regent of the USM Board of Regents. Consistent with her commitment to fully support the development efforts of the University, the Congresslady immediately directed her staff to earmark five million pesos (Php 5M) from her Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) for the construction of a two –storey building for the College of Education of the University. Pres. Oliva proposed that the left wing be undertaken by the PDAF of 1st Legislative District Representative while the right wing shall be undertaken by the USM Administration.

Furthermore, Pres. Oliva started the realignment from the bottom with the designation of Dr. Antonio N. Tacardon as CED Dean on October 25, 2004. As the Dean, he led a workshop which gave a hard look into the organizational culture of the College in the light of the Vision-Mission-Goals of the University and the mandate Pres. Oliva gave him to accomplish, namely: the Third Level Accreditation of the College and the raising of the performance of the CED students in the Licensure Examination for Teachers. With the appointment of Dr. Tacardon as the Vice-President for the Academic Affairs of the university in 2010, the college then faced another challenge of having a new Dean in the person of Dr. Cosuelo A. Tagaro. Her leadership has continued the proposed construction of the Audio-Visual Room (still not yet completed as the present) and some other improvement in the college’s physical plant. Moreover, faculty trainings and seminars were also conducted.

It was half of the school year when there was a radical change in administrative offices including the College of Education. Dr. Tagaro was succeeded by Dr. Priscilla P. Costes who was then the director of the Academic Records Office. Dr. Costes wasn’t able to continue the second half of the deanship due to health condition. Consequently, Dr. Leorence C. Tandog from the Mathematics Department of the College of Arts and Sciences, was designated as the O.I.C Dean and later became appointed as the Dean of the College of Education.

As the Dean, a number of changes took place in the many areas in College. In her deanship, there were reconstruction in the college Admission and Retention Policies, LET Review Policies and Interventions and movements in the departments became significant also. From two departments, BEED and BSE, it became three with the addition of the Professional Education Department.

The college significant performances for the school year 2012-2013 are; a.) increased passing rate in Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET), b.) championed in Kaliline Festival for three consecutive years, c.) conducted a National Conferences (MTB-MLE), d.) established linkages (UP Diliman, Samar Institute for Linguistics), Save the Children International and e.)   acquired some equipment for the college.

Added to these accomplishments are the innovations, planning workshops and ongoing developments for the college instruction, research, extension and production as well as the physical feature furnishing of the College of Education.

On June 16, 2014, Dr. Kautin S. Kulano was elected Dean of the College by virtue of an overwhelming mandate, as the turn for Dr. Tandog’s deanship came to an end. With Dean Kulano’s assumption as dean, the college has been infused and revitalized with dynamism as well as a new and promising outlook.