Philippine Education - T1

[beads_strawberries]

We're only a week before the opening of the classes. Soon, streets will be filled with students all over the metropolis. I heard the police is busy preparing for the upcoming week. MMDA too, is busy clearing the sidewalks for the huge number of students who will be filling up the streets of Metro Manila.

I guess the concerned government agencies are now putting up their best gears in an effort to give these students ease in the upcoming schooldays.

[chixbebe]

Sen. Mar Roxas yesterday sought a P9.18 billion increase in the proposed P110 billion budget of the Department of Education (DepEd) for this year to finance more classrooms, build more chairs and hire and train more teachers in English, Math and Science.

"Increasing the budget for education is the appropriate step the Senate must take and the reward for our country and people is education takes the highest budgetary allocation would be immeasurable," Roxas said.

Roxas said he already asked Sen. Manuel Villar, chair of the Senate finance committee which shepherds the approval of the 2006 national budget, to consider his proposal.

Roxas said the proposed P5.86-billion allocation for basic educational resources would not suffice considering the need to build 41,197 classrooms, hire 10,517 teachers, construct 1.5 million chairs and publish 41.32 million textbooks.

"According to DepEd, the agency will need an additional P22.88 billion to close these gaps," Roxas, chair of the Senate committees on trade and commerce and on economic affairs, said.

Roxas said a portion of his proposed P9.8 billion increment should result in additional 10,422 classrooms, 5,000 teachers, 1.5 million seats, and ultimately fill the gap on shortage of textbooks with 41.32 million textbooks.

He also proposed that P50 million of the proposed increase should be used in the holding of three-week training courses on English, Math and Science for 25,000 teachers. Roxas said he was alarmed over the decreasing proficiency of public school teachers in those areas.

Story (http://www.malaya.com.ph/may29/metro2.htm)

[heathcliff]

One third of the national budget is allocated to debt servicing. Far higher than the budget for education. Or for improving "da economy." I think this about says it all.


josepepe

Unless you want the Philippines to be shunned by investors, it has to pay its dues. If we show that we cannot keep our commitments, then it would mean disaster for our economy.

That aside, education is still a top priority in the annual budget. I think that intensifying the government's anti-corruption efforts is a better way of dealing with the problem than defaulting on debt. What's important is how to maximize the budget allotted.

[chixbebe]

The Department of Education and the Office of the Ombudsman signed a memorandum of agreement to strengthen the DepEd’s fight against graft and corruption, as well as sexual harassment.

It was signed by DepEd officer-in-charge Undersecretary Fe Hidalgo and Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.

Gutierrez said in that a lot of complaints involve public school teachers who reportedly pay principals and DepEd officials about P50,000 just to be hired as a teacher in a public school.

Other complaints involve public school teachers who received a diploma certifying that they earned a master’s degree in education without even attending classes.
:weirdo:

"This is too much, coming from teachers. They’re supposed to be role models, and if they are doing these things, then they are not supposed to be in the (DepEd)," Gutierrez said, adding that because of these irregularities, only about three percent of elementary school graduates are prepared to enter high school.



No wonder why our students nowadays are not excited to attend schools, because of the teachers like that whom i guess do not know what to teach to the children too. OMG! How could this be possible?! it's just very good to know that DepEd stands for it's name, and works for the sake of children's future.....


News from:
http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200605300418.htm

[Josepepe]

Unless you want the Philippines to be shunned by investors, it has to pay its dues. If we show that we cannot keep our commitments, then it would mean disaster for our economy.

That aside, education is still a top priority in the annual budget. I think that intensifying the government's anti-corruption efforts is a better way of dealing with the problem than defaulting on debt. What's important is how to maximize the budget allotted.

I doubt if investors are going to shun the Philippines. Nor do I believe that the world is going to end. I dont think they will right off a profitable market for their goods. However, short of debt repudiation or debt forgiveness there will be no end in sight to this unjustified burden on Filipinos.

I am not criticizing any administration by the way which I believed is the gist of your response. But the difficulty in funding education because of an inherited national debt is a reality which has to be addressed. Maximizing the budget allotted is not nearly enough to fund quality education to all Filipinos.

Its okay for any administration to let the people know that its doing its best given the limited resources. Because it is also worthwhile for the people to know the reasons behind that limitation. I dont believe in rose tinted glasses in addressing any social problem. Optimism is best served when people has to know that there is a need for pulling the bootstraps. I believe that growing the economy exponentially is the best way to tackle the issue of public funding. How to do it and spread opportunity to the majority is the million dollar question.




josepepe

[palawan_buddy]

After GMA berated the acting education secretary for reporting the "shortage" of classrooms in the country, do you believe that the government is really addressing this concern? they said they are building more classrooms and that they have adapted a double shift so that the ratio of classrooms to students will be 1:100.

i think GMA is addressing the problem by manipulating the statistics, like what she has been doing in the past (e.g. employment rate)

[chixbebe]

With all the news pushing a good start of classes this year, PGMA has announced the hiring of additional 100,000 teachers for public scholls to add up to the 45,000 now on the payrolls and ease the teachers shortage nationwide. She said that the new hires would help to make the start of class this June be a "trouble free" by easing the burden on their colleagues and improving the teacher-to-student ratio for the 20 million students trooping back to school.

She also said that she has ordered the budget department to allocate P600 million to pay the salaries of the new hires.

She said the government has already released P5 billion including P2 billion to build new school buildings, P1 billion to buy more textbooks, P600 million to train teachers, and P500 million to be given to deserving elementary school graduates wanting to enroll in private high schools.

News at (http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news04_may31_2006)

[beads_strawberries]

News averred that GMA was disappointed with the DepEd secretary because of the fact that what they have discussed upon last year was not in any way part of her supposed presentation for the president. Instead of 100:1 ration of students and the measures to be implemented to resolve the concerns in the education sector, she was about to report the usual 45:1 and the measures they have. As such, the proposed measures taken up a year ago that should eventually led to the fact that there will be less problems on classroom shortages was not prepared to be presented before the president.

The hiring of additional teachers would greatly help in our stance to ensure that education be best served to all.

[chixbebe]

TUBA, Benguet – The participation of students from Yale University in New York should serve as an eye opener to Filipinos to involve themselves in assisting poor people.

Ten sophomore and junior students from the well-known school in the United States, composed of one male and nine females, aged 18 to 21, arrived here not to have a picnic but to help build a Gawad Kalinga village in this town.

It was learned that the students communicated with the Gawad Kalinga central office after they heard of the noble project of the Couples for Christ in the Philippines through the internet.

The students informed the organizers of their desire to help in the project. They then formed their group and travelled to the Philippines on their own initiative. They spend for everything in their attempt to reach out and are now sweating it out in mixing cement and carrying hallow blocks to build houses for the poor.

The students are here on a three-week stay to help in the construction of the Gawad Kalinga village. (Dexter See)

http://www.mb.com.ph/PROV2006060165642.html

[chixbebe]

PGMA has ordered DBM to release P285M for State colleges and Universities to stop them from raising fees and help them cope with more students. Sec. Andaya said that this support fund will make sure to retain or increase the number of enrollees in schools by giving those students in needs of financial aid. He also said that the government will shoulder the burden of tuition fee increases throught this fund so that the Universities and state cfolleges won't have to increase their fees.:)

Full News (http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news02_june05_2006)

[beads_strawberries]

^ At least, the students of state colleges and universities will be secured that no tuition fee increase will be implemented. Most of these students are thankful that their tuition fees are being subsidized by the government in their effort to provide quality education to all. As such, with the release of 285 millions to the SUCs, they can be relieved of any concern for this possible tuition fee increase.

One thing more, the Congress adding 4B more to the budget of Dep Ed would really aid in our pursuit of giving quality education to the youth.

[heathcliff]

After GMA berated the acting education secretary for reporting the "shortage" of classrooms in the country, do you believe that the government is really addressing this concern? they said they are building more classrooms and that they have adapted a double shift so that the ratio of classrooms to students will be 1:100.

i think GMA is addressing the problem by manipulating the statistics, like what she has been doing in the past (e.g. employment rate)

Apparently Sec. Hidalgo was referring to pupil to teacher ratio, while the issue was about pupil to classroom ratio.

It is a known fact that there are classroom shortages in the country, and obviously the government has had to address this on a limited budget. Kaya nga may "shifting" di ba?

At least Congress has now reportedly increased the budget by P4 billion.

I don't think there is any manipulation of statistics to address the problem mentioned below:

PGMA has ordered DBM to release P285M for State colleges and Universities to stop them from raising fees and help them cope with more students. Sec. Andaya said that this support fund will make sure to retain or increase the number of enrollees in schools by giving those students in needs of financial aid. He also said that the government will shoulder the burden of tuition fee increases throught this fund so that the Universities and state cfolleges won't have to increase their fees.

[le Reine]

^I'm really having a problem with the 100:1 ratio of classrooms. Why?
Because:

1. You also have to consider the poor performance of most teachers, the shortage of books and other materials, etc. If they would use the 100:1 ratio, it would mean that they would also cut the class time by half. When they cut the learning time and add the other problems of the education sector, the decrease would be very very dramatic. It does not take a person with an IQ of 1 to know that.

2. The Education department had already used the 100:1 since the time of the then Pres. Ramos. I know this because our school had already used that when I was still in elementary. And imagine that my school is in Parañaque. What more about those schools in the poor provinces?

3. Actually when my siblings also studied in the same school they have already used the "2-shifts-in-only-3-days-school-time" (I don't know the real name of this policy) until now. So, what does this mean? It means that a student would only go to school every 3 days in a week (eg. M,W & F) and for only 6 hours each day (it means that they used the 100:1 ratio). Could you imagine how poor the quality of education is in this school? What more in the remote and poor provinces?

And another thing, I really hate those stupid representatives! If they really care about the education sector, they should pressure the LGUs that they represent to do something since the NG apparently can't solve all the problems of the education sector. What's the use of the IRA of LGUs? And the most important thing: "WHAT'S THE USE OF THEIR PORK BARREL FUNDS? SEEMS THEY HAVE HURRIEDLY RAISED THEIR PORK BARREL FUNDS AGAIN!!!"

[bustero]

The trends in this thread are extremely disturbing. The sad part is that the DECS and administration seem focused on managing the numbers when the reality is that graduating from Grade School or High School means nothing if you don't have the knowledge and skills that its supposed to give the pupil. Very grave challenge for the republic indeed.

[evangelistik]

The 100:1 ratio is a horrible idea. They're trying to put more kids in school at the cost of the (already low) quality in education. On one hand you have more kids able to attend the classes, on the other you lose the interaction between teacher and students.

I guess you lose both ways, neh?

[OtAkAw]

I watched the Oprah show last night and they have an education crisis. I was shocked that in their level it was already a crisis (school walls with cracks, leaking ceilings, exposed water tubes, dysfunctional gyms, lacking computers) and what would they call ours? Disaster? The main problem in the US is that they have one of the best classrooms and facilities BUT the students are lazier than Juan Tamad, they drop out from school even before reaching 18. 1/3 of public high-schoolers in US are dropping out. 1/3 don't even reach college. The Philippine problem is vice versa, we've got really very diligent students that have a hunger and thirst for knowledge and that great sense of ambition BUT the schools that theyre in are absolutely decrepit. One public school in the US as shown in Oprah is HUNDREDS of MILES better than my high-school, which is a PRIVATE one. Seriously, the country is plagued by TONS of problems!

[heathcliff]

^I'm really having a problem with the 100:1 ratio of classrooms. Why?
Because:

1. You also have to consider the poor performance of most teachers, the shortage of books and other materials, etc. If they would use the 100:1 ratio, it would mean that they would also cut the class time by half. When they cut the learning time and add the other problems of the education sector, the decrease would be very very dramatic. It does not take a person with an IQ of 1 to know that.

2. The Education department had already used the 100:1 since the time of the then Pres. Ramos. I know this because our school had already used that when I was still in elementary. And imagine that my school is in Parañaque. What more about those schools in the poor provinces?

3. Actually when my siblings also studied in the same school they have already used the "2-shifts-in-only-3-days-school-time" (I don't know the real name of this policy) until now. So, what does this mean? It means that a student would only go to school every 3 days in a week (eg. M,W & F) and for only 6 hours each day (it means that they used the 100:1 ratio). Could you imagine how poor the quality of education is in this school? What more in the remote and poor provinces?

While I don't have the data, it's easy to see how the OVERPOPULATION in Metro Manila can result in classrooms shortages therein, compared to the much smaller populations in the provinces. Having come from provincial schools myself, I can attest that students there at least actually fare much better than those in Metro Manila.

And another thing, I really hate those stupid representatives! If they really care about the education sector, they should pressure the LGUs that they represent to do something since the NG apparently can't solve all the problems of the education sector. What's the use of the IRA of LGUs? And the most important thing: "WHAT'S THE USE OF THEIR PORK BARREL FUNDS? SEEMS THEY HAVE HURRIEDLY RAISED THEIR PORK BARREL FUNDS AGAIN!!!"

I agree. A paltry P4 billion increase for the budget for DepEd will cover a small portion of the deficiencies in our education sector, and even this was long in coming. Not to mention that they have also decided to cut the budget on infrastructure and transportation, among others.

[dancethingy]

I agree that a budget of 4billion will not due. What happens now though, now that the budget for 2006 was not passed. I believe that the senate and the palace could've worked out a deal in which the palace could've allocated an addition 2-3 billion pesos from the highly controversial 26billion pesos the senate had cut from the budget.

[beads_strawberries]

Now that college students are rushing in the streets for the start of the classes, expect more traffic jam not because the concerned government agencies were not prepared for it, but because we really have a lot of students all over the metro.

Dormitories and apartments near universities are now jam packed with students. Maybe a round of check for the safety and security of these apartments should be done. Also, we could seek a random inspection for the cleanliness of food and water all over the area. After all, we only want these students to be educated, not plagued with illnesses. Also, we would not want another fire in boarding houses which could ruin lives of students. I remember a recent incident in one of the boarding houses at Sampaloc.

Manila is now back to be one of the busiest place in Manila with the number of its students.

[Animo]

SEPARATE OPINION
Isagani A. Cruz

WHEN ENGUSH WAS THE MEDIUM OF IN-
struction in all our public and private schools,
it was understood even in the remotest barrios
of our country. It served as an effective commu-
nication tool and a unifier of our people with
their separate customs and dialects in the dif-
ferent regions of the archipelago.

It became the lingua franca that distin-
guished us as the Asians most knowledgeable
in the use of the language that was mostly gib-
erish to other Orientals. All they could do was
admire us for speaking like the foreigners from
America and England, not knowing that we
were mostly ungrammatical and pronounced ,
the strange words atrociously; That's why it .
as called "Carabao English" by even us Fil-
ipinos ourselves.

Only a small minority of our people used En-
lish at that time, the rest of the natives relying
only on their local idioms and a smattering of
Spanish from the old regime in dealing with
each other: The few select were the earning
who were sent by the government to pursue
their studies in the United States and, later,
the students from the University of the Philip-
ines, the University of Santo Tomas, the Silli-
an University from the South, and other rep-
table schools, A group of writers led by Jose
Garcia Villa developed a noteworthy body of
Philippine literature in English that received
the admiration and encouragement of their ~
colleagues in America. ,

In time, even ordinary graduates from our
elementary and secondary schools acquired
proficiency in the use of English. The promo-
tion of universal education contributed much
to the popularity of the language. Soon Span-
ish, which remained the language of the intel-
lectuals until the late 1930s, began to decline
except only among the polo-playing elite in
their exclusive enclaves.

With English prescribed by the American
administration as the official language, it was
soon widely used in government announce-
ments and resolutions. The Official Gazette
was printed, and still is, in English. Our present
Col1stitution is in English although there are
seldom-read copies in Filipino. Manuel L. Que-
zon is said to have bested his former superior,
Sergio Osmeña, by learning English faster than
the latter.

The new language began to spread even in
the everyday life of the Filipinos. Street signs in
Spanish were rewritten in English; "se vende"
Became "for sale," and "se prohibe fijar carteles"
translated to "post no bill." Names were mod~
ernized and anglicized, and Pedro became Pete
and Caridad was now Cherry. People no longer
prayed Ave Maria but Hail Mary with the same
devotion but a new accent.

Then things changed. Inspired by a new
wave of nationalism, the now Filipinized gov-
emment replaced English with the national lan-
guage as the medium of instruction in all public
elementary and secondary schools. English,
which used to be compulsory in all school cur-
ricula, was reduced to only a supplemental and
elective subject like French and Nippongo.

Shakespeare and Ernest Hemingway be-
came strangers to the general studentry. The
balarila and panitikan became the substitute
courses. Soon enough, as our official should
have known, the Philippines lost its ascendan-
cy as the country in Asia most knowledgeable
in the use, and misuse, of the English lan-
guage.

It was incomprehensible to many that while
other Asian countries realized the need to
teach their people the importance of learning
English, we in the Philippines have de-empha-
sized it. We are no longer the best-informed
people in our continent about English usage
and grammar, much less its beautiful litera-
ture.

What we have now is the pidgin vocabulary
we call Taglish, which is used by everybody in-
cluding not only the teen-age colegialas, but
also the serious-minded scholars and the semi-
literate jeepney drivers. That's because it is "ta-
lagang cool na cool" at "nakaka satisfy." We
should accept and cherish it like an adopted
child with as much legitimacy as the languages
from which it has developed.

My only remaining wonderment is the use
of English in the credits of Filipino movies
since that industf)r began in the early 1900s.
The setting is in the boondocks, the characters
are simple ignorant natives, the script is in the
local dialect, but the credits continue to be in
English for the useless information of the un-
schooled audience. The conclusion is always
The End.

It's like the impoverished washerwoman in
the old "Anak Dalita" picture who was played
by a young and sexy mestiza slaving over a
batya. Rosa Rosal, who starred in that fi1:in,
should have instead been driving a modem
convertible to a fashion salon in the city, "but
na miscast siya."

English has grown to be the most preferred
language in the world and is understood in the
wilds of Africa as in the high councils of the
United Nations. The Pope uses it as do the Em-
peror of Japan and President Fidel Castro in
Cuba. Most importantly, popular movies in-
cluding those with foreign settings are in En-
glish or with convenient English subtitles. It's
simply amazing that we are renouncing it like
11 discarded lover wl1ile the rest of the world is
embracing it.

Philippine Daily Inquirer, Saturday, June 10, 2006

[demented_pigeon]

in a nut shell: 15 million Filipinos eligible for college education... only 2.5 million able to pursue it. of that 2.5 million, only 60% will graduate... how pathetic.

[xDieselJockx]

^^^^ Does that apply to each and every filipinos? taglish or that's a problem only the tagalogs are facing? Does everybody else do the same thing? cebuano-english, illonggo-inglish and such?

The Philippines isn't the only nation in Asia who is facing that same problem. Ever heard of Singlish? Singaporean English, They are as bad.....

[xDieselJockx]

in a nut shell: 15 million Filipinos eligible for college education... only 2.5 million able to pursue it. of that 2.5 million, only 60% will graduate... how pathetic.


What's the reason for increase in college drop-outs?

[demented_pigeon]

^^ increasing tuition fee with an average of 10% per year

[xDieselJockx]

oh wow, that's sad. Sorry to hear that.....

[demented_pigeon]

^^ add to the fact that there will be an impending budget cut for state colleges and universities. in fact the government is not implementing the constitutional mandate of allocating 50% of the budget to education. its only at a staggering 31% next to debt servicing and defense

[chixbebe]

THE Department of Education plans to buy more than 35 million textbooks for public elementary and high schools this year to achieve the 1:1 ratio of one textbook per student.

Director Socorro Pilor of the DepEd’s Instructional Materials Council Secretariat said they will purchase14 million copies of Social Studies textbooks for elementary pupils with a budget of P70.8 million. A similar order for high school students is still under study as bidders for the project have failed to meet the standards set by the department.


DepEd is also set to buy 22.7 million books on English worth P1.1 billion for the elementary level, and 5.5 million books on the same subject worth P414 million for high schools.

