PARC

 Where reviewees are groomed to excel

By Demi Braque 

After graduation, the option on where to take your review - en route to having your license to practice your profession - is the next big decision for courses under the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). Choosing the review center for your chosen field of endeavor is a make or break decision.

Let's take, for instance, the case of educator/mentor Severino Capillo Jr. He took a total of 17 examinations and only passed on his last try. The 16 previous tries were taken when he reviewed with another review center. But after a one-time, 3-month review with the Professional Academic Review Center (PARC) in Cainta, he finally got his teacher's license!

From a provisional status with the Department of Education, Teacher Capillo is now a permanent employee of the agency. It may also have helped that the latest LET national passing average was 98.57%.

Founded in 2019, PARC was created by its president Liza Victoriano de los Santos, a few months before the global pandemic struck. A nurse and teacher by profession, Liza's strength lies in the operations of the center, and in monitoring the progress of the reviewees.

"We resumed opening the center in 2022, and was closed during the lockdowns. But the pandemic gave me/us time to come up with better ideas to run the center more efficiently. One of which is the PARC mobile app where reviewees can readily open their modules, drills, and/or lectures anytime, anywhere.

The other one is our Optical Mic Reader (OMR) - which is also used by the PRC - in giving out board exam-type drills, like in the filling out of spaces and erasing the same for a change in answer(s). After this, there will be an item analysis wherein the weaker points are seen. And this is where our mentoring (physical and online) sessions came about," shared the center's passionate president during a mid-afternoon colloquy.

Liza lost her husband Louie from diabetic complications, just when the world was opening up from its pandemic lethargy. She and the rest of the family was taking care of him during the lockdowns. The couple is blessed with a bright brood of four. The youngest, John Louie, is a Grade 10 pupil at the Xavier School. While his three older siblings - Sabrina, a freshman in Pre-Med Biology; Samantha, a junior in Economics/Management; and Jose Louis, a senior in Electronics & Communications Engineering - are all enrolled at the Ateneo de Manila University.

Aside from the aforementioned parameters in learning, a periodic evaluation as well as 'midnight coaching' are given to the reviewees to ascertain their success in the licensure exams.

The Teacher's Exam review as well as the Civil Service Examination levels 1 & 2 sessions run for three months. The Criminology Review for four months, the Nursing Review for five to six months, while the Midwifery Review runs for seven months.

As the review center's tagline says, "It's not over until you declare victory. Sa PARC, siguradong pasado." When not in the Cainta center, Liza visits the other family-owned centers in Rizal, Abra, and Bicol.

Hie of now to any of the 55 Professional Academic Review Centers (PARC) nationwide. The home of quality review, the center welcomes graduates of courses like Criminology, Nursing, Midwifery, and Education; as well as potential examinees of the Civil Service Examination levels 1 and 2.

Interested parties in Metro Manila and nearby areas may visit the main review center at Unit 301, J & F Building, V. V. Soliven Avenue III, Cainta, Rizal 1900.