The Underpinning of Faith in Public Secondary School: A Call for a Governing Ministry

The Department of Education (DepEd) banners its core values as Maka-Diyos (Godly), Maka-tao (humane), Makakalikasan (nature lover), Makabansa (nationalist). Worth noting is its inclusion of Godliness. The Department sees the importance of this value to be inculcated among its clienteles and personnel. Accordingly, in one of its directive, namely, DepEd Order 105 series of 2010, the Department reiterates the constitutional right of its personnel and students to freely exercise their religion. This mandate underscores the non-sectarian nature of the Department of Education for both students and personnel. Consequently, it is expected that in public schools, people with different backgrounds converge. Despite their differences, one thing that unites staff and students is faith. Based on this study, the respondents agree that faith is important to them. Although, they do not have a unified perception of what faith is because of varied upbringings, it is common to them to see faith as something beyond themselves where they can gather strength, inspiration and purpose at certain points of their lives. Though not explicitly expressed in public school setting, hence underpinned, its influence remains remarkable. It is within this circumstance where this study emerged, to place faith in its proper context in a public school setting. This action research transpired in Tanauan City National High School in school year 2015 – 2016. It used mixed method, namely, research-made questionnaire, interviews and focus group discussion. It proposed a creation of a faith ministry. The ministry does not campaign conversion, but finding common threads and making them starting points for dialogue and moral formation. The researcher believes that it is not only the intellectual, physical and social aspects that should be given considerations in school but also the spiritual dimension of persons