Pilor said they are still evaluating how many to buy in Mathematics, Filipino and Science, factoring into the computation the current enrolment of 20 million students plus 10 percent as buffer stock.

Pilor said the ratio in core subjects like English, Math, Science, Social Studies and Filipino is actually from 1:1 to 1:4. In English, the ratio is 1:2, she said.

http://www.malaya.com.ph/jun14/metro4.htm

[beads_strawberries]

I do hope this will push through. With so many students now studying in public schools, we can only assure that they would still have the quality education they need with the proposed 1:1 ratio of books per student.

Since we have a growing concern on shortages of classrooms, might as well use the alternative of giving each student books they need so that they can still catch up with their studies. The construction of classrooms, on the other hand, should be done hand in hand with the local governments.

[OtAkAw]

in a nut shell: 15 million Filipinos eligible for college education... only 2.5 million able to pursue it. of that 2.5 million, only 60% will graduate... how pathetic.
Horrible statistics, there is nothing the government can do about this I suppose...

[demented_pigeon]

^^ there is... just increase the budget allocation to education from an average of just 30% to the mandated 50%. that would be around 550 billion pesos already if the 1.1 trillion budget pushes through.

[heathcliff]

in a nut shell: 15 million Filipinos eligible for college education... only 2.5 million able to pursue it. of that 2.5 million, only 60% will graduate... how pathetic.

^^ add to the fact that there will be an impending budget cut for state colleges and universities. in fact the government is not implementing the constitutional mandate of allocating 50% of the budget to education. its only at a staggering 31% next to debt servicing and defense

That's inevitable with our high population growth, though our pop growth is actually declining according to NSO. Apparently the government is still shouldering tuition fee increases in state colleges and universities and helping them cope with the increasing number of students through a support fund to the tune of P285 million.

Horrible statistics, there is nothing the government can do about this I suppose...

The private sector can also contribute to improving the quality of education in the country, through partnerships with the government or on their own initiative. There is always hope, but concerned government agencies as well as we private citizens must not be apathetic. Our country is not the only one that suffers from poor quality of education. Even in America, literacy is declining. But people are doing something about it.

First things first. The budget for education must be increased by Congress and maybe they can also invest a bigger part of their pork barrel in education. Another thing, the budget must be passed soon. It's the middle of the year for goodness' sake. Our legislature will have only itself to blame in rendering the executive reliant on deficit spending.

[demented_pigeon]

^^ its more on the wealth allocation and less on the population increase that you say. the majority that cannot attend basic education will definitely not attend secondary education. in fact, only 50% of those who attend gradeschool will actually attend highschool because they have to work for the family. and this are not just the family that are more than 5 members but relatively small families as well especially those among rural/agrarian based families like those in central luzon, western visayas, western mindanao, and bicol region. these are usually those families who are either in highly urbanized areas living in slums or families who live in farming communities as farmer-tenants who still live by the old 30% for the farmers and 70% for the landlord harvest sharing scheme. but those who do live in large haciendas especially sugar lands in luzon are the most miserable in their livelihood since they have to agree with meager wages hence they cannot afford to send their children to school even in they only have one child. they cannot afford to send their children to school despite secondary education being universally free because school materials still are beyond their budget. that is why many children have to help their parents in farm work to augmen the average 90 pesos per-week salary they receive. some of these families especially from hacienda luisita, which i can personally attest to you only receive around 20 pesos per week as compensation. these people number around 50,000 families just in this hacienda alone.

[demented_pigeon]

secondly, it is constitutionally mandated to allocate 50% of the national budget to education. the private sector nowadays does not usually subscribe to giving doleouts anymore. they usually expect that any money they do invest in social projects has to be met with equal equity from the government in order that the government will have participation in it. this is the usual trend especially among big business players in the world.

[chixbebe]

Reports said that Philippines will be receiving $200M or 10.4 billion pesos loan from the World bank (http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=politics02_june22_2006) for the educational improvement in tertiary and secondary schools.

Under the ODA project,DOE will use the money to improve the quality and outcome of basic education and improve governance of service delivery through integrated reforms.

Sec. Teves said that the loan is consistent with the overall agreement of the government with the World Bank.He added that this type of assistant is very much timely now that education in the philippines is an issue. He added that the loan will finance expenditures critical for delivering education services and will therefore guarantee the delivery of such services.

maybe its about time to improve our education system.... :cheers:

[beads_strawberries]

I've read that DepEd will be utilizing the fund to improve academic governance through enhancing school-based management as well as teaching skills, quality assurance and better resource mobilization.

Maybe the local government units could offer help for their greater involvement together with the private sectors and other non-government organizations to improve the quality of Philippine education.

[Animo]

Cerge M. Remonde

PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered the reorientation of the Philippine education system to be more responsive to the current socio-economic trends here at home and abroad.

The President stressed this in the Cabinet meeting last Tuesday where she received reports from the Department of Education (DepEd), the Commission On Higher Education (CHED), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE).

DoLE Secretary Patricia Santo Tomas kicked off the Cabinet meeting with a presentation of the projected demand for job skills and expertise in the medium term where she identified key employment generators (KEG) and the supply gaps coming from the graduates of the Philippine educational system.

Among workers most in demand in the immediate term are nurses, call center operators, information technology professionals, engineers, and skilled miners among others.

From the United States and Spain alone, which are our two main former colonial masters, there is a present demand for more than one million nurses.

There is no way that our present training system for nurses can cope with this demand for, among others, lack of training hospitals. Discussions were made on investing in the upgrading of the country’s hospitals to accommodate more nursing trainees or to reduce by half hospital training hours. In the US, nurses are only required a minimum of 100 hours of tertiary hospital training. Our present minimum requirement is 500 hours.

CHED Chairman Carlito S. Pono responded with a presentation on the current and medium-term higher education capacities and interventions to address job demands so with TESDA Director General Augusto Syjuco on vocational and technical capacity intervention through his revolutionary ladderized program.

DepEd Secretary Fe Hidalgo reported on the minimum competencies for elementary and high school graduates and public education measures to achieve targets the main features of which in sum is dedicated to preparing students for the career needs of these modern times. This, by the way, puts English back as a premium as ordered by the President.

The President cracked the whip on the immediate and full implementation of all these new educational initiatives to be spearheaded by DepEd, CHED, TESDA, among others.

She ordered aggressive investments for education through state colleges and universities in terms of scholarship grants, subsidies and the like for desired disciplines. She has earlier earmarked R2 billion for TESDA for, among others, its ladderized program.

Again, the President is grateful that the government has new funds to invest in important areas like education because of her successful financial reform program especially the once-maligned RVAT.

The envisioned objective of all these education initiatives is to achieve the President’s avowed medium-term development objective of creating job opportunities to effectively address the unemployment and underemployment problem that has been confronting the nation since its independence.

It is worthy to note that the President does not only have a very clear vision about employment and underemployment. She is determined to achieve that vision and that she is focused towards it.

This is clearly demonstrated at how constantly she is husbanding the priorities and resources of government towards this end. This is the hardworking president that some elements in Philippine society continue to vilify with yet the preparation of another impeachment complaint.

Look, the opposition is admitting from the very start that they do not have the numbers to impeach her. So, what is the point in that doggone exercise? Obviously, just to embarrass the President?

Again, why could the opposition not just allow her to work in peace. That is the least they can do for the good of the country. Ideally, they should even help her.

http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2006/06/22/OPED2006062267417.html

[chixbebe]

Japanese Ambassador Yamazaki has sogned out 4 separate grants for 4 different projects to be settled in different locations in the Philippines like Davao City, Surigao City, Surigao del Norte and South Cotabato. This also would include the grant of P4M, which was already approved the release in financial aid, this is to finance the construction of buildings for our indigenous people in our country.

Again, the Japanese Financial Assistance will come from Japan's Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects, which have funded a total of 367 educational and antipoverty projects in the Philippines.

Full Story (http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=politics06_june26_2006)

[heathcliff]

^^ its more on the wealth allocation and less on the population increase that you say. the majority that cannot attend basic education will definitely not attend secondary education. in fact, only 50% of those who attend gradeschool will actually attend highschool because they have to work for the family. and this are not just the family that are more than 5 members but relatively small families as well especially those among rural/agrarian based families like those in central luzon, western visayas, western mindanao, and bicol region. these are usually those families who are either in highly urbanized areas living in slums or families who live in farming communities as farmer-tenants who still live by the old 30% for the farmers and 70% for the landlord harvest sharing scheme. but those who do live in large haciendas especially sugar lands in luzon are the most miserable in their livelihood since they have to agree with meager wages hence they cannot afford to send their children to school even in they only have one child. they cannot afford to send their children to school despite secondary education being universally free because school materials still are beyond their budget. that is why many children have to help their parents in farm work to augmen the average 90 pesos per-week salary they receive. some of these families especially from hacienda luisita, which i can personally attest to you only receive around 20 pesos per week as compensation. these people number around 50,000 families just in this hacienda alone.


I guess it's a combination of both wealth allocation and population increase as well as other factors like the fact that many parents from rural families don't see the need for their kids to get a college education. Girls particularly are victims of discriminatory treatment by their parents who force them to quit as early as during grade school to nurse their siblings and attend to household chores instead. Boys are usually preferred when higher education is in question, whether the parents can afford to send the girls or not. I've encountered many cases where the kids are doing well in school (and at practically no cost to the parents) but are peremptorily pulled out by their parents and sent to work as housemaids to support their parents' vices, or to be “useful” in the farm “where they belong.”

Re the less than 50% allocation for education. I think about 1/3 of our budget is automatically appropriated to debt servicing (if I remember correctly, this is by virtue of the Automatic Appropriations Act enacted under Marcos). That leaves little for basic social services and the government has to operate on that limited budget.

[beads_strawberries]

The indigenous people really need the aforesaid fund for the improvement of the quality of their education. Construction of buildings for them would really cater the needs of the indigenous people in finding a suitable place to study.

Hopefully the materialization of these grants will better improve the education of the youth involving the indigenous people.

[demented_pigeon]

I guess it's a combination of both wealth allocation and population increase as well as other factors like the fact that many parents from rural families don't see the need for their kids to get a college education. Girls particularly are victims of discriminatory treatment by their parents who force them to quit as early as during grade school to nurse their siblings and attend to household chores instead. Boys are usually preferred when higher education is in question, whether the parents can afford to send the girls or not. I've encountered many cases where the kids are doing well in school (and at practically no cost to the parents) but are peremptorily pulled out by their parents and sent to work as housemaids to support their parents' vices, or to be “useful” in the farm “where they belong.”

Re the less than 50% allocation for education. I think about 1/3 of our budget is automatically appropriated to debt servicing (if I remember correctly, this is by virtue of the Automatic Appropriations Act enacted under Marcos). That leaves little for basic social services and the government has to operate on that limited budget.
you can't just send them to college especially if you don't have money... cause ummm... i dont think a father earning less than 50 pesos a day can even send his child to college.

[kiretoce]

UP distance learning school opens testing center in Thailand
By Alexander Villafania 07/02/2006

A branch of the University of the Philippines focused on distance education has said it has established its first offshore testing center in Bangkok, Thailand as part of an expansion program catering to overseas students.

The new University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) testing center will provide distance learners and faculty members "the setting to facilitate the administration of proctored examination[s]," the institution said in a statement posted on its website.

Based on its enrollment records for this year, the UPOU has 99 overseas-based students, 46 of whom are based in Thailand.

UPOU has registered 1,665 enrollees for the first semester of the 2006-2007 school year.

The educational institution said it also plans to set up a testing center in Dubai, where many overseas Filipinos are based.

Currently, UPOU has three local facilities. The first is in its headquarters on the UP campus in Los Baños, Laguna; the second is in UP Diliman in Quezon City; and the last is in UP Manila.

Established in 1995 to cater to students whose circumstances prevented them from taking traditional courses, the UPOU offers graduate and post-graduate courses as well as short-term diploma courses through distance learning techniques.

[chixbebe]

Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. is winding down on his second term in office by continuing to push for the implementation of better education, nutrition and sanitation programs to complement the P2-billion infrastructure projects for the 2.4 million residents of the city.

The mayor, who marked his fifth year in office yesterday, said better nutrition education, safe water and sanitation are among the "soft projects" that must be given top priority.

"As we enter our third term in office we will continue to address basic needs of the people to complement hard projects, " Belmonte told City Hall employees during the flag-raising ceremony.

The mayor made the commitment during the 32nd celebration of Nutrition Month, which was highlighted by a program involving pre-schoolers waving placards printed with nutrition related slogans.

Belmonte said the city government will complete the implementation of pending hard projects, including the construction of an underpass from City Hall to the Quezon Memorial Circle.

He also announced the construction of a new city museum to house historical relics and artifacts that depicts the history and cultural heritage of the city.

The city government is also set to construct a new 400-bed hospital along Commonwealth Avenue to serve as the frontline health facility for almost half a million residents in the area.

Earlier, the city government earmarked some P 1.5 billion for the construction of infrastructure, including school buildings, health centers, roads and bridges in various parts of the city. – Perseus Echeminada


http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200607046305.htm

[sandrin]

Notice to the Public. The state of Philippine Education has gone low with the infiltration of the Pro-CPP-NPA party list groups. They (akbayan, bayan etc.) are using the pork barrel to fund scholarships for young students in both public and private schools with the intention of turning them into militants. The funds are also being used for rallies and to buy ar ms for the npas in the province.
PUP, PWU, and Cavite State U are known to be breeding grounds. There are also students from private schools. School Officials shoud look into this matter and should turn down scholarship offers from the Pro-CPP NPA party list groups.

[3cr]

Politics and machismo frustrate Philippine efforts at birth control
Friday, July 28, 2006

Nick couldn't believe so many of his friends had become accidental fathers when he returned to the Philippines after five years overseas.
"There are still a lot of people who just don't buy condoms," said the 29-year-old business student.

"It's partly a religious thing - the act of buying them means that you intend to have sex which is a sin in itself. But there are a lot of guys who really don't care if they get you pregnant."

Whether it is inadequate sex education and or simply a macho culture, only an estimated 1.9 percent of married couples actually use condoms and vasectomies mean that contraception in the developing country is seen as the woman's problem.

And a problem it is.

Now home to around 85 million people, the Philippines has one of the fastest-growing populations in Asia with around two million babies born every year, many of them in overstretched public hospitals where new mothers have to share beds.

The number of Filipinos is expected to swell to 142 million by 2040, by Manila's own estimates, and the rapid arrival of new mouths to feed is straining the country's creaking infrastructure and choking efforts to cut poverty.

While family size has fallen to 3.5 children per woman from six in the 1970s, Filipino mothers, on average, still have one more child than they want to, according to research by the Alan Guttmacher Institute.

To deal with the financial and emotional strain, around half a million women are estimated to have abortions every year despite the procedure being illegal and strictly taboo in the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country. Nearly 80,000 are hospitalized with complications.

The Catholic faith, which opposes artificial birth control, is often blamed for the population boom. But a government survey showed that among the 51 percent of married women who do not use family planning, only 2.4 percent said it was due to religion.

The main reason for women avoiding birth control, aside from wanting a child, was fear of side effects, sometimes reflecting the negative attitude of their husbands to condoms, intra-uterine devices and pills.

But a lack of education about contraceptives and poor access are also major issues and some experts say the government, under pressure from the dominant Catholic church, is to blame.

"I know so many Catholics practicing modern contraceptive methods and it doesn't bother their conscience," said Eden Divinagracia, executive director of the Philippine NGO council on population, health and wealth. "But the administration right now is not supportive of family planning. The president is playing safe."

Successive governments have shied away from widely supplying contraceptives or teaching birth control in schools for fear of triggering the wrath of the country's bishops, who can make or break an administration.

President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo, who survived an impeachment attempt last year, is particularly reliant on the support of the church and shows no sign of reversing her emphasis on natural family planning over artificial methods.

In the meantime, job creation cannot keep up with the growth in the labor force and education standards are dropping due to overcrowded schools.

Elizabeth Pangalanan, executive director of the Center for Integrative and Development Studies, said the state was conceding to the religion in matters of reproductive health.

"The state should enforce these rights," she said at a recent forum. "The Catholic church has often exaggerated certain issues and takes them out of context. What it needs is honesty and truth-telling, which they often preach, regarding sex education."

With the central administration turning the other cheek and only a handful of local governments devoting funding to condoms and pills, poor Filipinos - who make up the bulk of the population - must rely on foreign donors for contraceptives.

[3cr]

Call centers offer lifeline but no cure
Friday, July 28, 2006

Unemployment remains a major issue in the Philippines despite outsourcing taking off, writes Rosemarie Francisco
At a spartan hall converted from a closed textile company east of Manila, hundreds of Filipinos milled around small corporate booths looking for work. The longest lines at the job fair were for call center or business process outsourcing firms.
Despite the odd hours - employees sit down to work just as much of the country gets ready for bed - the call center sector is the current favorite among job seekers, from the annual wave of 400,000 college graduates to more mature workers.
"I earn double here than in my previous job," said Jasmin, 35, who quit her position as a clerk at city hall to handle calls from customers of a major telecoms company in the United States.
Above-average salaries and fast promotions are some of the attractions at call centers and outsourcing firms, which have expanded to include legal, data and medical transcription, as well as animation and software development.
This year, the outsourcing sector is expected to employ about 266,000 people in the developing Southeast Asian country, surging from just about 2,000 five years ago. The number is likely to hit nearly 1.1 million by 2010, according to the Business Processing Association Philippines.
But with call centers hiring just three to five people for every 100 applicants - a reflection of the declining quality of education in the Philippines - some analysts say the industry is far from the cure for the country's unemployment problem.
"Of course, it will generate jobs but the majority of our unemployed don't have adequate skills," said Emmanuel Esguerra, associate professor at the University of the Philippines' School of Economics.
Esguerra said only a quarter of the three million to four million Filipinos without work - the number depends on the government's new or old definition of unemployment - had more than a high-school education.
Quality of labor is a major issue facing the Philippines, where budget deficits and the government's debt of about US$76 billion (HK$592.8 billion) have limited state spending on basic education.
Patricia Santo Tomas, who recently quit as labor secretary, said Manila had set aside 500 million pesos (HK$75.15 million) to retrain "near hires" in the outsourcing industry - those needing more computer training or English- language skills to get a job.
Despite President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's vow in 2004 to create up to 1.5 million jobs every year until the end of her term in 2010, progress remains slow in an economy driven by remittances, domestic demand and exports of electronics and farm products.
Arroyo's job creation goal was premised on the economy growing 7 percent to 8 percent per year, a target that has been elusive.
"This administration has the worst unemployment record," Esguerra said. "It has to do with the accumulation of the problem, but I think it also suggests the response has been inadequate."
The unemployment rate has stayed above 10 percent since 2001, when Arroyo was propelled to the presidency after a popular uprising. The last time it was as high was in the final years of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos' rule in the mid-1980s.
In April, using the old definition, the unemployment rate was 11.8 percent.
With labor force growth of 3.5 percent per year, the number of people without work would still have widened by 2010 even if one million new jobs were created annually, Esguerra said.
Only 807,000 jobs were created in the year to April 2006 after nearly 700,000 from May 2004 to April 2005, government statistics show.
"Many of the jobs created are not the quality jobs because the big increase came from the ranks of own-account workers and unpaid family workers," said Dante Canlas, the former socioeconomic planning secretary.
Own-account workers include Filipinos who shift to the underground economy with street stalls or small village shops when they are out of work or seeking to supplement low salaries.
The rise in underemployment is another worrying trend.
Workers wanting more hours made up 25 percent of the labor force in April, almost flat from 26 percent a year earlier but higher than the 18.5 percent in the same month of 2004.
With annual average inflation above 6 percent since 2004 and likely as high as 7.9 percent this year, real wages have been falling, pushing Filipinos to work longer hours.
Low wages and lack of opportunities have sent about a 10th of the population of 85 million to work abroad as sailors, nurses, maids, entertainers, IT professionals and accountants.
Canlas said the underemployment problem cut two ways, with most businesses not investing in new technology that would lead to higher production and workers failing to build their skills for better productivity.
"Unless the economy is able to significantly increase its investments and raise its productivity so there will be a scale effect on employment demand, in the short run the unemployment rate will remain high," Canlas said.
In the case of agricultural workers, who make up about 35 percent of total employed and 41.5 percent of underemployed, most of the jobs created are either seasonal or part-time.
Santo Tomas said the Philippines must harness the potential of its agribusiness, which could employ an extra two million people from this year to 2010, the highest in any sector.
Industry was not likely to contribute as much as services and agriculture to put a dent in unemployment in the next five years because of the huge investments required, she said.
REUTERS

[habagatcentral1]

Waahhh!!!! Check me kung huli na ako sa balita, bago pa lang ako sa thread na to pero

Fellow Iskos and Iskas of UP, napabalitaan nyo na ba ang panukalang pagtaas ng matrikula sa susunod na taon?

