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Brief History

       focused on its vision to provide quality and globally competitive education for the Filipino youth, Central Luzon College of Science and Technology, or CELTECH College, is totally committed to be a leading career development and education center for maritime, health care, business and public administration , applied science, and technical-vocational courses to meet the manpower requirements of an industrializing and economically strong Philippines in the third millennium.

       Conceptualized as a fashion school on May 20, 1959 by Dona Helen P. Legaspi and opened formally in San Fernando, Pampanga as the Artistic Vocational School (AVS) on September 24 of the same year, CELTECH College, as it is known today, has evolved into a model institution of higher learning by providing low-cost and affordable quality education to the financially disadvantage and hardworking youths of Pampanga, Tarlac, Bataan and Zambales province.

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     In recognition of this pioneering and enterprising work of Mrs. Legaspi in quality vocational education, the Artistic Vocational School, the forerunner of CELTECH College, was awarded the most outstanding vocational school in Pampanga by the Lira Pampanguena. In 1964, the need for a bigger building to accommodate its increasing student population led to the construction of a four-story building at B. Mendoza Street in San Fernando, which is the present site of its San Fernando campus. By 1967, a branch of AVS was opened in Angeles City, and shortly thereafter had its first commencement exercises  with 205 vocational graduates.

         The school proved that it was not just an ordinary vocational school when it won 1st prize in the National Hair Styling Contest in 1968.

        In 1970, Dona Helen P. Legaspi was cited as the Most Outstanding Vocational Educator of the Philippines, owing to her dedication towards the improvement of vocational education. That same year, the Olongapo City branch was opened with complete technical-vocational and secretarial courses.

       Three years later, through the initiative of its Branch Administrator and Executive Vice President Renato P. Legaspi, the school management acquired a lot and a building at Rizal Avenue, East Bajac-Bajac in Olongapo City. It has since been renovated into a five story structure and is now known as the Rizal campus of CELTECH College.

        In 1975, the 24 Radio Telephone and Radio Telegraphy Operator graduates successfully passed the National Telecommunication Commission 2nd Class Radio Operator’s licensure examination. Topnotch on the national level was an AVS graduate, Israel Portugal, with a rating of 92.6 percent.

         From 1977-2002, AVS became a consistent champion in both the provincial and regional skills competitions in Refrigeration and Air conditioning, Electronics, Electrical and Automotive Technology.

        In 1981, the school pioneered the offering of Maritime courses in Olongapo City, Zambales and Region III. By this time, the Board of Trustees had changed the name of the school to Central Luzon Technical Institute (CLTI). With continuing increase in enrollment, the Board of acquired the former Olongapo Doctor’s Hospital in Upper Kalaklan and CLTI became Central Luzon Institute of Technology (CLIT) in 1984.

         Now known as the Kalaklan campus, the building has been renovated into a towering structure which houses most of its curricular programs. Equipped with state of the art facilities, it has fully air-conditioned classrooms and laboratories, a mini hospital, a mini hotel, and an auditorium. It also has a complete laboratory for the Automotive and Electrical courses, a modern photo and crime laboratory for Criminology, a College library with 200-seating capacity equipped with its own Internet room, and a school cafeteria which serves complete meals.

       The installation of Dr. Renato P. Legaspi as the second President of the College in 1987 started an unprecedented  pace of development in response to the needs of the school’s expanded curricular offerings. He traveled extensively to the United States, Southeast Asia and Canada, representing the country in international conferences on education and laying down the groundwork for linkages with companies, colleges and universities for on-the-job training, scholarships, research grants, and future employment of graduates.

          By 1999, the school passed the International Standard Organization ISO (9001:2000) as certified by the Anglo Japanese American Environmental Quality System (AJAEQS) and accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Society (UKAS) in London. Shortly thereafter its Maritime programs passed 100% compliance of the STCW 95/CHED IMO requirements.

          In keeping with its continuing developments, CLIT became Central Luzon College of Technology (CLCT) in 1999 and finally in November 2001, it changed to its present name, Central Luzon College of Science and Technology, or CELTECH College. As the only ISO 9001:2008 accredited school in Olongapo and one of the fast developing schools in the region, it has three campuses in Olongapo City, Zambales and San Fernando, Pampanga.

Present Times 
          CLCST prides itself not only for its modern facilities but more so for its highly-trained graduates annually yielding a high percentage of passers in the TESDA trades tests in Eletrical, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technology and Caregiver courses, as well as in the Professional Board Examination in Customs Administration, Marine Engineering, Marine Transportation, Criminology, and Nursing. Danilo Corpuz, a graduate of BS Marine Engineering, topped the board exam for 4th Marine Engineer Officer. Continually growing and keeping in step with the need to cater to the education aspirations of the youth in Region III, particularly in the Subic and Clark economic zones, Olongapo City, Zambales, Bataan, Tarlac and Pampanga, CLCST aspires to be a model institution for values-driven and globally competitive education that guarantees employment locally and overseas.

          As of today, it offers 26 curricular programs and is in the midst of upgrading its laboratory and library facilities and renovating some structures in compliance to the standards set by CHED and accrediting agencies. Part of its blueprint for development is the recruitment of highly qualified faculty, coupled with the implementation of a comprehensive faculty development program. A review of its management structure is ongoing in order to meet the requirements of a growing organization. The present course offerings are likewise under review for accreditation purposes in light of the institutional efforts to revisit the vision-mission of the school after five decades of outstanding service to the moral formation and professional education of the Filipino youth.

The Challenge Ahead
          Dr. Renato P. Legaspi, President and CEO sums up the challenge for the College: “In the next few years, we shall invest our effort’s and resources in building the strong foundations of a good private university. We will not only strive to be a destination center of excellence in the Philippine education highway in Central Luzon, but we will seek to be a mainstream player in education for regional and national development. That is why the focus of our collective efforts, during and beyond our golden anniversary celebration, is trans-formative education for national transformation.