PSU-Bayambang: A school of many firsts

The Pangasinan State University is not just a pride of Bayambang, but also an institution of national import because of its history. Most of us locals take this for granted, and maybe this is an opportune time to remind ourselves of this institution’s great historical legacy.

When the school was established in 1922, its original name was Bayambang Normal School. 

Then in 1948, it came to be known as the Pangasinan Normal School (PNS). It is one of eight such normal schools around the Philippines, including the Philippine Normal School in Manila (established 1901), Leyte Normal School in Leyte, Cebu Normal School in Cebu, etc.

In 1953, it became the seat of the Philippine-UNESCO National Community Training Center (PUNCTC), a time when Bayambang became a ‘pilot town,’ when "waves of educational dignitaries from all over the country and other countries arrived to attend conferences and visit model communities of the municipality." 

In 1955, "the first Child Study Center in the country was put up at the PNS," which was considered a district school that included Bayambang National High School and nearby schools under the District of Basista. "The Center made initial studies on the Filipino child in order for the Philippines to have its own data about its children." 

In 1956, it experimented with the country's first pre-elementary school or kindergarten, to "provide a working laboratory for the Child Study Center." 

In the same year, it also established the first Opportunity Class for exceptional children. 

In 1962, it became the venue of the first National Institute in Physical Education and Recreation in the Philippines. 

PSU also pioneered in child nutrition studies in the Philippines, being the seat of the Applied Nutrition Project, with Sylvia Manlungat as head.

On June 21, 1969, it became the Central Luzon Teachers College (CLTC).

On July 1, 1979, CLTC was converted to PSU. 

Among PSU's source of pride in the field of culture and arts are its Pangkat Kawayan and Laboratory High School Rondalla, together with nearly a dozen other musical groups, all founded by the prodigious Prof. Rufino Menor, and the Matanggaring Dance Troupe, founded by Prof. Januario Cuchapin.

In the 1980s, PSU formed the Tambayo Cultural Group featuring Pangasinan folk songs culled from a dissertation of Dr. Perla Nelmida and presented in a concert, "Glimpses of Pangasinan Life & Culture in Songs & Dances," directed by Dr. Natividad I. Parin.

Dr. Nelmida is also the author of a dissertation compiling Pangasinan folk tales, which she gathered from the parents of then PSU students.

PSU-Bayambang is evidently a school of many firsts, making it an historic school of national significance. 


References:

https://psu.edu.ph/psu-bayambang-campus-history/
400th Pista'y Baley Souvenir Program
Unpublished coffee table book on Bayambang by Dr. Clarita D.G. Jimenez, Dr. Annie Manalang, & Dr. Anecita Gloria

https://opinion.inquirer.net/75730/the-normal-school