[demented_pigeon]

Notice to the Public. The state of Philippine Education has gone low with the infiltration of the Pro-CPP-NPA party list groups. They (akbayan, bayan etc.) are using the pork barrel to fund scholarships for young students in both public and private schools with the intention of turning them into militants. The funds are also being used for rallies and to buy ar ms for the npas in the province.
PUP, PWU, and Cavite State U are known to be breeding grounds. There are also students from private schools. School Officials shoud look into this matter and should turn down scholarship offers from the Pro-CPP NPA party list groups.
again, another narrow minded person believing that every leftist group in this country is pro-NPA. there is nothing wrong with giving scholarships when you don't ask anything return. and besides many of their scholars are already members even before they received their scholarships. you can report that now to your intelligence groups to clarify very complex issues.

[JAMAICUS]

Chinese govt to help build classrooms in RP


Newly appointed Department of Education (DEPED) Secretary Jesli Lapus on Friday said the Chinese government has promised to finance the construction of 10,000 classrooms in the country, DZMM reported.

In his first media briefing as DEPED secretary, Lapus said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources will donate confiscated illegal logs for the construction of more schoolrooms this year.

The former Tarlac congressman also said he will work to get a 10 percent cut from the Philippine Amusements and Gamings Corporation's gross annual income.

He said will also strengthen the "adopt-a-school program" and urge the private sector to help improve the quality of public education in the country.

He will also continue the long-term training program of teachers for Math, Science and English subjects. Separate training programs to improve management skills of public school principals will also be implemented.

Lapus took over the position from DEPED officer-in-charge Fe Hidalgo in turnover rites in Pasig City Friday morning.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=45801

[sandrin]

again, another narrow minded person believing that every leftist group in this country is pro-NPA. there is nothing wrong with giving scholarships when you don't ask anything return. and besides many of their scholars are already members even before they received their scholarships. you can report that now to your intelligence groups to clarify very complex issues.
narrow minded? Speaking for YOURSELF. You're the one who is narrow minded for joining the most stupid organization that thrives on an obsolete ideology that has proven to be a complete failure. I hope the authorities would catch each and every one of your kind. Search All of UP particularly the Krus na LIgas, Tandang Sora and Commonwealth area. Search the PCIJ scammers, the Pabico family. Jail them.

[OtAkAw]

I don't even know whys so many people still believe that Communism is the key to progress. Just look at Myanmar, Cuba and North Korea, their people live in an extremely deplorable way, and I can't believe some people EVEN survive the apparent absence of freedom! Look at China, even though they are Communist, they openly embraced capitalism. Many economists say that China's communism will prevent it from becoming an economic superpower. Karl Marx's ideas must have been interpreted inaccurately all this time.

[le Reine]

narrow minded? Speaking for YOURSELF. You're the one who is narrow minded for joining the most stupid organization that thrives on an obsolete ideology that has proven to be a complete failure. I hope the authorities would catch each and every one of your kind. Search All of UP particularly the Krus na LIgas, Tandang Sora and Commonwealth area. Search the PCIJ scammers, the Pabico family. Jail them.

Don't be too harsh. Besides hunting them down would not solve anything. Let the government focus on other issues. Besides they are also entitled to human rights. So they have the right to express thier ideology. As long as they would not use violence.

[Sinjin P.]

Flood-prone areas favor changing school opening sked – Education chief

Article posted August 2, 2006, 4:22 pm
Areas hit by flashfloods during inclement weather favor moving the school opening schedule from June to September, Education chief Jesli Lapus said Wednesday.

Among those favoring the proposed shift, Lapus said, are the National Capital Region (NCR) and central Luzon.

But those in the southern regions seemed contented with the present set-up, Lapus added.

Classes in flood-prone areas are interrupted when continuous heavy downpour cause floodwaters to rise. The predicament has triggered a debate among academicians and legislators alike on whether to change the present school opening set-up from June to September.

Upon assuming the Education portfolio, Lapus vowed to conduct a survey on the proposed change of schedule following the series of suspension of classes due to heavy rains.

A 2003 survey showed 70 percent of the respondents favored the present set-up.

“There are some regions and the NCR who want a September opening since they are affected by floods and then there are some who (prefer the present set-up) like in the southern area of the country which are not greatly affected by floods," Lapus said.

In pushing for the September opening of classes, Lapus said more time would be allotted for constructing additional classrooms, another perennial problem besetting the Education department.

“We want to avoid the typhoons in June as well as the hot season in April and May," he said.

[chixbebe]

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus has urged learning institutions to educate and train their students to become globally-competitive as he cited the value of basic education in forming a solid foundation for Filipino graduates.

“We are educating people to prepare them for the future,” Lapus said, “and the future is basically global competitiveness. If you want to work, you have to be globally-competitive.”

He said the economy could not sustain growth if industries cannot hire qualified and highly-trained workers, adding the brain drain should not deter educators from putting in place a capable and efficient human resource. “It is a chicken-and-egg situation so we go back to basic education.”

“There will be an exodus of Filipinos going abroad,” Lapus explained, but this should not stop us from creating a viable and qualified human resource.”

This are the kind of people whom you can really tell concern about the future, not only his future but the Future of all. :cheers:
Full Story (http://www.tribune.net.ph/metro/20060803met4.html)

[beads_strawberries]

There is a proposal of another P8B supplemental budget for the Department of Education in the government's efforts to improve the quality of education of the youth. Hopefully this will be approved as the government would want to step up the present situation of Philippine education.

This was just done after the president appointed a permanent secretary on the Department of Education. With the present concern of the administration of Philippine education, it can only show that the government wanted to bring back the old glory of Philippine education.

[heathcliff]

The government should focus on addressing the quantitative and qualitative mismatches in education. Also, in line with its super regions agenda, higher education should be geared towards filling the labor demands that could be generated in the super regions.

[chixbebe]

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200608080413.htm

The Department of Education (DepEd) has been given an additional P22 billion in its allocation in the draft P1.137-trillion national budget for 2007, Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. said yesterday.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is set to submit to Congress its proposed budget for next year amounting to P1.137 trillion, which Andaya said was an "education-biased budget," before the month ends.

He said that based on allocations per department, education tops the list with a proposed share of P134 billion, representing an increase of 20 percent compared to its level this year of P112 billion.

"This is the highest increment in the history for education," Andaya said. "It is (meant) to address the agency’s requirements as the student population grows every year."

The forecast enrollment in public elementary and high schools next schoolyear is 18.2 million.

This proposed budget level will allow DepEd to achieve a 1:1 pupil and textbook ratio. To realize this, Andaya said, over P2 billion must be earmarked for reading materials for schoolyear 2007-2008.

Also included in the 2007 budget is P2.4 billion for private high school vouchers, as the number of beneficiaries for this program will be increased by 60,000 students to 607,000.

Also lined up for funding, he said, is a "National English Proficiency program" meant to hone English teaching skills in public schools.

"We are looking at P1 billion for teachers’ training next year," he said.

This allocation will cover the "TeleSerye Para Kay Ma’am" television program that features "subject mastery classes."

Andaya also said there will be a "generous allocation" for classroom construction to accommodate the influx of enrollees increased by the natural growth rate, plus those migrating from private schools.

He said the education and manpower sector, to which DepEd belongs, will actually receive a total increase of P26.5 billion, bringing the allocation for the sector up to P162.6 billion this year.

He said the final figure for the DepEd 2007 budget can still change as it must still be approved by President Arroyo and the Cabinet, "but two things are sure: The 20 percent increase is the minimum and DepEd will retain its number one spot."

Andaya earlier said Malacañang already submitted to Congress a long list of teaching personnel and classroom requirements in its proposed P46.43-billion supplementary budget for this year.

He said the spending measure also gives priority to education, among other agencies, allocating to it the biggest slice of P8.6 billion.

[mhe-ann]

^^ paano un "Teleserye Para kay Ma'am"? sounds interesting...

[chixbebe]

THE Department of Education has eased the policy on deregulating private elementary and secondary schools by allowing the Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines to conduct voluntary accreditation of schools.

The federation comprises the Association of Christian Schools, Colleges and Universities Accrediting Agency Inc., the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities and the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation.

Private schools that are accredited can raise tuition and other fees without seeking permission from the department, have their own school curriculum and operate without the department’s supervision.

Under the department’s order, private schools that are recognized by the department and have had graduates for at least two consecutive years can apply for accreditation.

Schools that have been granted Level 1 accredited status enjoy partial administrative deregulation, financial deregulation in terms of setting tuition and other school fees, partial curricular autonomy and authority to graduate students without approval by the department.

They are also given priority in the awarding of grants and subsidies from the department for scholarships of students and faculty.

Schools with Level 2 accredited status have full administrative deregulation in the promotion of students, can impose their tuition and full curricular autonomy where they can modify their curriculum without the department’s approval. In addition, they enjoy limited visitation, inspection and supervision by department personnel; have the authority to graduate students without the department’s approval; and are given priority in grants and subsidies.

Besides getting similar privileges granted to schools with Level 1 and 2 accredited statuses, schools granted Level 3 accredited status have full curricular autonomy including the authority to innovate without the need for the department’s approval and freedom from visitation, inspection and supervision by the department’s supervisors.

http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php?news=1424

[overtureph]

GLIMPSES
An emerging nobility

By Jose Ma. Montelibano
INQ7.net
Last updated 02:27am (Mla time) 08/11/2006

Some days ago, Eric Pasion, a young man studying law at the University of the Philippines, wrote an impassioned appeal for others like him "not to dream only for ourselves." It was a spontaneous expression of a stirred angst that today finds kinship with thousands, maybe even millions, of Filipinos. It was a cry from the soul of a privileged one for the less privileged.

Moved by his message, I distributed through e-mail what Eric the young man wrote. Instantly, and almost unanimously, I received responses that bore the same fingerprint of a shared resonance. It was not surprising. The same spirit, when expressed by individuals who carry credibility before their audiences, invariably elicits sympathy and support. Recently, the most read and admired speeches have been of Antonio Meloto of Gawad
Kalinga, and rightly so, it seems. Meloto and Gawad Kalinga each received the 2006 award for Community Leadership from the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Foundation.

The appeal to those who have a little more to help those who have little or none, has been spreading like it never had before among Filipinos, including those living abroad. There are many who left the Philippines a few decades ago in search of an elusive dream, or just greener pastures, who now dream the reverse. Their thoughts are drawn toward the people and the country they had left behind, and how they can make the pastures of
their native land greener.

Many who left in the late 1960s or the '70s did so because of the political climate. Of course, bad politics make bad economics, except for bad politicians. People who are very disturbed by political turmoil seek peace of mind maybe even more than more income. So, in a troubled era, many Filipinos could not stand the heat and left. Most, however, stayed behind because they wanted to. Others simply had no opportunity to go anywhere else.

The desire of helping the people and country that were left behind is a growing sentiment that tugs at the hearts of Filipinos abroad. It is more than a tug if we consider that Gawad Kalinga continues to receive this burst of goodwill and generosity from Filipinos the world over to match its noble work for the poor. What is even more inspiring is the birth of that same goodwill and generosity among young Filipinos, especially students of the premier colleges and universities in the Philippines.

Young Filipinos wanting to help the poor has never been a massive sentiment. Social action groups from Catholic schools have always been involved in immersion programs in selected poor communities. While many claimed to have been touched forever by their experiences, there was no visible improvement in the lives of the poor in the communities that hosted the immersion programs. What may have started with the best of intentions ended up like charity programs with no substantial impact on the poverty situation.

The trend today, however, is a radical one. The conversion of the mandatory Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program to becoming optional gave birth to college students nationwide choosing community service instead. And when introduced to the Gawad Kalinga mechanism for poverty intervention via a full blown community development program, an army of the strategic young are influenced to confront the ugliness of poverty and strive to change it.

Education, then, takes on its higher purpose. The great debates between universities like Ateneo, La Salle and University of the Philippines are giving way from inconsequential form to a new substance that carries the promise of a brighter future. After all, graduates of the premier schools have ruled the nation, and the running total of that education and
subsequent governance is a virtual disaster. And I am not talking about the deteriorating proficiency of Filipinos using English; I refer to the deteriorated values that dominate our way of life led by the badly educated.

The elemental purpose of education is to add knowledge and skills, including the proper use of the English language among others. Yet, the products of an educational system, which shone around Asia as the most proficient in English, oversaw the degradation of a whole culture and value system. Today, poverty has deepened like no other time, reflectingthe awesome superiority of exploitation over human concern and social justice. And today, as well, the corruption of a nation has become a gaudy headgear that is noticed by the whole world.

The products of what is deemed as a superior educational environment became the generations that ushered an abundant and Christian nation into one impoverished and highly immoral. Superior education abdicated its higher purpose, trading it for flashy forms and rotten substance. Those who did not engage in the commission of wrong did little to stop it, or simply ran away.

As fewer Filipinos can speak good English, more Filipinos are getting better education. The sympathy and support for the poor is expanding among Filipino students from the leading schools of the motherland. This trend among students reflects the beginning of the end for bad education that allowed flashy form to dominate good substance. At last, glimpses of nobility may soon overpower the rule of inanity, good works may soon overcome empty words, and the courage to confront poverty among our young may soon eliminate it.

* * *

Responses may be sent to jlmglimpses@gmail.com.

Previous columns:
Ramon Magsaysay Awards: honoring Filipinos – 8/04/06


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http://opinion.inq7.net/inq7viewpoints/columns/view_article.php?article_id=14616

[sandrin]

Manila Standard Today Editorial

One bad idea

A plan to move the opening of classes from June to September has spawned a storm of controversy.

Several lawmakers, including Senate President Manuel Villar, and officials from the Department of Education, have proposed to make changes in the country’s school calendar, prompted by the need to spare the students and parents from having to wade through waist-deep water especially in flood-prone areas.

The education department has in fact ordered a survey to find out what students and their parents, as well as teachers, feel about the plan.

Some say there is wisdom in the proposal to begin the school year in September and not in June, considering that many areas in the metropolis get flooded with the slightest drizzle.

But that is not always the case in the rest of the country. In fact, in 2005, more super typhoons struck the country in September alone than June to September. Two super typhoons —“Jolina” and “Maring”—hit the Philippines that month, and the number of weather disturbances that entered our area of responsibility—six—outnumbered the total registered from June to September.

Altering the school calendar on the grounds of avoiding floods and bad weather, therefore, will even put our students in even greater risk.

Also, the proposal, which was abandoned in the 1970s, would not be as widely accepted as some people think, even if the belief that more typhoons strike the country in June than September is still prevalent.

Many students stay home for town fiestas in the summer months, particularly May, and if the school opening is moved later in the year, it will be in conflict with the celebrations. Students in Manila, many of whom come from the provinces, will not be able to come home for these fiestas, once described by the late National Artist Nick Joaquin as “part of the actual and mystical way of life in the Philippines.”

Perhaps, it would do well for our lawmakers and education officials to instead cooperate with each other and come up with measures to help students during the typhoon months. Cleaner waterways and drainage systems would certainly go a longer way than moving the school opening.

That is the more logical step.

[OtAkAw]

^^Mas kawawa kaming mga bata (hehehe!) kapag summer months may klase, the heat is TORTURE, better get wet that have a heat stroke!

[chixbebe]

The national government, through the Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA), has introduced for immediate implementation the "Ladderized Education Program," wherein students will be able to finish their college studies without much financial difficulties and constraints.

TESDA Director General Augusto "Boboy" Syjuco said that under the program, a student can finish his or her studies in six to seven years because of the fact that the student will have the chance of working for a living at the same time.

Syjuco explained that a student under the "ladderized program" will have an advantage in terms of added experiences over traditional college degree holders.

Among the technical-vocational (Tech-Voc) training courses included in the program are tourism, including hotel and restaurant management; health including nursing and medical services; marine engineering and marine transportation; agriculture and fisheries; information and communication technology; engineering; technical education; and criminology.

Citing the traditional four-year course of nursing as example, Syjuco explained that a student through the "ladderized program" can start by taking up studies as a caregiver, then as a nursing aide, nursing attendant, up to midwifery, until the student becomes a nurse under the "ladderized" approach.

Syjuco explained that those who have reached at least second year in college would be given the opportunity to avail of the program, and for those who qualified, the government will be providing an initial amount of P5,000 as financial assistance.

Syjuco clarified that an interested students must first enroll in a related Tech-Voc course before being accepted to the program.

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200608236309.htm

[Sinjin P.]

Education gets additional P32.28B funding

The Department of Education has obtained additional funding of P32.28 billion that may help solve the perennial problem of classroom shortage, Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas said on Saturday.

Gullas, the majority leader of the House of Representatives, said P9.58 billion of the additional funding came from the P46.4 billion supplemental budget while P22.7 billion came from the P1.137 trillion budget for 2007.

"Jesli will surely have his hands full," Gullas said, referring to Education Secretary Jesli Lapus. "Nonetheless, we are confident that with his management expertise, the department is in a superb position to efficiently execute the spending program."

According to senior lawmaker, the incremental funding – the 2006 supplemental budget and the General Appropriations Act of 2007 – will “provide DepEd an aggregate additional funding of P32.28 billion for the rest of 2006 through the whole of next year."

"We are also absolutely optimistic that, with the cooperation of the Senate, Congress will be able to pass the supplemental budget by next month, and the proposed 2007 national budget, by December," Gullas assured.

According to Gullas, DepEd actually got more funding this year — P121.58 billion, compared to the P112 billion in 2005.

“With the P9.58 billion supplement, DepEd would actually get a total of P121.58 billion this year," said Gullas. DepEd was allotted some P119 billion this year, but with the reenacted budget, this figure shrank by P7 billion.

Gullas said the P9.58 billion for DepEd in this year’s supplemental budget “covers most of the incremental spending originally programmed under the proposed 2006 GAA of P1.053-trillion, which Congress failed to enact."

"Actually, with the supplement, DepEd is even getting more than what it would have gotten had the proposed 2006 GAA been passed," he pointed out.

Gullas nevertheless disclosed that the education department will be getting a total of P134.7 billion in 2007, which is “P13.12 billion higher than the department’s P121.58 billion allocation this year (inclusive of the P9.58 billion supplement)."

“Deped, beset by crippling resource gaps, now faces a new challenge: Absorbing an unusually large incremental spending program over the next 16 months, meant mainly to quickly address the shortages of teachers, classrooms, seats and textbooks," Gullas said.

Gullas said P32.28 billion incremental funding for DepEd over a 16-month period "substantially resolves all immediate basic resource shortages through 2007."

A previous study by DepEd showed that government would have to spend P11.35 billion yearly from 2007 to 2015, on top of its P112 billion annual budget, to restore the glory of the public school system. Thus, the study reported that DepEd needs:

* P20 billion for 45,775 new classrooms to achieve a
1:45 classroom-to-pupil ratio based on a single shift
across all regions, except Metro Manila;

* P4.69 billion for replacement textbooks, including
new English language and reading manuals for all 10
years of grade and high school;

* P2.15 billion to create 20,517 additional items
for teachers in order bring the instructor-to-pupil
ratio to 1:45; and

* P1.9 billion for 3.2 million seats. - GMANews.TV

[sandrin]

Product safety to be part of curriculum
The Freeman 09/04/2006

Young learners may soon understand and have a better grasp of product standards to become empowered consumer advocates. This, as the Department of Trade and Industry linked with the Department of Education to integrate the importance of standards for product safety and quality in the curricula of students as well as mobile learners so as to mold them to be responsible and vigilant consumers.

