By PNA and U.S. News Agency / Asian

The Dept. of Education Tuesday installed its new division superintendent for Negros Occidental: Dr. Juliet Jeruta.

Jeruta succeeded Dr. Rizalino Tortosa, who has reached the retirement age for government employees, during a ceremony officiated by DepEd regional director Dr. Mildred Garay.

Jeruta said she will push for the empowerment of teachers for them to fully exercise their management skills.

She said that prior to her assumption of office, she made an assessment and review of the performance of DepEd and saw teacher empowerment as vital to the operations of DepEd.

Jeruta was former head of La Carlota DepEd and Bago City.

Garay, meanwhile, urged the teachers to be “loyal, honest, committed, dedicated, and competent” in response to the “Ang Matuwid na Daan” advocacy of President Benigno S. Aquino III.

Gov. Alfredo Maranon Jr. also encouraged the teachers to do “extra mile and perform more to produce quality students and graduates who are globally competitive.”

“Let us put Negros on top of what we call globalization. Let us prepare our young children to be good, excellent, quality, and competent students in the midst of the unstoppable globalization trend,” he said.

The governor reiterated that education is one of his major priorities in his 11-Point Agenda.