USL-DKLC MARKS 20TH ANNIVERSARY

The University of Saint Louis’ (USL) Dinggin Ka Learning Center (DKLC) in Tuguegarao City turns 20 this year offering kindergarten to sixth grade education for the hearing-challenged or the deaf.

The center opened on June 1, 1998 with the name “Learning Center for the Hearing and Speech Impaired.” The center was renamed to its present name in 1999 by Rev. Fr. Renillo H. Sta. Ana, CICM, then chaplain of the Saint Louis College of Tuguegarao (SLCT) and current president of the now University of Saint Louis.

Fr. James Desmet, CICM, also a former SLCT chaplain, and Fr. Luke Moortgat, CICM, director of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ (CBCP) Catholic Deaf Care (CDC), conceptualized the program and the center.

The DKLC offers basic education for the hearing-impaired from introductory level to level 6, or kindergarten to grade 6, respectively, in mainstream grade school. The learning competencies being taught are based on the K-12 program.

Multigrade teaching is also done in some subjects depending on competencies that need to be reinforced.

The center had only two teachers during its first year of operation: Maria Dinky Lim and Verus Oscar Reyes. Now, it has a total of seven teachers headed by Lim.

On the center’s second year, the late Rosario Bajan was an addition to the faculty. She was sent to Australia for the needed benchmarking with Rotary Rainbow of Tuguegarao as sponsor. She later became the first DKLC head.

The center started off with five introductory level pupils. Presently, there are 18 pupils from introductory level to level 6.

DKLC pupils are taught the same subjects as the regular elementary pupils in the university.

“Most of the DKLC graduates continue to high school of similar nature such as the New Life School for the Deaf here in Tuguegarao City; Isabela School for the Deaf in Ilagan City, Isabela; Philippine School for the Deaf (PSD) in Pasay City; and some in Samar,’’ shared the DKLC head.