DTI Consumer Welfare and Trade Regulation Group (CWTRG) undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya said that the main thrust of the DTI is to strengthen consumer welfare awareness among the young for they are very influential to the buying preference of their parents.

Maglaya explained that through extensive classroom discussions on product safety and quality, DTI will rear intelligent young consumers that demand for reliable and safe goods in the market.

DTI Bureau of Product Standards has been closely working with DepEd's Bureaus of Elementary Education, Secondary Education and Alternative Learning System for the development of lesson guides and modules (lesson exemplars) on standards, which will be used by teachers in classroom discussions.

"With standards, integrated in the teachers' lesson guides and modules, children would be able to distinguish safe and reliable products from inferior or defective ones and eventually promote patronage on DTI-certified products among their family and peers," Maglaya said.

Maglaya pointed out that, through the continued support of partners in DepEd and the private sector, DTI will be able to reach its goal of including standards in the school curricula to raise consumer awareness on product safety and quality at the same time encourage the children to be DTI's young consumer advocates.

She said that if plans push through next year, standards shall be taught in every classroom of the elementary and secondary education including the alternative learning system. - Jasmin R. U

[Ady001]

Education was one of the most undermined things in GMAs SONA...

tapos, Sec Gonzales said that they will cut UPs budget! :scousrd:

[chixbebe]

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news06_sept04_2006

THE government is hiring 10,000 teachers and 882 principals next year to increase the teacher-to-students ratio in public schools, an official said yesterday.

Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. said the new hires would bring the teacher-to-students ratio to 1 to 35 from 1 to 50 in public elementary and high schools, hence easing teachers’ loads.

Next year’s new hires compare with the 8,200 teachers hired this year.

Education officials are projecting that 371,000 new students will enroll in public schools, bringing their student population to 18.2 million.

“Most of [the new teachers] will be distributed to the so-called “red” schools, which have a severe teacher shortage or a pupil-teacher ratio of more than 50:1, and to “black” schools, where there are no nationally funded teachers,” Andaya said.

The education department has earmarked P2.844 billion from its proposed P134-billion budget next year to pay the teachers hired this year and next year.

Records at the Department of Budget and Management show the government hired 10,000 new teachers in 2005 and another 8,200 this year, bringing the total number of teachers to 505,150.

Consistent with the constitutional mandate, the education department will have the biggest slice of the proposed P1.136 trillion national budget for 2007.

The department’s proposed P134-billion budget is P22 billion or 20 percent bigger than its P112 billion budget now. Fel V. Maragay

[beads_strawberries]

^They are certainly needed. In as much as we have a growing population of students, they need the guidance of educators in pursuit of knowledge.

More than this, CHED and DepEd are closely coordinating to increase proficiency in English, Science and Math subjects. The ladderization program of the administration is now taking its course towards reviving the quality of Philippine education.

[chixbebe]

School opens ‘language center’

Makati residents and students who wish to have a successful career in the call center industry can now enroll at the city government owned University of Makati (UMAK).

This is because the Makati-owned University is set to open a special training facility where interested individuals who want to boost their potential and find gainful employment in leading Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) firms can go to and be trained.

Dr. Edita Chan, UMAK Executive Vice President, said the facility will be called a ‘Language Center.’ "It’s a 31-seater call center training facility outfitted with modern equipment and a call management system that can handle and route calls as many as 100 calls," Chan said.

The city government has allocated at least R60 million for the initial 30 units and is set to allot additional budget for 70 seats more, Chan said.

UMAK has tapped six BPO firms for the project namely People Support, QInteraction, Accenture, EITSC, e-Pacific, Source Asia Business Inc.

Chan said the ‘Language Center’ is built to strengthen the city’s edge over other highly urbanized centers as a leading provider of highly qualified human resources.

"We want to help constituents and even transients in increasing their chances of being employed in top call center firms where most are based in Makati," Chan said.

UMAK will be offering courses such as Associate in Contact Services, BS in Office Management, and Associate in Computer Secretarial. (Hannah Torregoza and Felix Mediavillo)

Out-of-School-Youth (OSY)s, unemployed, undergraduate and senior citizens can also enroll at the center. Non-Makati residents can avail of the offered courses through the School for Continuing Professional Education (SCOPE).

Applicants are required to be proficient in English communication and should pass the written and oral examination.

Non-Makati residents are required to be a graduate of at least one course. For OSY, unemployed, undergraduate and senior citizens, applicants must be at least high school graduate. (Hannah Torregoza and Felix Mediavillo).

---http://www.mb.com.ph/MTNN2006090573579.html

[heathcliff]

^They are certainly needed. In as much as we have a growing population of students, they need the guidance of educators in pursuit of knowledge.

More than this, CHED and DepEd are closely coordinating to increase proficiency in English, Science and Math subjects. The ladderization program of the administration is now taking its course towards reviving the quality of Philippine education.

The ladderized educational system enables a student to be more employable. One's level of learning is not wasted unlike in a traditional education system where you first have to graduate from several years of college (and in some courses, take the board exam), and if for some reason you were obliged to drop out, you're back to square one.

The National Ladderized Program combines formal and non-formal education and training including experience-acquired learning and skills through the mechanisms of equivalency and accreditation. The National Ladderized Educational System makes possible for a person who took up some TESDA-licensed training courses, with 5-year work experience, to obtain a degree having the TESDA courses accredited and the life experience given an equivalency, and taking additional units in college. This program will provide job applicants with college degree qualification to make them more employable. In most cases, business enterprises prefer to hire college degree holders. For certain positions, they now require a master in business administration degree. The NLES allows accreditation and equivalency from diploma to doctorate level. Initially some 30 colleges and universities were selected to present their ladderized program before President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Malacanang on July 14, 2006. The pilot degree programs are B.S. in agriculture, business and management, criminology, engineering, entrepreneurship, health, information technology,maritime, teacher education, and tourism. Through ladderization, the student can have savings in time and tuition by not repeating a number of subjects given accreditation and life-experience equivalency. As a result, it is possible that a 24-year old student may obtain a B.S. degree in two years. For example, the International Academy of Management and Economics (IAME [eye-aim]) has designed a ladderized BSBA program that can be completed in six trimesters or two years, fulfilling the CHED-required units for a bachelor’s degree. If you are 24 or 26 years old and still jobless for lack of degree qualification, this ladderized program is a divine favor. more (http://www.iame.edu.ph/fullnews.asp?newsNo=34642)

[chixbebe]

With all this "gulo" in and out of the Life (private or not) of PGMA, she really never forgets the future for the children, not only hers but the children of the entire country just this week she pushes ICT skills for youth (http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/sept/07/yehey/top_stories/20060907top6.html). This is maybe of the digital age we are going through right now. Maybe she understands that its better that youths now adays are well informed to this hi-tech or generation X era. :scouserd:

[amras]

Counseling guru exhorts teachers to stay in RP

By Fe Zamora
Inquirer
Last updated 04:49am (Mla time) 09/11/2006

Published on page A1 of the September 11, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

DR. DENIS WAITLEY, renowned motivator and inspirational speaker, has some advice for the country’s school teachers, those unsung heroes, noble workers and campus superstars -- stay where you are.

“The greatest thing that you can do is to plant the seeds of greatness here in Asia, in the Philippines,” Waitley told some 14,000 public and private school teachers gathered at the Araneta Coliseum ni Quezon City last Saturday for this year’s “A Tribute to Teachers.”

“If you plan to go where I come from, it’s too late. The opportunities are in China. The seeds of greatness are in Asia. Asia is the 21st century,” said Waitley, an American who has counseled astronauts and world-class athletes.

Waitley was invited to help motivate teachers to continue teaching and be an inspiration to their students amid the growing number of Filipino tutors seeking greener pastures abroad as teachers, or even as caregivers and domestic help.

Now on its third year, “A Tribute to Teachers” was conceptualized by the Bato Balani Foundation “to pay homage to teachers through relevant talks, sharing, entertainment and, more importantly, through the presentation of exemplary educators.”

This year’s honored educators are spiritual mentor and teacher Fr. Joseph Roche from the Ateneo de Manila University; Father of Filipino Philosophy Dr. Florentino Timbreza from De La Salle University; social catalyst and teacher Dr. Feny de los Angeles-Bautista of the University of the Philippines’ Child Development Center and the School of Children for Community of Learners, and Dr. Queena Lee-Chua, mathematics professor at Ateneo and columnist of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Teachers play a key role in molding society, said Waitley. “The greatest thrill of a teacher is to expect more than what the students can achieve.”

Glimmer of hope

Roselle Ambubuyog, the first visually impaired summa cum laude graduate from Ateneo, expressed gratitude to her teachers “who made me see a glimmer of hope.”

“If your students have no disability, that’s easier. If your students have disabilities, your job becomes more important,” Ambubuyog said.

She delivered her speech from memory while working on a Rubik’s Cube. She ended her speech by raising the Rubik’s Cube, the puzzle completed.

In tribute to her exemplary achievement and inspiring story, the teachers gave Ambubuyog a standing ovation.

Butch Jimenez, senior vice president of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), noted that a survey conducted sometime ago indicated that Filipinos find hope in two things --family and education.

“If you have education, you can compete, and you, teachers, hold the key to education,” Jimenez said.

PLDT raffle

Jimenez also announced that PLDT was raffling off 40 computers to the mentors.

Sen. Manuel Roxas II echoed Jimenez’s statement that education was the “great equalizer” between the rich and the poor. He also urged the teachers to continue with their profession: “Don’t give up, believe in tomorrow, believe in our future.”

Alexandra Prieto-Romualdez, Philippine Daily Inquirer president and a former college teacher, recalled how three teachers inspired her to focus on her studies and eventually in her career.

While teachers can be “tormentors,” Prieto-Romualdez said teachers actually “nourish” what one learns from home.

Despite reports on the dismal state of Philippine education, Bato Balani Foundation chair Saturnino Belen said the tribute was intended to “highlight the selfless and noble nature of teachers, not only as educators but as community leaders.”

[JAMAICUS]

Education to get 48.7% of budget
for social services next year

By Jodeal Cadacio
Reporter

THE Arroyo administration will spend huge financial resources not only to make food for the stomach plentiful, but to create “food for the brain” as well to feed the Filipino’s growing hunger for knowledge, the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations disclosed Sunday.

Lakas Rep. Joey Salceda of Albay said that “because mind matters in the administration’s book,” the education, culture and manpower sector will get the bulk of the total budget for social services under the Malacañang-proposed P1.13-trillion 2007 national budget.

Salceda said some P162 billion, or 48.7 percent of the total allotment for social services next year, will be poured into the education sector to finance projects and programs that would dramatically improve the quality of education in the public school system.

“These are what you may call ‘pondong pampatalino’ that will be made available to the education sector next year,” Salceda told the BusinessMirror.

Salceda, who is also one of President Arroyo’s senior economic advisers, said it is very clear from the proposed money measure that the administration chose to give budgetary priority to education than to infrastructure buildup.

“The [budget] bias is in favor of education. While the administration chose to keep infra expenditure level within the level proposed in the [archived] 2006 national budget, it chose to make education a top priority in the 2007 national budget. Between infra and education, it is very clear that the administration chose the latter,” Salceda said.

Of the P162 billion, the lion’s share of P134.7 billion or 83 percent will go to the Department of Education, up by nearly P16 billion from this year’s allotment of P119.1 billion.

Some P17.8 billion would be set aside to support state universities and colleges (SUCs) nationwide, and P1.1 billion for the Commission on Higher Education.

Salceda said that through the proposed money measure, the administration intends to increase the provisions for teachers, classrooms and other basic requirements for the public school system.

Some P1.2 billion will be earmarked for 10,882 teaching and nonteaching positions in the DepEd to reinforce the 496,950 teacher population.

Salceda said the allocation for textbooks will increase by as much as 69 percent—from P636 million this year to P1.8 billion in 2007—to attain a one-is-to-one ratio of textbook and reading materials per student. The increase will help the government procure 42 million textbooks and reading materials.

The School Building Program would also get a dramatic boost next year, with an increased allotment of P2.8 billion, from this year’s P2 billion. The money would be earmarked for the construction of 6,000 more classrooms to augment the 5,000 classrooms targeted for completion within the year.

Another P1 billion has been set aside for the repair and maintenance of 50,000 schools all over the country. “We will increase the minimum allocation for repair and maintenance for each school by 100 percent—from P10,000 to P20,000 per school,” he said.

Salceda said some P1 billion will be set aside for the purchase of 1.3 million desks as well as teachers’ tables and blackboards, among others. He said the government will also spend some P940 million to train 50,000 English, math and science teachers and enhance their skills in these subjects. The allocation would double the number from this year’s 25,000.

Salceda said another P500 million will also be allotted to support the institutionalization of local government schools and community involvement in education.

As part of the administration’s effort to provide Muslim children equal access to prescribed basic education curriculum, the government has set aside P100 million to sustain the Madrasah mainstreaming program, now on its second year.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/eco01.php

[JAMAICUS]

Anak TV

RP trailing behind in responsible TV?

By M.C. Hatol

It is not enough that the Philippines is home to what is probably the only "seal of good housekeeping" in broadcasting in Asia. The Anak TV Seal is making quiet but affirmative inroads, not only in family life but in education and values formation.


However, the strides in child-sensitive television are eclipsed by well-meaning efforts done by our neighbors. The gestures are easy to execute and promise tremendous returns on the investment of shaping young minds. We just wonder why it is taking long for the Philippines to get its act together.

CNN recently reported that China has evicted foreign cartoons like The Simpsons from their prime time slots beginning this month. The move was meant to level the playing field for the Chinese animators whose works are relegated to lesser time slots. The timely change catapulted local cartoons like The Monkey King to better airtime assignments. So doing, Chinese children are able to identify with the homespun characters readily. The local animation industry in China is humming.

Indonesian clerics are up in arms against show biz talk shows on TV, explaining that these crass programs erode the moral fiber of the Islamic nation. They minced no words in demanding that government regulate such programs because of what they observed was the growing penchant of Indonesians at gossiping. The Muslim imams fear that a nation populated by inveterate rumor mongers and nosy citizens will only bring harm to the national psyche.

Parents and media advocates in Thailand have pushed for more airtime devoted to family-oriented television from 4 PM to 10 PM and for the state monitoring of the suitability of children’s programs. The demands were presented to the Prime Minister by the concerned lobby groups. Among the demands was the mandating of at least an hour of educational programs on state-owned TV right after the evening newscasts.

Where is the Philippines in this sort of landscape?

A good 90 per cent of programs for children on local TV are foreign, mostly dubbed into Pilipino. Some child psychologists claim that a kid exposed to such speaking style grows up linguistically confused because all he watches are unsynched lip movements on TV.

Many others insist that a Filipino child does not see himself on television anymore because he is exposed to Western fare rather than local material. He is more abreast with Doraemon and Madeline rather than with Bernardo Carpio or Juan Tamad. It is no different from a child who knows about kryptonites but cannot tell what a stalactite is.

The landmark piece of legislation called the National Children’s Television Act of 1997 rots in a filing cabinet. There is money for renaming towns and bridges, for inane streamers to deface streets, for junkets abroad and for many other stupid things but not a centavo to sink into an endowment for more Pinoy children’s programs.

We ask: Are we trailing behind even in the children’s media department?


http://business.inq7.net/money/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=20344

[heathcliff]

There is a list of institutions on TESDA's website that offers ladderized education.

For school year 2006-2007, ladderized education shall be implemented by authorized institutions in eight disciplines: (1) Agriculture; (2) Health; (3) Maritime; (4) Tourism; (5) Information Technology; (6) Engineering; (7) Criminology; and (8) Education. TESDA and CHED worked together to map out competencies in these programs and developed the credit matrix as well as the authorized curricula in the identified TVET and degree programs.

[chixbebe]

I agree on the issue of passing the House bill 5579 (http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/sept/12/yehey/metro/20060912met5.html), that wil decentralize the payroll of our teachers. It is said that DepEd will decentralize the massive P94-billion payroll service.

It is right that passing this bill (creation of Regional payroll services) will definitely end the chronic delays of sallaries as well as the allowance of our mentors. This will also end their common problems of travelling all the way to Manila just to fix their paychecks problems.

I salute our bill passers who never forgets to think the improvement of the education system in our country which includes the improvement of sallaries, schools, classrooms and books etc...that is very much needed by our fellows.

[sandrn]

%u2018Supplemental budget priority is education%u2019
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/front02.php
THE children%u2019s education come first. %u201CWhatever amount is needed for this purpose will be released as soon as possible so that students affected by Milenyo can continue their classes. We should make sure that they do not miss a day in class or miss any portion or item in their subjects.%u201D

Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. said this Sunday when he announced the government will spend P1.3 billion for the repair of schools, including those battered by typhoon Milenyo, once President Arroyo signs into law the P46.43-billion supplemental budget.

Some P1.37 billion has been earmarked for rehabilitation and completion of school buildings nationwide in the supplemental budget, part of the P9.6 billion allotted to the Department of Education.

In a related development, Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral said the DSWD has committed P3 million as added support to local government units affected by typhoon %u201CMilenyo%u201D for their rehabilitation efforts.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri said on Friday the supplemental budget would boost government spending, which had dropped by P63.1 billion in the first eight months of the year because it is operating on the enacted 2005 budget. %u201CThat%u2019s [supplemental budget] especially for health and education. It%u2019s easy to spend on that.%u201D

He also said that the government does not intend to revise its deficit target of P125 billion in 2006, even with its continued good revenue performance plus the unspent P63.1 billion. %u201CThe President wants to maintain it. So we have to do some catching up in terms of spending.%u201D

Mrs. Arroyo earlier rejected the idea of lowering the budget deficit target to P100 billion, saying she would rather have more elbow room to spend.

On aid to other victims, Cabral said her department has targetted helping about 30 percent of the total families displaced by the typhoon.

Five DSWD programs%u2014Cash- and Food-for-Work, Self-Employment Assistance-Kaunlaran (SEA-K), Core Shelter Assistance, Emergency Shelter Assistance, and Supplemental Feeding%u2014will be implemented in the aid and support effort.

She said 59,096 families will be assisted through the Cash- and Food-for-Work programs. Each family will be given P200 for a day%u2019s work for one month. These families will also be given P10,000 each as livelihood assistance through the SEA-K program.

A total of 26,348 families whose houses were destroyed will be given one housing unit each worth P50,000; and 76,020 families with damaged houses will receive P10,000 each for repairs.

A total of 118,192 children of affected families will be given supplemental feeding for two months to help them regain their ideal nutritional status.

[sandrn]

%u2018Supplemental budget priority is education%u2019
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/front02.php
THE children%u2019s education come first. %u201CWhatever amount is needed for this purpose will be released as soon as possible so that students affected by Milenyo can continue their classes. We should make sure that they do not miss a day in class or miss any portion or item in their subjects.%u201D

Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. said this Sunday when he announced the government will spend P1.3 billion for the repair of schools, including those battered by typhoon Milenyo, once President Arroyo signs into law the P46.43-billion supplemental budget.

Some P1.37 billion has been earmarked for rehabilitation and completion of school buildings nationwide in the supplemental budget, part of the P9.6 billion allotted to the Department of Education.

In a related development, Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral said the DSWD has committed P3 million as added support to local government units affected by typhoon %u201CMilenyo%u201D for their rehabilitation efforts.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri said on Friday the supplemental budget would boost government spending, which had dropped by P63.1 billion in the first eight months of the year because it is operating on the enacted 2005 budget. %u201CThat%u2019s [supplemental budget] especially for health and education. It%u2019s easy to spend on that.%u201D

He also said that the government does not intend to revise its deficit target of P125 billion in 2006, even with its continued good revenue performance plus the unspent P63.1 billion. %u201CThe President wants to maintain it. So we have to do some catching up in terms of spending.%u201D

Mrs. Arroyo earlier rejected the idea of lowering the budget deficit target to P100 billion, saying she would rather have more elbow room to spend.

