Acquisition of Knowledge and Practice of Sangguniang Kabataan Officials on Department of Interior and Local Government Mandatory Training

Abstract

The Republic Act 10472 or the “Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act of 2015” provides Mandatory Training for SK Officials as one of its key reforms. The SK Officials should undergo the training before he or she can assume office. This study determined the acquisition of knowledge and practices of SK Officials on the Mandatory Training. The study has the research design of descriptive survey and descriptive normative. It used questionnaire and test examination as data gathering instruments. The SK Officials of the barangays with the highest population in each municipality under the second district of Pangasinan served as the respondents. The data gathered are analyzed with frequency, percentage, scale values, score range, descriptive rating and ranking as statistical tools. It was found out that most of the SK Officials are 18-21 years old, male, single, college graduate, without family members who have political background and new in politics. The study revealed that the over-all score of SK Officials in terms of knowledge acquisition is 31-40 which means that the SK Officials are highly knowledgeable. As per topic, the SK Officials are very highly knowledgeable in code of conduct and ethical standards, while knowledgeable in decentralization and local governance, SK history and salient features, meetings and resolutions, and planning and budgeting. The SK Officials practice in general the attendance and participation to SK-related trainings. Further, the SK Secretary practices the preparation of notice and minutes of the meeting, while the SK Treasurer submits financial-related reports to Local Youth Development Office (LYDO). The problem met by the SK Officials is on the consideration of other topics for the training. The researchers recommended that the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) should conduct an assessment with the SK Officials for the necessary topics. Other findings should be highly considered for DILG’s training program development.