School Heads and Teachers from the Northern Districts of the DepEd Eastern Samar Division relished their turn at the three-day Capability-Building Training Workshop on Leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Educational Research from May 6-8, 2026 at the Teatro Ibabawnon of the Main Campus. The activity is a joint venture of DepEd Eastern Samar Division and ESSU Graduate School.
Ensuring that the partnership between the said institutions through the same exercise continue, their respective leadership officially renewed their commitment on day one of the activities, with a MOA signing at the Faculty Lounge to seal their continued collaboration for another three years.
Signing the new agreement were none other than University President, Dr. Andres C. Pagatpatan, Jr. for ESSU. On behalf of DepEd Eastern Samar Division, putting pen to paper was Dr. Raymund D. Capacite, OIC-Assistant Schools Division Superintendent and Dr. Marixel C. Evardone, Chief Education Program Supervisor of the School Governance Operations Division (SGOD).
ESSUβs pool of research and extension professionals on deck for the seminar was bannered by the mastermind of the said TUL-ID (Technical Upskilling via Ladderized, Intensive, and Multi-tiered Dynamic Approach to Research Capacity Building) program, Dr. Riomar A. Obliopas who is also a core faculty member of the Graduate School and currently serves as the Assistant Director of the Research and Development Services Offices (RDSO).
The lineup of expert resource persons for the entire workshop included Dr. Aris A. Lapada, ESSU VP for Research, Innovation and Extension; Dr. Virgilio Rapada, ESSU Extension Coordinator of the Graduate School; Mr. Hilario Domingo L. Chicano, Linkaging and Fund Sourcing Head of ESSUβs Training and Extension Services Office (TESO); Mr. Lourence Villaluz, ESSU Main BSEMC Program Head; and DepEd Eastern Samar Senior Education Program Specialist for Human Resource Development (SEPS-HRD), Dr. Venus Y. Cuesta.
Identical to the workshop provided to DepEd Southern Districts last November, this collaboration is founded on the Basic Education Governance Act of 2001 and the 2016 Basic Education Research Agenda which mandates teachers to engage in scholarly work, publish findings, and most importantly, apply research for decision-making and program development in the basic education level. Furthermore, DepEd Order 19, 2022 emphasizes research and innovation as crucial markers for career advancement of teachers and school heads