On aid to other victims, Cabral said her department has targetted helping about 30 percent of the total families displaced by the typhoon.

Five DSWD programs%u2014Cash- and Food-for-Work, Self-Employment Assistance-Kaunlaran (SEA-K), Core Shelter Assistance, Emergency Shelter Assistance, and Supplemental Feeding%u2014will be implemented in the aid and support effort.

She said 59,096 families will be assisted through the Cash- and Food-for-Work programs. Each family will be given P200 for a day%u2019s work for one month. These families will also be given P10,000 each as livelihood assistance through the SEA-K program.

A total of 26,348 families whose houses were destroyed will be given one housing unit each worth P50,000; and 76,020 families with damaged houses will receive P10,000 each for repairs.

A total of 118,192 children of affected families will be given supplemental feeding for two months to help them regain their ideal nutritional status.

[chixbebe]

Congress taps Tsinoy businessmen to build schools

For the first time, Congress is tapping cost-effective non-government organizations (NGOs) in building schools to bring down their cost significantly so that more classrooms could be built.

House Deputy Majority Leader Eduardo Gullas said yesterday starting this year, the construction of P250-million worth of new classrooms would be "outsourced" to NGOs led by the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. (FFCCCII).

The federation groups Filipino-Chinese or Tsinoy businessmen. Gullas, who represents Cebu’s first district in the House, said FFCCCII and other NGOs would build a total of 1,100 classrooms, each with a floor area of 49 square meters, at a cost not exceeding P225,000 per unit.

"We are definitely encouraging the participation of NGOs, particularly those with the capability and proven track record, in the construction of public school buildings," said Gullas, who represents Cebu’s first district in the House.

"Hopefully, taxpayers will get more value for their money through this scheme. This should lead not only to more classrooms being built but also to longer-lasting structures," he added.

In the recently approved P46.4-billion 2006 supplemental budget, Congress appropriated an additional P1 billion "for the construction, repair, rehabilitation, and completion of school buildings."

Of the P1 billion, half or P500 million would be for the "rehabilitation, repair and retrofitting of school buildings," the other half would be for the construction of new classrooms.

Out of the second half, P250 million would be "made available" to FFCCCII and other NGOs.

FFCCCII, through its Operation Barrio School program, has been building classrooms using donated private funds. This time, however, it will be using taxpayers’ money.

For several years now, the federation has also been using funds made available by Sen. Franklin Drilon, who has been appropriating his pork barrel funds for the construction of new school buildings. Drilon found out that FFCCCII builds classrooms at half the cost it would take the Department of Public Works and Highways to construct them. According to him, corruption, from the level of the barangay where the classroom would be built, up to the DPWH, increases the government’s cost.

Apparently, it was Drilon, who now chairs the Senate committee on finance, who included the "outsourcing" provision in the supplemental budget bill. It was the first time that such a requirement is written in the budget law.
--http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200610110410.htm

[ikra]

i just looked at the top 500 universities list by forbes(or was it times) and not a single philippine university in it. Are we that bad????

[3cr]

If today's children will be the country's future workers, the future doesn't look good based on this article ...
:nono: :nono: :nono:

Malnutrition must be addressed — Villar
http://www.mb.com.ph/MTNN2006100876501.html

Senate President Manuel "Manny" B. Villar Jr., who had expressed concern over the seemingly malnourished condition of many Filipino students all over the country, hopes that the National School Health and Nutrition Congress of the Department of Education (DepEd) from Oct. 9-12 would result to concrete measures to implement an efficient school-based health and nutrition program.


"Malnourishment is increasingly becoming prevalent among Filipino schoolchildren. It was reported that there are now close to 3.67 million malnourished children nationwide or about one-fourth of all schoolchildren," said Villar, president of the Nacionalista Party (NP).

To commemorate October as "School Health Month," DepEd will discuss possible strategies for sustained school health and nutrition development in its four-day congress to improve the health and nutrition of schoolchildren.

Villar said there is an urgent already to modernize and upgrade the School Health and Nutrition Program (SHNP) of the DepEd to maximize its efficiency. In line with this, Villar recently filed Senate Bill (SB) 2384 or "An Act Providing for the Modernization of the SHNP of the DepEd."

"The SHNP is designed to promote, protect, and maintain the health and nutritional well-being of the various sectors of elementary and secondary educational institutions, thus, they play a crucial role in addressing malnutrition among Filipino schoolchildren," he said.

Villar also filed SB 2403 or "The Nutripack Act" which seeks to institutionalize a nutrient supplementing or feeding program similar to the "nutribun" feeding program during the 70s and 80s to augment the dietary needs of schoolchildren, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and the elderly. As an incentive, supporters of the nutripack feeding program shall be given due tax credit equivalent to 100 percent of their contribution.

"We should not shrug off comments by nutrition and education experts about the direct correlation of proper nutrition and enhanced learning capabilities in children. If we really want Filipino children to grow up to be intelligent people, we should help provide adequate nutrition to them," Villar said.


________________________________________



Dang scam nanaman. Ano ba naman yan. Gutom na nga ang mga kabataan hinuhuthutan pa! C'mon Ate Glo where's the check and balances? :nono: :nono: :nono:

DepEd rice, textbooks billions scams bared
By Angie M. Rosales
Daily Tribune
http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20061012hed1.html

Everywhere one turns, a scam is always around the corner.

Imported rice was found to have been used by the Arroyo administration school-feeding program, over P1 billion worth of which had already been spent by the National Food Authority (NFA) while another funding, amounting to almost P4 billion is still being eyed for the coming year’s continued implementation, even when the rice has allegedly never been delivered to the intended beneficiaries who are the school children from public elementary schools.

This is the same program that was earlier exposed by Sen. Edgardo Angara as a scam as the beneficiaries never benefited from this program.

Senators discovered this multi-billion peso scam, which even some Cabinet officials are said to also be questioning, wondering about the need to import rice for this Department of Education (DepEd) program, to the detriment of the local farmers.

Add to this yet another big scam, also in the billions, this time on the latest textbooks scam involving over P2.6 billion.

The alleged anomalous textbooks acquisition by the DepEd between 1999 to 2004, was bared as officials from the DepEd sought another P2 billion in their proposed 2007 budget for the same purpose.

The matter of the imported rice was accidentally stumbled upon by Sen. Franklin Drilon, finance committee chair, while grilling Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Esperanza Cabral who defended their proposed P4.38 billion appropriations for next year.

Drilon was told that the present allocation of P1.08 billion for rice distribution in the “food for school program” of DSWD, similar to the DepEd program, in line with the poverty alleviation thrust of the administration, will be supplied by the NFA, using imported rice.

When confronted by Drilon why there was the need to source supplies from other countries, Cabral confessed before the Senate panel that she herself questioned the matter, noting that it would be more practical to acquire rice supply locally, especially in the region where the program is being implemented.

“But they told us that imported rice is cheaper than sourced locally, so the NFA was going to import the rice, anyway,” Cabral said.

“Of course, the local purchases would have no commission,” was the immediate comment of Drilon.

He went on to say that “in fact, importation of NFA rice would be subject to taxes. And do you realize that when NFA imports rice, it borrows money to pay taxes so our domestic debt increases to the extent that we borrow money to pay taxes for the importation made by the NFA for the rice?” Drilon said, adding that “one of the worst spenders in this government is the NFA. You look at its COA (Commission on Audit) report, NFA has unliquidated advances in the hundreds of millions of pesos and really, they are a burden to the national budget,” he added.

In taking up the DepEd’s proposed budget, Drilon was stunned to discover that another bulk is being planned to finance the program for 2007, amounting to a whooping P4 billion.

Out of this school-feeding program covering public school students between five to eight years old, P3.9 billion would be for rice while P100,000 will consist of the milk and noodles supply.

“This is not addressing the malnutrition of our children. The problem is malnutrition. The DepEd should address the malnutrition and leave the poverty alleviation to the other sectors of our bureaucracy,” said Drilon.

He pointed out that which we should not have is rice but noodles, milk and other nutritious food. But not rice because that will not address the malnutrition,” he said further pointing out that farmers from Thailand and Vietnam are the gainers, being given the income to the detriment of local economy.

“Apart from the farmers of Thailand and Vietnam, where the rice would be imported, the commission from NFA is where businessmen rake in profit. All of these would indicate that we should have a nutrition program properly implemented by prohibiting rice as the preferred mode of executing the School Feeding Program because that is not malnutrition alleviation,” he said.

Drilon, however, announced that they will retain the budget provision for this purpose, despite his discovery.

“We will retain the P4 billion. But just like the supplemental budget, we will specify that it is for meal, milk, noodles and similar nutrients rather than rice. We already specified that in the P2.5 billion School Feeding Program in 2006. And we will continue to specify that in 2007.

In the light of the revelations by Drilon, Sen. Panfilo Lacson for his part questioned transactions in the DepEd involving over P2.6 billion worth of textbooks as 75 percent of contracts were found to have been cornered by only one publishing company, Vibal.

He raised concern over a repeat of this situation under the proposed 2007 budget where allocation for this is being earmarked at P2 billion.

Lacson urged the DepEd officials to take a closer look into how monopoly has marred the bidding procedures for its textbook procurement program, especially those involving foreign loans, pointing out that from 1999 to 2004, a single “group” of publishing companies sharing common officers and stockholders had a virtual stranglehold on textbook procurement deals, raking in more than 75 percent of the contracts.

“Don’t tell me we will disregard our own laws in favor of the World Bank’s guidelines ... There’s a monopoly and there’s no competition. The quality of textbooks and our education will suffer,” he said.

Worse, he said some DepEd officials appeared to try to defend the deal during Wednesday’s budget hearing of the DepEd at the Senate, when he brought up the matter.

The DepEd is asking for some P2.064 billion for textbooks for 2007. “If the monopoly is not addressed, following the pattern, the Vibal ‘Group’ stands to corner some P1.5 billion,” Lacson said.

Lacson hinted that if the DepEd will not act on the matter, he may move for the deferment of its budget should the General Appropriations Act advance to the plenary level.

He also said it is up to private citizens, including parents, to file the necessary charges against the DepEd and other parties concerned should an investigation find them liable.

Citing records reaching his office, Lacson said the Department of Budget and Management awarded almost P500 million in textbook contracts to two disqualified bidders only last September.

He said he has filed a resolution seeking a Senate probe into the mess, which he said may have involved some government officials making a quick buck at the expense of students and teachers

“This is a blatant and gross violation of procurement laws. Somebody definitely made money out of this deal and I am not talking about suppliers of the textbooks but of some people in government,” he said.

Citing figures from the DBM Procurement Service, Lacson said the contracts involved the supply and delivery of textbooks and teachers’ manuals on Sibika Grades 1-3; Heograpiya, Kasaysayan at Sibika (HeKaSi) Grades 4-6; and Araling Panlipunan Years I-IV.

He said the government awarded the contracts to Watana Phanit Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd.; Vibal Publishing House Inc.; and Daewoo International Corp. last Sept. 25.

Watana was awarded a contract to print 2,351,274 Sibika 2 textbooks worth $1,817,294.57 and 67,379 teachers’ manuals worth P433,095.95; 2,092,674 HeKaSi 4 textbooks worth $1,900,269.35 and 59,976 teachers’ manuals worth P379,767.80; and 1,537,599 HeKaSi 5 textbooks worth $1,402,697.31 and 44,068 teachers’ manuals worth P238,759.25.

Vibal was awarded a contract to print 2,937,680 Sibika I textbooks and 84,104 teachers’ manuals worth P133,262,266.45; 1,259,160 Sibika 3 textbooks and 36,068 teachers’ manuals worth P53,916,963.70; and 500,466 HeKaSi 5 textbooks and 14,355 teachers’ manuals worth P21,663,429.80.

Daewoo was awarded a contract to produce 952,804 Sibika 3 textbooks worth $791,590.28 and 7,311 teachers’ manuals worth P12,840,623.

But as early as Feb. 28 this year, the Inter-Agency Bids and Awards Committee had already disqualified Vibal and Watana from the bidding due to “conflict of interest.”

He added Vibal has been a “very fortunate” group, having been awarded 75.96 percent of the bids from 1999 to 2004 – or P2,658,756,511 – and for being favored by an influential institution “who bends its own rule just to accommodate their desired end.”

“Rather than an allocation of P650 million for intelligence funds of the President, I am examining closely realigning P650 million in intelligence funds of the President to fund the funding needs of 16,390 new teachers that we need rather than non-productive intelligence budget of P650 million, which is accounted for through a closed envelope system,” Drilon told reporters after the committee hearing on the P134.7 billion DepEd budget for next year

[kiretoce]

Substandard nursing schools face closure
By Aurea Calica The Philippine Star

Bent on instituting reforms in the nursing profession, the government is now working on closing substandard nursing schools that cannot produce quality graduates to the prejudice of the students and their families as well as the whole profession.

Commission on Higher Education (CHED) chairman Carlito Puno said Saturday he was able to secure a legal opinion from a retired Supreme Court justice saying an injunction issued by a Pangasinan court against the closure of nursing schools performing poorly in board examinations was only applicable in that area.

But Puno said the government could not immediately shut down substandard nursing schools and would have to give them this year and 2007 as a grace period to improve their passing rate in the licensure examinations.

"Kapag hindi pa rin tumaaas ang passing rate, pasensiyahan na (If the passing rate still does not go up, then sorry to them)," he said.

Puno also pointed to an opinion from Sen. Edgardo Angara, a former education secretary, that the basis for the closure could not be retroactive and thus the performance in previous nursing board examinations could not be used as sole basis for the closure.

In the meantime, Puno said the government would just publish the passing rate of the different nursing schools all over the country as a guide for those who want to take up nursing.

This was earlier announced by Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye who said it was not a shame campaign but factual public information.

"We asked the PRC (Professional Regulation Commission) to give us the list of all nursing schools and their performance in the board exam the last four or three years and we will publicize them," Puno said in an interview with Vice-President Noli de Castro over radio station dzMM.

De Castro asked Puno why the CHED could not close the nursing schools when it had been agreed in a Cabinet meeting led by President Arroyo that it should be done as soon as possible.

Puno said he thought the court injunction was applicable nationwide and it was only on Friday that he found out about the legal opinion.

He said what they were rushing was the publication of the nursing schools’ performance before the second semester.

"Maybe we can start with the lower half, those who have passing rate of 50 percent and below. The passing rate the last three or four years," he said. "That way the public will see and be informed."

Puno said this will be done by late November as the PRC should also be given time to prepare the list. "Let us give PRC three weeks, it is the one with the compilation," he said.

Puno said the closure of schools could be done by end of school year next year.

"Normally, we order a closure every end of school year for the welfare of the students who have already enrolled, it will be hard for them to transfer," he explained.

De Castro pointed out that it would not serve any purpose to let students stay in a school performing very poorly in the board examinations.

Puno explained while the nursing schools were given a grace period as far as closure was concerned, they could no longer escape being scrutinized by the public with the publication of their performance in board examinations.

"If they have always registered low passing rates, then there will have no more enrollees," he said.

Though the schools to be closed could still make a legal challenge in court, they could not do anything to stop the publication of their performances because these were matters of public record.

"They can go to the court, meanwhile, we have made the publication," Puno said. Shame campaign

Earlier, Bunye said launching a "shame campaign" against substandard nursing schools would serve those who want to become nurses.

"It will be factual. We have to direct those interested to enroll in schools with better performance," he said.

Bunye said the President Arroyo and her Cabinet discussed the need to improve the nursing education because of the strong demand for Filipino nurses abroad.

Bunye disclosed that Puno made the recommendation as the agency was helpless at this time to shut down substandard schools due an injunction issued by a court.

Bunye said Mrs. Arroyo approved the recommendation.

"We found out during the presentation of Chairman Puno that some schools have almost zero passing average. That is something that is very worrisome because if you have this type of institutions, you can see the quality of education being imparted. This will serve as a guide to prospective enrollees as to where they should enroll," he said.

Bunye said there was no need for a new order to implement the publication.

"I think this can be done within the powers that are already enjoyed by CHED. This is just a matter of informing the general public. I believe the results of the exams for the last three years are already matters of public record, it’s just a matter of publicizing them."

Based on Puno’ presentation, the Philippines now has 460 nursing schools with a total enrolment of 386,531 as of this school year.

"CHED is very concerned about maintaining standards and ensuring the quality of nursing graudates," Puno said.

The basic problems confronting nursing education are: shortage and poor facilities in most tertiary base hospitals, lack of quality instruction, need for better screening of students admitted to nursing program; and lack of qualified faculty, clinical instructors and deans for nursing schools.

Of the 460 nursing schools, only 248 have tertiary hospitals — 83 government-run and 165 private.

"This condition results in student to patient ratio of 20:1," Puno said.

Officials said the Philippines must be able to keep its ranking as the world’s best source of nurses.

Aging populations in western countries are fueling a high demand for nurses and caregivers but the diaspora is inadvertently creating a nursing shortage in Philippine hospitals and health centers.

The nursing demand also spawned nursing schools across the country. However, the mushrooming of schools have also created concern that many of them might be substandard and were only cashing in on a trend.

Lack of jobs and poor pay force at least 2,000 Filipinos to leave for jobs abroad every month. At least eight million Filipinos work in dozens of countries around the world and aboard most ships across the globe.

Their welfare is a sensitive political issue for the government, which relies heavily on the over $8 billion in remittances they send to their families back home to prop up the Philippines’ frail economy.

[kiretoce]

Combating child labor through education
By Diwa Aquino-Gacosta Sunday, October 15, 2006

The road going up and down the mountain is rough, slippery and filled with potholes. Sometimes even the sturdiest of buses breaks down in the middle of a journey here. But on this very road, to see a throng of tired children making their descent is a usual sight at the end of the day. They would be going home from the kaburan, where they would return early the following day.

Kaburan is a term used by the residents of Barangay Jose Panganiban in Camarines Norte to refer to the mining site in their area. The community earns its living here through “kabud” or mining, which is practically a family activity. Children, as young as seven years old, would toil alongside their parents and older siblings, sharing the responsibility of helping augment the family income.

Ana (not her real name), 15, is one such child. The fifth in the brood of 9, she was only 12 when her father asked her to join her elder siblings to work in the kaburan. Also with her were her 11- and 9-year-old siblings. Her father also worked in the mines but was asked to go. Unless Ana and her younger siblings helped out, the family would not survive.

Child miners work for long hours. Ironically, the hazards they are exposed to can defeat their goal to survive: dangerous chemicals such as mercury and lead.

While some children go down a narrow pit, others pick excess stones from the pit under the intense heat of the midday sun all searching for gold. Skin diseases are therefore common among them.

Ana almost lost her life and that of her brother’s when she accidentally slipped into a pit while pulling the rope that held her brother inside. Nevertheless, the brush with death did not stop them from working.

“Kailangan po kasi talaga namin ng pera. Kapos po kasi. Kung hindi po kami magtatrabaho, wala po kaming kakainin sa araw-araw [We really need money. If we do not work, we will have nothing to eat],” she laments.

Ana would earn P50 a day for working at the mines, a figure so small in place of her safety and future.

Children of the fire

For Jepoy (not his real name), 15, dropping out of school was a personal sacrifice. He started working as a maker of fireworks at age 10. By age 12, he left school to work full time and assume the responsibility of sending his siblings to school.

A skillful worker, Jepoy can produce an average of 4,000 pieces of firecrackers a day. He earns P10 for every one thousand he produces. Somehow, he can send his 17-year-old sister and 12-year-old brother to school with his meager earnings.

“Kailangang ipagpatuloy ni Ate ang pag-aaral niya kasi malapit na siyang makatapos sa kanyang kurso sa vocational school. Nag-volunteer na po akong huminto sa pag-aaral para makatulong sa kanila. Siguro makakapag-aral pa rin naman ako kapag umuwi na ang nanay ko [My elder sister should continue her studies because she’s almost finished with her course in vocational school. I volunteered to sacrifice my studies to help them financially. Maybe when my mother comes home, I can go back to school],” Jepoy relates. His mother works as a domestic helper abroad but they had not heard from her for seven months.

