Antique National School gears for centennial celebrations
Secondary Education in the province of Antique started in 1906 when 11 elementary school graduates petitioned to the Secretary of Public Instructions for the opening of a high school in San Jose, capital town of the province.
The Secretary promised the amount of P30,000 and appealed to the Antiqueños to put up a counterpart of P15,000. The amount was easily raised through the leadership of Gov. Angel Salazar, Sr., so in June 1906, secondary education started with the first year class and the school was called Antique Provincial High School. The eleven petitioners were: Severio Nietes, Amador Nietes, Segundo Moscoso, Pedo Vego, Pedro Elizalde, Severo Encarnacion, Jose Natividad, Eusebio Turrecha, Demetrio Tejares, Jose Fullon and Angel Capadocia who all later became leaders in their chosen vocation.
All teachers were Americans. The subjects taught were Literature and Composition, Algebra, Geometry, Botany, Geology, Methods of Teaching, Philippine History and Gardening.
The second year was opened in 1908. The third year was added in 1918 and the school was changed to Antique National School. The following school year, the high school course was completed with the opening of the fourth year. Class 1920 was therefore the first graduating class of the AHS. The first graduating students were Paz Hiero (Valedictorian), Delfin Nava, (Salutatorian), Junny Occeña, Ambrosio Galera (President), Juan Tordesillas, Manuel Girado, Bonifacio Bangcaya, Sr., Santiago Dalumpines, Julian Huera, Perfecto Macanas, Basilio Pallon, Isidro Rubite, Manuel Tating, Benigno Vengano and Luis Palma.
Up until 1927, the high school site was in the lot where now stands the Delegate Angel Salazar Jr. Memorial School (DASJMS). The AHS was transferred to its present site in 1927 and class 1928 was the first to graduate from this site.
World War II broke out and reached the Philippines in 1941. AHS was closed for more than three years and was reopened in August of 1945, when the students came back to finish the curriculum year they left off when the war broke out.
The school underwent a major change in 1964 when, by virtue of Republic Act 3657, it was converted to a national school through the efforts of an alumnus, the late Hon. Tobias Fornier, Congressman of Antique. Enrollment rose to more than 3,000 because no tuition fee was required. The number of teachers also increased.
ANS is the only school in the province that offers “Night Secondary Education”, catering the students who work in the daytime but want to finish high school.
The school began implementing the Special Science Curriculum in 1973. It is an enhanced curriculum in the sense that it has more Science subjects and more units for Math as compared to the regular curriculum.
In 1976, the tertiary level opened. It offered the following courses: Junior Secretarial, Associate in Agriculture and Associate in Arts. It was abolished in 2003 by virtue of law requiring all post secondary courses to be under the Commission on Higher Education.
In the same year, ANS became a recipient of Secondary Education Development and Improvement Project (SEDIP). This largely accounts for new improvement in ANS in terms of upgrading teaching competencies and school facilities. Noteworthy among these changes is the anticipated P12M cost of renovation of the Gabaldon Building. Likewise, a special feature of the project is the establishment of the remedial Reading Program.
The Antique National School leadership through time has actively pursued an administrative policy of school and stakeholders' partnership. This policy allows ANS to draw a wide range of support and has also come in the way of funding assistance from Congressman Exequiel B. Javier, Governor Salvacion Z. Perez, and Mayor Fernando C. Corvera.
Antique National School is looking forward to a lot more changes in physical and human resource improvements. Meantime, everyone is involved in response to these calls of continuing improvement in anticipation of the AHS/ANS 2006 Centennial Celebrations.