About the Congress

De La Salle University upholds its steadfast commitment to academic excellence, nation-building, and transformative Lasallian education through the DLSU Senior High School Research Congress, the premier national gathering of senior high school researchers, educators, and emerging young leaders.

Serving as a vibrant platform for intellectual exchange, the Congress allows students to present their research, creative works, and community-focused projects. It highlights the vital role of young people in shaping a just and progressive society. The previous Congresses demonstrated their expanding reach and impact, bringing together thousands of participants nationwide who contributed to meaningful discussions, performances, and presentations across multiple disciplines.

This year, the 8th DLSU Senior High School Research Congress centers on the urgent task of strengthening accountability, transparency, and inclusion in the Philippines, a call made even more relevant by today's complex social, political, and educational challenges. Guided by the theme "Catalysts of Accountability: Shaping a Transparent, Inclusive, and Sustainable Philippines through Educational Reforms," the Congress foregrounds the essential role of education in nation-building. It invites young researchers to examine how meaningful reform within the educational system can empower citizens, uphold democratic values, and sustain equitable development.

Recent curriculum reforms in the Philippines underscore this urgency. The ongoing review and recalibration of the curriculum reflect national efforts to address learning gaps, streamline competencies, and reorient education toward foundational skills, critical thinking, and values formation. Senior High School pathways are likewise being revisited to ensure greater relevance, inclusivity, and responsiveness to learners' diverse contexts and future trajectories. These changes invite scholarly inquiry into questions of access, quality, teacher preparedness, policy coherence, and the alignment of curriculum goals with lived classroom realities. Beyond education, the Congress recognizes that research plays a critical role in responding to other pressing national concerns, such as governance and civic participation, social inequality, environmental sustainability, public health, digital transformation, and media accountability. In an era marked by misinformation, climate vulnerability, economic precarity, and shifting democratic norms, empirical and humanistic research offers tools to interrogate power structures, amplify marginalized voices, and inform evidence-based policy and community action.

By bringing together young researchers across disciplines, orientations, and methodologies, the Congress positions research as a catalyst for accountability, not only within educational institutions but across Philippine society. Therefore, through their scholarship, the Congress challenges participants to ask: How can we cultivate a culture of integrity and accountability in our schools, communities, and institutions? How can research strengthen civic participation, deepen critical thinking, and build a more transparent and inclusive society?

This year's Congress seeks to explore these questions through diverse research presentations and sustained interdisciplinary dialogue. By fostering critical reflection, evidence-based inquiry, and collaborative problem-solving, the event highlights how youth-led research can meaningfully contribute to improving educational landscapes, responding to national concerns, and envisioning sustainable futures grounded in social responsibility.

As the Philippines continues to confront issues of governance, inequality, misinformation, and systemic gaps, the 8th DLSU Senior High School Research Congress reaffirms the collective responsibility to shape a nation defined by truth, accountability, and compassion. By bringing together young researchers, educators, and community leaders, the Congress aspires to inspire reforms that uplift learners, strengthen institutions, and contribute to a transparent, inclusive, and sustainable Philippines.

CONGRESS COMMITTEE