Child labor at a glance

Ana and Jepoy are just two of the millions of children around the world who engage in child labor. They are the luckier ones who have been saved from the condition—Ana now a sponsored child of ABK Initiative, and Jepoy, a beneficiary of World Vision. They are both back in school.

Child labor and the education of Filipino working children are two of the most significant challenges that the country confronts today.

Child labor refers to any work performed by a child who subjects to economic exploitation that is likely to be hazardous for the child; interferes with the child’s education; or is harmful to the child’s education, health or physical, mental, moral or social development.

Mining/quarrying and pyrotechnics production are identified as two of the six worst forms of child labor that the Philippine Time Bound Program (PTBP) aims to eliminate by 2015. The other worst forms of child labor include deep-sea fishing, sugar cane plantation, commercial and sexual exploitation and domestic labor.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) in 2004 estimated more than 250 million children, or 1 in every 6 children in the world, aged 5 to 17, to be involved in child labor. Around 180 million were in the worst forms of labor and work in “some of the worst conditions imaginable, where they face serious risks of work-related death, injury or chronic illness.”

In the Philippines, the National Statistics Office survey on children in 2001 revealed that 4 million Filipino children of the same age range were economically active. Over half of the number was exposed to hazards. The survey further revealed that 2 million children engaged in child labor worked between 1 and 4 hours a day; 1.3 million children worked 5 to 8 hours a day; and 360,000 children worked more than 8 hours a day.

The survey also indicated that although majority (2.6 million) of the working children attended school, half of them (1.2 million) encountered problems that include difficulty in catching up with the lessons; high costs of school supplies and transportation; difficulty in traveling the distance of school from where they live; unsupportive teachers; and lack of time to study. Two in every five working children stopped or dropped out of school due to loss of interest and high cost of education.

The existing desperate conditions of the country compel the growing number of children to work even in perilous conditions. At a young age, child laborers are forced to face the challenges of life, leaving their own childhood behind.

The ABK project

Child labor condemns millions of Filipino children to a life of servitude, thereby depriving them of their right to enjoy life as normal children, including their right to education.

In response to the government’s call for support to the National Program Against Child Labor (NPACL), and the Philippine Time Bound Program (PTBP) that aims to harness the collective action of social partners to eliminate the worst forms of child labor by 2015, the Pag-Aaral ng Bata para sa Kinabukasan (ABK) or Education for the Children’s Future Initiative was launched in 2003. Its work continues until 2008.

World Vision Development Foundation is the lead agency in the implementation of ABK Initiative along with Christian Children’s Fund, Educational Research and Development Assistance Foundation Inc. and Plan Philippines. These organizations are referred to as the National Coalition for Children’s Participation (NCCP).

Interestingly, the letters A, B and K (pronounced as “a-ba-ka”) are the first three letters of the Alibata, an old Filipino alphabet, and adequately represent the initiative for combating the worst forms of child labor through education.

Funding for ABK Initiative is provided by the United States Department of Labor under cooperative agreement no. E-9-K-3-0055. Implementing agencies also provide counterpart funds for the project.

The ABK Initiative interventions are focused on education—the often-unacknowledged fundamental right of a child. Education liberates child workers from the bondage of ignorance, oppression and servitude. Its implementation draws support from the broad networks and relationships that the NCCP has established at the local, regional and national levels.

“It is our goal to assist the 30,000 children who are at risk and are engaged in the six worst forms of child labor in 8 provinces in the country, including the National Capital Region, Bulacan, Camarines Norte, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Cebu, Davao and Compostela Valley through increased access, quality and relevance of education to these underprivileged children,” says Daphne G. Culanag, project director of the ABK Initiative.

ABK Initiative is determined to give children access to formal education and alternative learning system, with the quality of both educational methods improved further. This is done in collaboration with the Department of Education. Target institutions are influenced to implement responsive policies, programs and approaches for reducing the worst forms of child labor and for fostering education alternatives to child labor.

It is shamefully true that the present educational setting contributes to child labor. Oftentimes, children would rather work than study simply because there is no access to schools (whether because of distance or that no school exists) in their areas. If access is present, the substandard education often makes attendance a waste of time for the students. Schools contend with persistent problems such as overcrowding, inadequate facilities, poor sanitation and insensitive teachers.

As a result, there are parents who would opt to keep their children at home to learn a skill such as agriculture and supplement family income. In the Philippines, about 4 million children contribute largely to cash flows in the family. Therefore, when children drop out of school, it is not necessarily because of irresponsible parenting; it may be due to the family’s financial situation. When these children leave school, they become potential workers.

ABK Initiative’s partnership with the Department of Education in Central Visayas region has actualized a radical approach to the problem called “open enrolment policy.” The policy ends the chronic apathy in the school climate toward 2,183 child workers who have quit school and decided to return at any time within the school year. Although ABK Initiative recognizes that school attendance correlates with the family income, child workers rescued and enrolled through the ABK Initiative now have corrected mindsets on the importance of education and the negative effects of hazardous work to their well being.

Furthermore, ABK Initiative defies child labor that engulfs families, communities and societies by mobilizing them to form Child Labor Education Task Forces (CLETF) and Community Watch Groups (CWG). To date, 17 CLETF and 89 CWGs have been formed all throughout the 8 provinces the ABK Initiative operates.

The CLETF is an unconventional faction that includes children, parents, schools, the barangays, local government units and child labor stakeholders. It is instrumental in the dissemination of advocacy against child labor in the areas. The CLETF also provides an effective avenue for the empowerment of sectors of societies for communal resolution to prevent and respond to child labor concerns. It aims to prioritize education of children engaged in hazardous work as crucial to their transformation as indispensable individuals for the country’s future.

Meanwhile, CWGs are protective mechanisms in the barangays that gather children, parents, schools, local government units and child labor stakeholders to reduce the incidence of child labor and promote child protection. It is also instrumental in the dissemination of advocacy against child labor to increase awareness and influence base for policy formulation and program implementation.

At present, the project has assisted 32,017 children in the National Capital Region, Bulacan, Camarines Norte, Iloilo, Cebu, Davao and Compostela Valley, Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental.

The ABK Initiative is supported by the United States Embassy and the Department of Education, Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Labor and Employment, International Labor Organization— International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, together with other local partners, nongovernment organizations, community organizations and program stakeholders.

[kiretoce]

RP's classroom shortage "a national emergency"
Sunday, October 15, 2006

MANILA -- Senator Edgardo Angara has urged Congress to consider declaring the classroom shortage as "a national emergency."

Angara said the problem can be solved in five years by allotting funds every year until the classroom backlog is finally resolved.

He recounted that in 1987, the classroom shortage was 7,000.

Angara said building more classrooms will improve the teacher-pupil ratio from 1 teacher for 60 pupils to 1 teacher for 40 pupils.

"The ideal ratio is 1 is to 40. kung ang tinuturuan mo ay 60, eh di parang sardinas na yung tinuturuan mo (if you're teaching 60 students, it's like teaching a pack of sardines)," Angara said.

He said the teacher-pupil ratio is the barometer of excellence in teaching.

A former University of the Philippines (UP) president, Angara lamented that the Philippines has the worst teacher to pupil ratio. He said the ideal ratio is 1:30 and the maximum is 1:35.

According to Angara, the teacher-students ratio in Malaysia is 1:18 while in China, it's 1:19.

He also said the classroom shortage continues to increase every year, which means a declining quality of education.

Angara described the classroom shortage crisis as a vicious cycle which cannot be broken unless extraordinary measures are taken and the result will be that the education of Filipino children will suffer.

Angara said at present students are packed into a classroom like sardines.

He also said the traditional solution is to allot a supplemental budget of P2 billion with marginal impact.

[kiretoce]

Best and Worst
By Michael Tan October 11, 2006

A few years back, the University of the Philippines (UP) went into a frenzy after Asiaweek magazine released its survey results ranking Asia’s best universities. UP had ranked 32nd in the 1999 ratings, but in 2000 it dropped to 48th, still the Philippines’ best but closer to the ranks of three upstart universities: De La Salle was 71st, Ateneo de Manila 72nd and University of Santo Tomas 78th.

The UP president at that time, Dr. Francisco Nemenzo, he used the figures to good effect, lobbying for a bigger government budget and introducing all kinds of initiatives and incentives to get faculty members and students to maintain the university’s excellence.

Sadly, Asiaweek had to fold up, and the 2000 ratings became the last. The ratings could have come in handy for UP’s current president, Dr. Emerlinda Roman, who has continued the previous administration’s incentives but still has to fight an uphill battle at Congress to get UP more money.

I went back to those Asiaweek rankings over the weekend because I felt there were still lessons to pick up from them. Rather than just comparing ourselves to other Philippine universities, we should be looking at the bigger regional picture, asking what’s behind the best of the universities.

Leaders

Asiaweek’s 2000 survey had the following top 10 multidisciplinary universities (defined as offering a wide range of degree programs “from arts to business to engineering”): Kyoto University, Tohuku University, University of Hong Kong, Seoul National University, National University of Singapore, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Australian National University, University of Melbourne and University of New South Wales.

A first look suggests these universities lead because they are all based in richer countries: Japan, Australia, South Korea and China’s Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong.

It’s a good point, but I want you to note as well that except for the Hong Kong universities, all the top 10 institutions are run by government. Also, I did some research and found that even Hong Kong’s private universities are heavily subsidized by the government.

Asiaweek’s complete list of multidisciplinary universities had 77 institutions, the majority of which were state-run. Moreover, state universities generally were at the top of the list for each country. For example, Thailand had five universities listed, all state-run and coming from different Thai provinces. In contrast, for the Philippines, we had four universities, all Metro Manila-based, with UP leading, followed by three private universities.

Asiaweek had a separate listing for leading science and technology universities. The top 10 were Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, Tokyo Institute of Technology, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), and Taiwan University of Science and Technology.

Here we find that except for South Korea’s Pohang University and Singapore’s Nanyang, all the leading institutes are state-run. Not only that, we find India, a country poorer than the Philippines, dominating with their IIT units from all over the country.

Failed model

Why are we where we are today? In the 1960s about 25 percent of our national budget went into education, with neighboring countries sending their scholars to train with us. But starting with the Ferdinand Marcos era, the budget began to go more toward debt servicing. We also began to loosen the Department of Education’s supervision of tertiary education, allowing more diploma mills to emerge as long as they catered to the international labor market.

In contrast, countries like Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea continued to invest heavily in state-run institutions, in areas that they knew would be important in the long term, for example, electronics and biotechnology.

With so many success models around us, we insist on following a failed model, that of the United States, which looks at social services as best left to the “free” market, responding to current market demands and minimal state involvement in education, whether through funding for universities or the setting of standards and regulations.

Reacting to my column, one reader sent in an angry letter last week asking why I can’t seem to find anything good in America and pointing out that the United States has many government-funded universities and community colleges.

That reader missed my point. The United States does have public universities, but its educational system is mainly driven by free enterprise. A federal Department of Education has minimal supervisory powers; accreditation is left to state and local school boards. There are public universities but funding, as that reader points out, comes from state funds, which is well and good if you live in a rich state, and sorry if you come from a poor one.

How do the public and private universities fare? The US News and World Report’s latest report, based on peer ratings, has the following at the top of the list: Princeton, Harvard, Yale, California Institute of Technology, Stanford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania, Duke University, Dartmouth, Columbia.

Those familiar with the American system would have picked up on the pattern: all the ones that have been named are private universities, all charging very high tuition fees.

The highest-ranking public university listed was the University of California-Berkeley, which ranked 21st.

Catching up

All the leading capitalist countries in the world, except for the United States, were founded on a strong social welfare system, meaning money put into social services to give a fighting chance to those who have less in life.

Even neighboring Singapore, often looked at as the most capitalist of Southeast Asian countries, has always kept education and health a primary government concern, seeing these services as an investment in the future. It’s not surprising that the National University of Singapore (NUS) is now rated among the world’s best, and that Asia’s elite fly off to the NUS General Hospital (the equivalent of our Philippine General Hospital) for state-of-the art medical care.

And the Philippines? Last week, there was a near-stampede at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) as thousands of Filipinos jostled to get permits to take a Korean language proficiency exam, a requirement to work in South Korea’s factories. In a few years, we just might have similar crowds of Filipinos trying to get a job in China and India, with many turned away because they graduated from a neighborhood diploma mill operating out of some mall.

I do see a place for private sector involvement in education, and will explain this in another column. Meanwhile, we must stop trying to be more American than the Americans. Knowing what’s best in education, why must we insist on pursuing a course that threatens to make us the worst in the region?

[chixbebe]

Solar power introduced to barangay school

DUMAGUETE: The country’s best community-managed marine reserves went renewable with the installation of a solar power module in the barangay’s elementary school library.

Activists from Greenpeace Southeast Asia and Solar Generation Pilipinas installed the solar power modules at Apo Island Sunday to highlight the urgent need for solutions to climate change.

Abigail Jabines, climate and energy campaigner of Green-peace, said government should veer away from fossil fuels and start switching to clean energy sources like solar power.

“Installing this solar power module will help the island explore its great potential for solar power, and will also wean the island away from complete reliance and dependence on dirty fossil fuel energy sources which cause climate change,” she said.

Jabines said the use of fossil fuels increase the temperature of the world, thus damage the marine sanctuaries like the Apo Island.

“Climate change endangers small coastal communities like Apo Island. Besides threats of sea level rise, increasing global temperatures also imperils the fragile coral ecosystems by causing coral bleaching,” she said.

Jabines said they are pushing for the massive shift to renewable energy in the country by demanding from the government to source at least 10 percent of the country’s energy requirements by 2010.

She said the country’s potential for renewable energy is five times more than the country’s present energy needs and it only needs to tap 1 percent of this vast potential.

Jabines said that in 2002, Negros Occidental have taken the step to source 100 percent of its energy from renewable energy sources.

[kiretoce]

The crisis in our educational system
By Marit Stinus-Remonde

How can any teacher, no matter how dedicated and competent, produce excellent students in an overcrowded classroom, with inadequate teaching materials, and—most sadly—malnutrition, if not hunger, stalking the classroom?

We should not wonder about the poor academic performance of our pupils and students, but instead wonder why some manage to excel. Our educational system, if we can talk of a system, is up against all odds. How can any teacher, no matter how dedicated and competent, produce excellent students in an overcrowded classroom, with inadequate teaching materials, and—most sadly—malnutrition, if not hunger, stalking the classroom?

The results in the recent National Achievement Test merely confirm what we already know. We are wasting our human resources. We are wasting brains and dreams. We are wasting the lives of a large number of Filipino children.

The failure of society in general, and the government in particular, starts with our failure to help families have the number of children for whom they can provide. Kids need nutritious food so that they can grow and so that their brains can develop. Unfortunately, too many of our children are malnourished from the moment they are conceived because their mothers are malnourished. Later in life they are sent to school on an empty stomach and without a lunch pack.

When the Kiwanis Club of Cebu joined hands with the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, the Department of Education and the National Dairy Authority in a milk-feeding project that provided locally produced fresh dairy milk to about 2,000 grade 1 pupils in Cebu, the members realized that hunger stalks the homes of the poor. A teacher in an elementary school in the province told the Kiwanians how she got frustrated with her pupils. Despite her best efforts to teach them, nothing seemed to stick to their brains. She decided to visit the parents to discuss their kids’ performance. The teacher was shocked to learn that the kids were sent to school without breakfast. In fact, some of the pupils would have skipped classes if not for the daily pouch of fresh milk that they were given in the school. These kids had only one set of clothes, and they slept on cardboard on the floor.

The teacher, like the Kiwanians, now understood why some children seemed to learn nothing even if they were physically present in the classroom. When the stomach is empty, how can the mind concentrate on math, science and languages? Malnutrition not only causes stunting, it also affects the development of the brain. How can anybody expect better test results from pupils who go hungry?

This is where the government should come in. Feeding programs are appropriate undertakings when it is obvious that a large number of public school children are malnourished. However, the government should start helping families achieve a family size that is compatible with their financial, material and emotional resources and capabilities. With more families being capable of providing for the physical, material and emotional needs of their children, the government can free up resources to address those needs that cannot be met at the family level. Smaller families would also mean fewer enrollees and teaching would become more effective.

Obviously, the private-school system is no alternative to a strong public education system. Tuition fees are exorbitant and there is no assurance of value for one’s money. Parents who shell out fortunes for their children’s education just have to hope and pray that the money is well spent. No wonder that parents prefer nursing and other courses that could land their children overseas jobs and thus provide a return on the investment.

Few families can afford to spend scarce financial resources on education that carries little prospect of bringing the students’ future gainful employment.

Good education equips our kids not just to earn a living but to become happy citizens who can contribute to nation building.

The sad state of education reflects the state of our society. We squander our human and natural resources and thus our future. The apparent crisis in our educational system cannot be solved by the Department of Education alone.

[sandrn]

Project brings Internet to 1,000 schools
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=54408
By MICHAEL PUNONGBAYAN
The Philippine Star

At least a thousand of the country’s public schools now have computer laboratories, allowing students to learn from the Internet.

Although a thousand schools represent only 17.5 percent of the target, the people behind GILAS computer literacy project believe it can reach its goal of establishing Internet-connected computer laboratories in all 5,700 public high schools in the Philippines by 2010.

GILAS, which stands for Gearing-Up Internet Literacy and Access for Students, is run by a consortium of business leaders, civic organizations and representatives from the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

The project brought together rival companies such as telecom giants Globe, Smart, Digitel and Bayantel that all worked together alongside computer companies, local government units, non-profit organizations, school boards and individual donors to bring the Internet to even the most far-flung areas of the country.

The group said the Philippines is finally moving faster towards computer-based education after lagging behind other Asian countries for a long time.

GILAS celebrated Thursday its success in bringing computer and Internet technology to more educational institutions after a year and nine months of working on the project.

By the end of 2004, GILAS said only 308 public high schools had computer laboratories equipped with Internet access.

The group said the DepEd, despite efforts to address the shortage, was and is held back by more basic problems that plague the country’s education system – lack of classrooms, teachers and learning materials.

And in response to the urgent need for computer and Internet literacy programs for Filipino public school students, the GILAS project was born in January 2005.

"The success of the GILAS project is attributed to the consortium’s multisectoral nature as it enjoins all sectors of society to do their part and invest in quality education for our youth," GILAS director Oscar Sanez said during the celebration at the InterContinental Hotel in Makati City.

According to Sanez, the DTI’s "PCs (personal computers) for public schools program" provides the computers while funding for Internet connectivity are raised from donations from private corporations, individuals and groups, which are matched in funding by senators, congressmen, governors and mayors.

GILAS co-chairpersons Sen. Mar Roxas and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala joined Education Secretary Jesli Lapus at Thursday’s event, which marked the launch of the project’s new media campaign through television commercials for local and international airing.

Sanez said Filipino-American groups are also tapped to raise funds to connect schools in their Filipino hometowns and resource mobilization groups such as Children’s Hour and corporate foundations provide increased support for the project.

Volunteers conduct surveys and seminars for public school teachers, and provide technical support to GILAS’ beneficiary schools.

[sandrn]

Education secretary eyes ICT unit
http://technology.inq7.net/infotech/infotech/view_article.php?article_id=28937
By Alexander Villafania
INQ7.net
Last updated 09:57pm (Mla time) 10/26/2006

THE proper implementation of any program which seeks to integrate ICT into education requires a separate unit within the Department of Education (DepED), according to education secretary Jesli Lapus.

Speaking during the Summit Education 2006 in Manila Department of Education Secretary, Lapus said he is also eyeing to create an ICT unit that will be the core implementer of all ICT-related projects in DepEd.

Lapus admitted that the DepEd does not have the capability to fully implement ICT projects, including the integration of ICT-based instruction in schools.

Lapus said it is lamentable that the agency with the most number of employees and uses one-third of the budget does not have an ICT unit.

He did not specify when the ICT unit will be created.

One of the plans is to create a temporary outsourced ICT unit through grants or official development, then later move the unit in-house with its own executive manpower.

Lapus noted that the DepEd under Republic Act 9155, can only have no more than four undersecretaries and four assistant secretaries.

"We're looking into various methods to get this going. I promise that ICT will be a main priority in education," Lapus said.

[demented_pigeon]

if there is one social service that the government shouldnt just immediately subject to market forces and to privatization... that's education. we don't nedd budget cuts, we need budget increase for education from primary to tertiary.

[chixbebe]

In upgrading the education system in the country, GILAS (Gearing-Up Internet Literacy and Access for Students) will be putting up at least a thousand of Internet Laboratories in 5,700 public high schools. The project aims to reach its goal of establishing Internet-connected computer laboratories in the Philippines by 2010.

GILAS is being run by a by a consortium of business leaders, civic organizations and representatives from the DepEd and the DTI with co-chairpersons Sen. Mar Roxas and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala.

This concerned people cannot imagine that Philippines, most especially the youths, be left out by the new technologies as well as new information arising globally. This is what we call a real drive of improving the system in education in the Philippines and the best way to inform the people.

[nayki]

By Philip Tubeza
Inquirer
10/31/2006



THE GOVERNMENT has set aside 1.12 billion pesos to provide scholarships to more than 76,000 students next year, House Deputy Majority Leader Eduardo Gullas announced on Monday.

Gullas, an educator, said the scholarship fund was contained in the 1.12-trillion-peso national budget for 2007 that was recently passed by the House of Representatives.

The scholarships, particularly those to be granted by the Department of Science and Technology (DoST), aim to build up the country’s scientific and technological manpower.

Gullas outlined some of the highlights of the scholarship program:

• 441 million pesos for the scholarship program of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) to sponsor a total of 34,475 college students.

• 341 million pesos for the Science Education Institute of the DoST to support 10,598 scholars.

• 69.7 million pesos for the Philippine Science High School, which is under the DoST, to subsidize 3,264 scholars.

• 200 million pesos for the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to finance 13,800 students enrolled in private vocational schools.

• 72.6 million pesos for the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to provide tuition and allowances to 13,989 students from cultural communities.

He said a total of 11,989 students benefited from the NCIP’s educational aid scheme in 2005.

However, Bayan Muna party-list Representative Teodoro Casiño earlier criticized the CHEd’s scholarship program, saying that Malacañang was using it to pay its political debts to congressmen who junked the impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

He charged that beneficiaries of CHEd’s new, 187 million-peso one-time Emergency Financial Assistance for Students (E-FAST) program, released early this year, were chosen by administration allies in Congress.

No pro-impeachment lawmaker seemed to be on the list of 187 representatives who were assigned one million pesos each, he added.


http://newsinfo.inq7.net/breakingnews/metroregions/view_article.php?article_id=29689

[beads_strawberries]

^This should be done to encourage well- deserving students. We have a lot of them. If they will be given opportunity, we will only be investing for something good. After all, education is a good investment.

[mygz14]

A world-renowned institution in medical education and medical mission has announced the allocation of an initial $10 million fund for the development of a self-sufficient education center in the Subic Bay Freeport in Olongapo City.

For the rest of the article:
http://www.gov.ph/news/?i=16503

[chixbebe]

^^^Its nice to know that there are institutions coming from different part of the world who are willing to give an educated lives to our fellows in North. This will be a great help most especially now that Subic is being develop to be one of the top tourist spots in the country. If right education also will be implemented or given to them, it is an additional factor of keeping Subic a progressive place for they will be able to manage their city with the right law and will be able to help the whole country achieving its economic growth.

[sandrn]

Subic Freeport to get $10 M for education center
http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200611130410.htm
The Philippine Star 11/13/2006

A world-renowned institution specializing in medical education and medical missions said it would allocate an initial $10 million to fund the development of a self-sufficient education center in the Subic Bay Freeport in Olongapo City.

Officials of the Global Medical Academy (GMA), who paid a courtesy call on President Arroyo Saturday, bared the concept of a self-sufficient university town to be named the Center for Excellence in Education, which will occupy a three-hectare site in the Freeport.

GMA director Bajet Nour, Nour%u2019s wife Kimberly, executive consultant Michael Sanders and his wife Tara Irit, executive officer and general counsel Josephine Merka and Mark Volpe, told Mrs. Arroyo the Center for Excellence in Education will offer internationally-accredited degree programs in the arts and sciences, medicine, maritime training, information technology and engineering.

The Center for Excellence in Education, Nour said, is a self-contained academic community with amenities ranging from cooperative stores, a chapel, covered and open recreational courts or facilities, a movie house and other convenience facilities.

The Center will also have student dormitories and faculty housing.

The GMA officers told Mrs. Arroyo that the Center%u2019s medical program will be accredited by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the governments of the United States, France, Australia and Canada.

"Because its program is accredited internationally, upon graduation, its students are qualified to take the licensure examination in their respective countries %u2014 Americans can take their United States Medical Licensure Examination (USMLE) immediately upon graduation (and) the same with the French, Australian and Canadian graduates," they said.

The group said non-American graduates of the Center may qualify to take the USMLE upon passing the test of the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG).

They said qualified Filipino students will be given scholarships and loans by the Center. Upon graduation, these Filipino students may also do medical missionary work for one to two years in developing countries under the aegis of the Center.

Mrs. Arroyo expressed elation over the new project and extended her congratulations to the GMA officers %u2013 as well as to Commission on Filipinos Overseas chairman Dante Ang %u2013 for their partnership, which includes a tie-up with the Manila Times International College.

"I am very happy for this new development as well as for bringing international training education to the Philippines. Thank you also, Mr. Dante Ang, for conceiving this project," the President said. %u2014 Paolo Romero

[sandrn]

Education project helps poor province top NAT
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=56011
By RITA FESTIN ADB National Officer
The Philippine Star

OMAS OPPUS, Southern Leyte - It’s no accident that Southern Leyte topped the recent National Achievement Test (NAT) where three of its national high schools in fifth class municipalities bagged a 1-2-3 finish in the freshman level.

In fact, eight of its national high schools were in the top 30.

That the test came just a week after the Ginsaugon landslide disaster which buried an elementary school made the feat even more meaningful to them.

Southern Leyte is one of the provinces where the Secondary Education Development and Improvement Project (SEDIP) is being implemented for which the Asian Development Bank provided a $53 million loan in 1998. The project benefits over a million high school students in 26 very poor provinces where enrollment, completion, and student performance levels were low. It aims to improve the quality of secondary education and access to such education in those provinces.

When the national test results came out, Southern Leyte schools division superintendent Dr. Violeta Alocilja literally "jumped for joy," even at the risk of a fourth stroke. After all, there was a time when they ranked second to last in the region.

But within a year of her appointment to Southern Leyte, the area was able to zoom up the list of SEDIP schools to No. 3 in the whole region. Last year, it already ranked No. 1 among SEDIP divisions in the Eastern Visayas.

Under SEDIP, school heads are trained in planning and management while teachers are trained in subject knowledge and teaching skills. The project has provided textbooks for all students in core subjects (i.e. Math, Science, English, and Filipino) and some of those unable to attend school regularly have an alternative secondary education program.

Innovative ways to keep the students in school have been developed and some schools even have their own feeding program. It has also promoted the decentralization of secondary education management by building up the capacity of divisions, regions, and central offices to take on new responsibilities.

The Bureau for Secondary Education (BSE) under the Department of Education is implementing the project. ADB’s contribution in the "soft" areas - such as in capacity development, school development, alternative school programs and teaching-learning materials — is complemented by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, which supports the project through school equipment and infrastructure development like constructing new schools and new classrooms for existing schools.

"SEDIP played a very significant role in influencing learning. It is also the stimulus which developed the schools with all the inputs, learning packages and in-service training. It revitalized the learning in the classroom. The learning that the school heads gathered from the training significantly developed their competence to lead the schools," Alocilja said.

"I am glad because, with SEDIP, all teachers are trained. And SEDIP insisted that the first who were trained are the same teachers to be trained for phase two. There’s a very good tracking mechanism that they have installed for in-service training."

After all, teachers are key in the learning process, she noted.

Rizal National High School teacher-in-charge Margarita Badeo said she initially thought it was the school in Metro Manila with the same name that topped the exam.

"I did not expect it. Mixed emotions talaga (really)," Badeo said, feeling happy at their achievement but overwhelmed by the responsibility of now keeping up with people’s high expectations.

Her small school is located up a remote hill in this town where its 194 enrollees wear rubber slip-ons to school through mud and a rugged uphill terrain. They only wear their shoes once inside the classroom.

Most of the students are children of poor farmers and are malnourished. Some of them live as far as five kilometers away and spend an hour walking just to go to school.

The school maximizes their attendance by having a daily feeding program where parents take turns bringing simple lunch for the entire school. This way, students will not have to leave school at lunch time or drop out due to hunger.

For topping the NAT, the town mayor had a stage built in the middle of the school grounds. Each of the teachers will get a certificate of recognition.

Overcoming obstacles

At second-placer Marayag National High School in San Francisco town, students also do not wear shoes because it makes their feet swell when walking through the sand to the beachfront school.

Some students wake up at 4 a.m. just to ride the public bus to school, which has about 40 students in a class and is just a few meters away from the sea and waves could get very high during strong typhoons.

The school is known for its many best practices not just in the scholastic field with its conducive learning atmosphere, but in the arts as well. It has classes in painting, pottery, and bonsai gardening.

"Masaya po kaming nakamit namin ang pangalawa sa National Achievement Test dahil hindi nasayang ang paghihirap naming na araw-araw naming pagre-review (We are very happy that we got second place because our hard work in the daily reviews did not go to waste)," said second-year high school student Daryl Aure, who was one of the students who took the NAT in Marayag.

Teachers and students were well prepared for the exam, putting in months of intense review and extra school hours that spilled over into the weekends.

Towards the exam date, they were given mock tests based on previous NATs. When the landslide occurred, then Education Secretary Fe Hidalgo gave the district the option to cancel the exams but, focused as they were, the teachers themselves decided to push through with it.

"It is not, however, the review itself that enables students to perform well on exams but the process of making connections and seeing relationships between and among lessons," said Lolita Andrada, director of the BSE and SEDIP project manager.

They started reviews as early as July.

"By doing this preparation, we can improve more, maintain and move higher," said Rico Amper, principal of third-placer Pintuyan National High School, which sits on top of a hill in the heart of Pintuyan town, overlooking the sea.

The last time the school ranked high in a national exam was in the 1990s when Amper was still a young teacher.

The roads leading to his school are being cemented but several sections have landslide warnings. In fact, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau has warned that the 30-year-old school is landslide-prone at the back, where a creek is located. But residents leave their fate to God.

The school’s high ranking in the NAT was a result of the commitment among stakeholders.

At Pintuyan, parents and students sign a "learning contract" where they vow not to let the children miss school, even the special weekend classes when they are supposed to be farming, fishing or doing household chores. Parents and students do not mind the extended school days since they know it is for their children’s good. The contracts are submitted to the teacher for safekeeping. In other schools, the contract is between the parents, students and teachers.

"Parents should also spend time with their children so that their children will be guided during study hours, ideally after dinner at least one hour a day, doing their assignments. That is one way of encouraging them to study. But when the parents are mostly working and only the helpers are there, wala talagang epekto (there is really no effect) because education starts at home," said Indalecia Sumulat, school principal of Marayag National High School.

Motivated

With an average ratio of 40 to 50 students in a class in this province, teachers manage the students better, unlike their counterparts in many other areas where class size is sometimes twice as large.

In the project’s High School Innovation Fund (HSIF), innovative interventions are used to help students with low reading comprehension or for other activities to improve student performance. They are identified and grouped into one class for reading sessions where they are given exercises such as silent reading and are taught how to appreciate the story from film showings. From "frustration" level, they go on to achieve the "independent" level.

In the project’s Secondary Schooling Alternatives component, students at risk of dropping out are assisted. Some principals and teachers adopt their own "scholars," generally with funds from their own pocket.

The school heads attribute their good performance at the NAT to the hands-on supervision of their division superintendent. "Her words are very powerful," Badeo says of Alocilja who has a reputation for being strict and tough.

Sumulat cites her guidance and motivation. "She is always telling us to review, review, and make some strategies in order to sustain and maintain that rank. But she is quick to give credit to her teachers and school heads."

Alocilja was able to recover from a third stroke three years ago. "God allowed me to live another episode. So I promised the Lord that this time, every minute counts. So I am living on borrowed time, making an impact here and there, up, down, middle, so that things will be remembered."

Her mission in life is that "no public school student should feel so small" when pitted against private school counterparts, admitting that she was discriminated against in public school as a child.

Back then, her family was so poor they could not afford to contribute a chicken for a victory party for honor students like her, as required by her teacher.

As a result of that incident, she is very strong on fairness and objectivity in assessing the performance of teachers and pupils. "Be honest and sincere because we will earn the respect of the community we are serving," she stressed.

[JAMAICUS]

'Reengineering' of educational system in RP has begun — Lapus



By SHIANEE MAMANGLU

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said yesterday that he has begun "reengineering the entire education system" to make it more responsive in the delivery of quality education,


Among the initial steps taken, Lapus said, is the "retooling" of teachers especially those with no mastery in the subject areas that they are teaching.

"Beyond our massive teacher training efforts, we have also upgraded our standards for teacher hiring and are in the process of improving teacher education with the help of Teacher Educational Institution and the Commission on Higher Education" Lapus said.

Lapus added thatthe government has given more emphasis on teachers’ welfare and development beyond the massive teacher training efforts. "We are giving recognition to the plight of teachers — who, for the longest time, had been overworked and underpaid, and in times of elections, are even put in harm’s way," he noted.

"Reengineering" efforts are undertaken through the Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda or BESRA that goes hand in hand in retooling teacher education.

http://www.mb.com.ph/MTNN2006111579711.html

[kiretoce]

MORE PINOYS NOW STUDYING IN U.S.
By Jose Katigbak NOVEMBER 15, 2006

WASHINGTON, DC - Filipinos enrolled in US colleges and universities for the school year 2005-06 rose by 6.4 percent to 3,758 over the previous school year, the Institute of International Education (IIE) said in its annual report on global academic mobility published on Monday.

IIE is an independent non-profit organization that aims to promote and strengthen educational relations between the US and other countries.

The IIE report also showed students from the Philippines as among the fewest, while India had the most number of students enrolled in US schools during the period at 76,503. There were 564,766 foreign students in the US during the period.

Students from China comprised the second biggest number of foreign students in the US at 62,582, followed by South Korea at 58,847, and Japan at 38,712. Students from Canada totaled 28,202 while those from Taiwan numbered 27,876. Mexico was next with 13,931 students, followed by Turkey with 11,622; Germany, 8,829; and Thailand, 8,765.

Among Southeast Asian countries, Thailand has the biggest number of students in the US followed by Indonesia, Malaysia. Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

Based on US statistics, about 0.3 percent of college students from the Philippines – or between 5,500 and 6,000 – study overseas. Slightly more than 60 percent go to the US and the rest go to Britain, Australia, Japan and Germany.

Many students around the world consider a US degree as their passport to better job opportunities back home.

The IIE "Open Doors 2006’’ report said the current school year was the seventh year in a row that foreign enrollees breached the half a million mark.

International students contribute about $13.5 billion to the US economy through their tuition and living expenses, making higher education the country’s fifth largest service sector earner, the US Department of Commerce said.

Foreign students bring money to the national economy and provide revenue to their host states from their living expenses, including room/board, books and supplies, transportation, health insurance, support for accompanying family members, and other miscellaneous items, the department said.

Foreign enrollment in US colleges peaked at 586,323 three years ago, followed by declines of 2.4 percent and 1.3 percent in the past two years in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on US soil.

[ikra]

we need to be able to produce an internationally accredited system as well... since even if you are a high school graduate in the philippines, you still most likely need to do GCSE's here in the united kingdom. Which i think is totally wrong because in my experience our high school grads there are on par, and if not have a much more advanced knowledge compared to GCSE graduates here. This needs to be sorted out, because i know a friend of mine who is a valedictorian in a high school there and she had to do her GCSE's here again, and shes doing topics that she has already done before.. its a waste of 1 year for her.

She should be doing her A-levels already to say the least... but yeah, universities here dont give credits to our high school... But this is no biggie... because educational systems differ from one place to another. What we should be doing is improving the image of our universities and what they can offer. That would bring in a lot of positives.

[chixbebe]

Filipina teacher honored for innovative teaching (http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200611160411.htm)

maybe teachers should follow this way of teaching. This is an effective way too in improving the educational system in the country.

[chixbebe]

5 RP universities OK academic pacts with Spanish school

Five Philippine universities led by the University of the Philippines (UP) and the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) yesterday signed academic exchange agreements with the Universidad de Alcala de Henares of Spain in observance of the second Tribuna España-Filipinas being held in Manila.

The agreements, signed at the New Hyatt Hotel and Casino in Manila and witnessed by Sen. Edgardo J. Angara, was made possible through the assistance given by Jose D. Bernardo, Philippine Ambassador to Spain.

Rector Virgilio Zapatero represented the Universidad de Alcala in signing the agreement with Rector Ernesto Arceo, O.P., of the University of Sto. Tomas (UST).

As a longtime advocate of educational reforms, Angara said, "I would like to put emphasis on the importance of academic exchanges between our two countries."

Spanish Ambassador to Manila Ignacio Sagaz; Bernardo; Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Maria Zeneida A. Collinson; and Vicente Ayllon, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Insular Life Assurance Company Ltd., also witnessed the signing ceremony.

Angara, a former UP president, facilitated the academic exchange agreements between Universidad de Alcala and the five Philippine universities following his June 30, 2006 trip to Spain where he and Zapatero discussed the importance of academic exchanges between the Philippines and Spain.

Angara is president of the Philippine-Spanish Parliamentary Group.

The three other Philippine universities are UST; University of Asia and the Pacific represented by Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas, and the Aurora State College of Technology whose board secretary, Dr. Eusebio Angara, was represented by Dr. Romeo S. Cabanilla. UP was represented by Sergio S. Cao, chancellor, and AdMU by its president, Fr. Bienvenido Nebres.

[kiretoce]

Madrid university, 5 RP schools sign exchange accord

The University of Alcala de Henares of Spain and five top schools in the Philippines have signed an agreement for an exchange program in the fields of Spanish language and culture, history, business and tourism.

The agreements between the Spanish university and the University of the Philippines (UP), Ateneo de Manila University, University of Santo Tomas, University of Asia and the Pacific, and Aurora State College of Technology were formally signed Wednesday at the Hyatt Hotel in Pasay City.

Senator Edgardo J. Angara, in a press statement, said the exchange program materialized because of the assistance given by Joseph D. Bernardo y Medina, the Philippine ambassador to Spain.

Rector Virgilio Zapatero represented the Universidad de Alcala in signing the agreement with Rector. Ernesto Arceo, O.P., of University of Santo Tomas.

“As a long-time advocate of education, I would like to put emphasis on the importance of academic exchanges between our two countries,” said Angara, former president of UP.

Bernardo said the Universidad de Alcala is willing to offer scholarships in Spanish language and culture and intensive training for Spanish for teachers in history, business and tourism.

While in Spain on June 30, Angara had an exchange of ideas with Bernardo and Zapatero on how to formalize their desire to help students and professors in the form of exchange programs, Bernardo said.

He said the Universidad de Alacala de Henares agreed to formally sign an academic cooperation agreement.

Angara said that he hoped to see a resurgence of academic exchanges and the restoring of scholarships that will enable more Filipinos to study in Spain.

“We are certainly not lacking in qualified and talented students who will benefit greatly from the experience of studying in the finest schools of Spain,” Angara said.

The Universidad de Alcala was founded in 1499 and is one of the most prestigious universities in Spain. The university was proclaimed world heritage site in 1998. It is located in Alcala de Henares, Madrid, the hometown of Miguel de Cervantes.

[sandrn]

Hopefully, all street children will get sweep out of the street and into class rooms such as this.

TALES OF THE CITY
Spanish angel of Pasig street children
http://newsinfo.inq7.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view_article.php?article_id=36090
By Edson C. Tandoc Jr.
Inquirer
Last updated 05:51am (Mla time) 12/03/2006

Published on page A18 of the December 3, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

HER looks readily suggest she is of Spanish ancestry.

But what she does and how she feels show she is a Filipino at heart.

For almost half a century, 76-year-old Maruxa Pita has been trying to change the lives of poor children in the metropolis.

Starting by giving small things to street children, like clothes or snacks, she has moved on to more ambitious projects.

Pita has started a school offering free elementary and high school education to poor children in Pasig City. Families benefited by her work are both amazed and grateful that a foreigner is finding the strength in her old age to help them improve their lives.

With more than a hundred students to support, she endlessly looks for donations around the world. But the school and her life readily bring a smile.

Very happy

“I am very happy,” she says, looking at what her faith and pure heart had not only dreamed but also achieved.

Starting as a weekly feeding program at the Edsa Shrine, her 10-year-old Makabata School Foundation now has its own campus inside a subdivision in Pasig City.

Makabata students do not pay tuition and get personalized teaching and complete facilities. They also get free lunch and snacks, books and bags, shoes and uniforms. If they are not fetched by the school bus or van, they get a transportation allowance.

Pita was born in Madrid in 1930. She became a teacher and a member of the Teresian Association.

In 1959, she was invited to teach mathematics at the Poveda Learning Center in Quezon City. She was only 29 when she arrived here, leaving her siblings and parents in Spain.

She said she was in search of adventure. “That time, I felt it was really nice to learn other things and be exposed to another culture,” she said.

What she found during her first few days led to a more meaningful purpose.

Driving around, she saw children selling candies and flowers on the street, some begging for money, knocking on windows of passing cars, risking their lives just to survive.

“These children cannot have the life of a child as I understand it—play, enjoy, go to school. It really affected me,” she said.

Soon she was giving clothes and food to the children, especially those she would see at Sto. Domingo Church.

Big decision

The face of poverty made her decide to stay and make the Philippines her home.

“I thought I have something to do here,” she said.

After her retirement from the Cultural Center of the Spanish Embassy in Manila City in 1995, she started to work on even greater dreams for street children.

She joined the Bread of Life Ministry of the Edsa Shrine, organizing weekly feeding programs, as well as catechism and academic tutorials for street children frequenting the compound.

The ministry later decided to send the children to public elementary schools though the tutorials continued in the afternoon in a room at the Poveda Learning Center, now the San Pedro Poveda College.

But it was hard for the ministry to check if the children really went to school every day so Pita proposed that the ministry put up its own school.

Armed with their vision and provided a spare room in Poveda, the ministry offered free kindergarten classes to at least 12 street children in 1996. Makabata was born.

More classes

The following year, the foundation asked for another classroom to hold grade school classes for the pre-school graduates.

Soon, the foundation had four classrooms. Affluent Poveda students and their parents also started sharing snacks with the poor children.

The first few days surprised Pita, as most of her pupils would “lie down on a table when they see one in the classroom.”

The reason touched her heart. “They don’t have beds in their homes. They sleep on the floor and sometimes the floor is the earth.”

Pita’s dream became too big for four classrooms, as the number of her students grew every year. To be recognized by the Department of Education also required the foundation to have its its own campus.

Helpful friends

Pita managed to raise the millions needed to buy and renovate a house and lot in Pasig City with the help of friends here and abroad, and the Agencia Española de Cooperacion International.

Makabata also boasts a basketball court.

Pita bought an adjacent apartment in 2003 for the high school department, connecting it to the three-story house.

She said the school was proof of the goodness remaining in the hearts of many people.

The school has a computer room, a medical clinic with a steady supply of vitamins and medicines, a library with a wide selection of books and a piano, a science laboratory where teachers had temporarily stored boxes of shampoo for the children, and even a small auditorium with a wide screen for power point presentations—thanks to Poveda alumni, Pita’s friends at the ministry and her former classmates in Madrid, and some government offices.

Makabata has about 15 teachers, all trained by a group from Poveda, who take care of 128 students. Students come from urban poor communities. Teachers go around searching for children from the poorest homes.

Of the original 12 kindergarten students in 1996, five will be the first graduates of the high school in March. One of those prospective graduates, 17-year-old Rachel, says she feels “blessed” to be with Makabata.

Rachel, who remembers tagging along with her brother selling sampaguita around the shrine when she was young, proudly wears her blue school uniform as she announces she wants to be an accountant.

Pita is keeping her fingers crossed they will all be able to pursue college, since the foundation is also arranging scholarships for them.

“I hope they will do well, and I know they can do well, so that the others here will have examples,” she says.

Her foundation is also changing the lives of the students’ families by providing livelihood opportunities for parents.

Living with dignity

Pita says her mission is not only to help reduce illiteracy. “I would also like to improve their (poor children) way of being, their attitude. I would like them to have some dignity,” she added.

So, despite old age, her steps remain firm and fast going up to the third floor of the school, her face filled with pride and happiness as she showed the Inquirer around her school, around her home.

Being among children she is helping to have a better future is enough to make her feel young.

She is old but she is not tired and she says she will continue working as long as she can.

Those who would like to support the Makabata School Foundation can call 6561289.

[chixbebe]

In a bid to deliver high-quality education to its customers, employees and others, Fujitsu Philippines Inc. (FPI) launched yesterday the Fujitsu Knowledge Centre (FKC) during ceremonies in Makati City.

The launch was held in its United Life Building in Makati City and attended by FPI representatives, and training partners from Cisco Systems Inc. Philippines. FPI is a certified Cisco training partner.

FKC is outfitted with brand new Cisco networking equipment making it one of the most updated Cisco training laboratories in the country.

With the FKC, Fujitsu Philippines aims to bolster its ability to deliver high-quality education to its customers, employees and other interested parties the company said in a statement.

"Providing premium-quality technical education has always been one of FPI’s major capabilities. For example, FPI’s rigorous training programs have contributed to the CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert) certification of four of our employees," said Peter Tan, FPI president.

The new FKC, Tan said, increases this capability and makes it more accessible and convenient for the corporate customers of FPI as well as individuals who desire to strengthen their technical competence.

"To address the great demand for knowledge in networking technology, we have made it a point to equip the Fujitsu Knowledge Centre with the latest products from Cisco Systems. All enrollees at the Fujitsu Knowledge Centre will be able to do extensive hands-on training using this equipment under the guidance of highly-qualified instructors," said Tan. — Sandy Araneta

[sandrn]

More local governments join in wiring public high schools
http://technology.inq7.net/infotech/infotech/view_article.php?article_id=36765
By Erwin Oliva
INQ7.net
Last updated 06:55pm (Mla time) 12/06/2006

LOCAL governments in the Philippines are becoming more active participants in a private-public sector project to hook up public high schools to the Internet, a private sector representative of the project told INQ7.net.

"The local governments are now joining us by matching our investments," said Ayala Foundation President Vicky Gatchitorena. Ayala Foundation is currently the secretariat that oversees the Gearing Up Internet Literacy and Access for Students (GILAS) project.

Active participants include the local governments of Quezon City, Cebu, Iloilo, Misamis Oriental, Bohol, Antique and La Union, Garchitorena said.

"We've been asking the governors, mayors and local government officials to match our investments," Ayala Foundation marketing director Oscar Sañez, added.

The GILAS project has hooked up 1,016 public high schools nationwide as of November 2006. The project aims to connect about 1,000 more schools next year. There are 5,789 public high schools in the Philippines, Garchitorena added, citing government figures.

"Connecting schools to the Internet is now becoming a multi-sector initiative," the executive said.

GILAS is now working with various partners, including the Globe Telecom, Innove, the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Bayantel, Digital, Apple Computer, IBM, Microsoft and Intel. Other partners include the American Chamber of Commerce, Philippine Business School for Progress, the Makati Business Club, the Philippine Star, and GMA 7.

"While these companies are competitors, they're working together to help kids have access to the Internet," she said.

GILAS provides computer and Internet package worth P100,000 up to P300,000 for public high schools. The package includes connectivity (one year Internet subscription), at least 10 computers and servers, teacher training and peripherals. In some areas, the package includes telephone lines.

For 2006, the project raised about P70 million from various donors. Next year, Gatchitorena said the project aims to raise about P100 million.

The project is also considering using wireless solutions to connect public high schools.

GILAS and the Ayala Foundation have recently been named as partners of Pinoy Connect, a Yahoo!-led initiative to connect overseas Filipino workers to their families.

[tigidig14]

napanood ko yung reporters notebook kanina tungkol sa kalagayan ng edukasyon sa ARMM (lanao, basilan, tawi2, sultan and etc) madami daw teacher na sumesweldo pero wala naman daw dun, o ghost employee, at mahigit P1.2 billion ang nakukurakot ng kapwang kasing-guro o prinsipal na kung saan ay sana nabibili na ng mga bagong libro o napapatayo ng mga bagong paaralan sa ating mga kapatid na moslem. san kaya napupunta yun!!! sa pagbabalik ng the buzz!!!

[marites4]

ang mga leader ng muslim ay napaka corrupt. Tapos laging sinisisi at nang gegera nang central govt. dahil hindi daw sila inaasikaso.

[ikra]

this is a sad comment but i will agree to this because my parents have experienced this first hand

[sandrn]

Kaya sila mahirap kasi away magtrabaho o magbanat ng buto, gusto lang kumita ng pera.


P200m for school repairs OKd
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=politics1_dec9_2006
By Florante S. Solmerin

EDUCATION Secretary Jesli Lapus yesterday ordered the release of P200 million to facilitate the immediate repairs of classrooms damaged by typhoons.

At the same time, Lapus authorized schools to utilize their own funds for the purchase of materials. “Though limited, these funds may mean a lot in allowing schools to begin repairing damaged classrooms pending the release of the calamity fund we requested from the Department of Budget and Management.”

The DepEd chief also raised alarm over the possibility that mudslides and landslides may re-occur in the Bicol region, particularly in the areas near Mayon Volcano.

Lapus earlier declared an indefinite suspension of classes in communities devastated by typhoon Reming last week, as well as in areas where schools need to be cleared of flood waters, mud and debris.

Where rains and floods continue to disrupt classes, the local school heads and authorities may suspend classes or transfer the students to safer haven.

DepEd immediately assigned 20 engineers to conduct damage assessment on schools. Data showed that the damage to 2,321 schools costs at least P1,131,694,000. About 731,000 students could not hold classes in the typhoon ravaged areas, according to DepEd.

Lapus said that superintendents and principals are empowered to decide when to resume classes in their areas based on actual condition.

Super-typhoon Reming hit the country last Nov. 30 causing widespread flooding and mudslides in Region 5 (Bicol), Region 4-B (Mimaropa), and Region 4-A (Calabarzon).

Initial data gathered from the field by the Physical Facilities and Schools Engineering Division of the Department of Education revealed that provinces in Region 5 were hardest hit. In Albay, 90 percent or 487 of 541 schools were damaged. In Catanduanes, 90 percent or 243 of 270 schools were destroyed by the typhoon. In Sorsogon, 60 percent or 310 of 516 schools were left needing repairs while in Camarines Sur, 50 percent or 518 of 1,036 schools were destroyed.

In Marinduque 224 schools were damaged. In Southern Quezon, 50 percent or 503 of 1,006 schools were devastated.

At least 172,218 students were displaced in Region 4-A (particularly in Quezon), 65,163 students in Region 4-B (54,558 were from Marinduque), and, 476,396 pupils in Region 5 (168,502 from Albay and 166,366 from Camarines Sur).

[chixbebe]

Gov’t saves P2.63 B in textbook procurement
http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200612140411.htm

The Philippine government has saved some P2.63 billion due to a new system of textbook procurement, the World Bank said yesterday.

World Bank country director Joachim Von Amsberg said the government was able to generate savings after it implemented the new procurement policy.

Amsberg said the cost of textbooks this year is only about half of the cost of textbooks in 2000.

"With the procurement reforms in the Department of Education, the (Philippine) government was able to significantly reduce the cost of textbooks. The cost of books acquired in the past six years has been reduced by half," he said.

Because of the savings, the textbook ratio in public schools for Mathematics, Science, English and Filipino would now be 1:1, or one textbook per one public elementary or high school student.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said that the government was able to save a lot because of the World Bank’s new "international competitive bidding" for all textbook purchases. Public biddings have also become transparent.

He lamented though that recent calamities such as the typhoon "Milenyo" and "Reming," as well as the permanent injunction on textbooks by a Regional Trial Court in Manila prevented the delivery of 12 million textbooks.

"We regret the fact that the trial court in Manila has issued an injunction on the delivery of textbooks. These are long awaited textbooks," Lapus said.

[ThisFire]

TALES OF THE CITY
Spanish angel of Pasig street children
http://newsinfo.inq7.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view_article.php?article_id=36090
By Edson C. Tandoc Jr.


What a great Filipina. :)

[chixbebe]

SENATORS will likely back House-endorsed bills that would re-instate English as the country’s medium of instruction and decentralize the payroll services of the Department of Education, a congressional leader said yesterday.

House Deputy Majority Leader Eduardo Gullas said he was assured by some key senators that they would push the Senate approval of House Bill 4701, which seeks to revive English as the medium of instruction in all school levels in lieu of the bilingual language policy, and HB 5579, which proposes to break up the department’s huge payroll section into regional units to quicken the processing of the checks of the country’s 505,150 public school teachers.

“We’ve already talked to Senate President Manny Villar, Senate President Protempore Juan Flavier and Senators Edgardo Angara and Panfilo Lacson.

They are all absolutely supportive of both House-approved bills,” Gullas said.

The House passed the two bills on third and final reading in September, but both bills have not been approved by the Senate.

“Our senators are definitely very encouraging. No less than the Senate president is committed to passing both bills. We are thus wholly confident they will approve the twin measures shortly,” he said.

Senate consideration and approval of the two bills had been previously stalled by a reorganization of the Senate education committee.

Flavier effectively gave up his work as education committee chairman to concentrate on his job as Senate president protempore. As a result, the committee’s work is now being handled by two subcommittees chaired by Angara and Lacson.

While most Filipinos are convinced that English mastery leads to improved job opportunities, national proficiency in the language has declined by 10 percentage points in the last 12 years, according to a March survey by the Social Weather Stations.

The survey showed that only two out of three Filipino adults, or 65 percent, understood spoken and written English. Some 14 percent said they were not competent at all in spoken and written English.

Under HB 5579, payroll services units would be established in every regional office of the education department, except Metro Manila, Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon and Mindoro Occidental-Mindoro Oriental-Marinduque-Romblon-Palawan.

[chixbebe]

Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte yesterday expressed hope that the revival of English as medium of instruction will eliminate the problem of language interference and arrest the decline of basic education in the country.

“The bilingual [English, Filipino] policy of 1974 is just too much for our schoolchildren, especially in the lower grades,” Villafuerte said.

“If the child happens to be a non-Tagalog speaker—and majority of our kids in school are non-Tagalog speakers—learning English and Filipino actually means absorbing two ‘foreign’ languages at the same time, an almost impossible task.”

Villafuerte is one of the six authors of the House-approved bill seeking to reinstate English as the teaching language. Reps. Eduardo Gullas, Edmundo Reyes Jr., Cynthia Villar, Alipio Cirilo Badelles and Raul del Mar are his co-authors.

Gullas earlier said the Senate will pass the House-endorsed bill shortly.

This, after he obtained the support of Senate President Manny Villar, Senate President Pro-Tempore Juan Flavier and Senators Edgardo Angara and Panfilo Lacson.

Flavier is chairman of the Senate education committee.

Before, and immediately after World War II, the Philippines was proudly number one in Asia in English proficiency, because English was the medium of instruction then. The bilingual (Filipino-English) instruction led to the decline of education, Villafuerte said.

The Bicolano lawmaker described the bilingual policy as “a case of trying to fix something that was not broken to begin with.” In the process, he said, the policy merely created the unintended consequence of spoiling not just the average Filipino’s mastery of English, but basic education as a whole.

[sandrn]

I like the Food for School Program because it motivates the parents to send their children to school and it sends a message to the children that going to school will help them put food on the table while attending classes and more so when they graduate.

Read through and you will realize the stupidity of Frankling Drilon on rice rationing. Stupid Idiot.
Franklin Drilon does not realize how important a kilo of rice is to the children and their family. He does not realize that it so easy to cook rice because he has at least 3 maids to serve him rice. Just look at his big fat belly.


Food program for school kids reduced dropouts—DepEd chief
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=61008
BY JONATHAN M. HICAP, The Manila Times Reporter

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus on Friday defended his department’s Food for School Program, saying it has reduced the number of dropouts among Grade 1 pupils for the school year 2005-06.

The feeding program has come under heavy criticism, especially from the senators, who claim it is fraught with anomalies.

But Lapus has staunchly stood behind the program. “In terms of our Food for School Program, we observed improvements in school attendance of Grades 1-3 schoolchildren this school year in schools covered by the program,” he said.

He said dropout rate improved from 2.05 percent in 2004 to 1.2 percent in the current school year.

“At least in the National Capital Region, there was an observed decline of hungry families as a result in the continuous provision of rice to the school children’s families,” Lapus said.

Under the program, Grade 1 pupils are rationed one kilo of rice a day as a way of mitigating hunger of poor families and improving the students’ academic performance.

Target beneficiaries are public-elementary students in Metro Manila, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and selected schools in 49 poor provinces.

The Senate has stricken out the program from the 2007 General Appropriations Act and realigned its budget of P4.7 billion for the building of more classrooms and hiring of more teachers.

The bicameral conference committee deliberation on the budget had been deadlocked after the Senate refused to restore the item for the rice allocation.

Sen. Franklin Drilon, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, said the rice distribution program would “only benefit filthy rich rice importers and their patrons in government.”

He said, “You do not address the nutrition needs of school children by giving them uncooked rice.”

Drilon said there is a shortage of 20,000 classrooms and 16,000 teachers and the realigned P4.7 billion will build 8,000 classrooms and hire 6,000 teachers.

In terms of the schoolbuilding program, Lapus said the classroom gap, computed at 1 room for every 50 students at two shifts, has been closed. New classrooms that were built twice exceeded the yearly target of 6,000 classrooms.

Next year, the Department of Education aims to lower the classroom-pupil ratio to 1:45 at two shifts to improve learning conditions.

“In this light, we can say that aside from interventions in education, our department also responds to our government’s call for a strengthened poverty reduction measures,” Lapus said.

With the department’s Government Assistance to Private Education (GASTPE) program, nearly half-a-million high-school students benefited from the program this year.

Over 58,000 Grade 6 students who graduated last April were given scholarship opportunities to enroll in private high schools of their choice in June 2006 under the GASTPE program.

The department expects to double that number of scholars by next year.

[Lili]

^^ That is indeed a laudable program. I just hope that it is not visited with corruption when it comes to the bidding out of contracts to provide these food provisions. But being optimistic, I think it is a step in the right direction.

[evangelistik]

Who was the U.S. president that drafted a deal allowing free breakfast and lunches for the underprivileged kids... under the belief that kids that were hungry were in no position to learn (Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs)?

That was monumental. It's good that this kid Lapus is going the same direction.

[jjpaul_c]

I can't believe they're dropping out Grade 1 - 3, they should penalize the parents for that. I hope this program works.

[intramuros]

^^ that's shocking and not acceptable

[3cr]

A silver lining for Philippine education
By Joyce U. Guevarra
The Philippine Star
http://www.philstar.com/philstar/News200701049801.htm

Education woes in our country become almost rhetoric every year, come June, when classes start. Fortunately, there are always more ways than one to help change our educational landscape, and any effort to help mitigate the situation is very much welcome. One such effort is the GILAS project. For its part, the GILAS project aims to close the technological divide that exists between developed and developing countries.

GILAS, which stands for Gearing Up Internet Literacy and Access for Students, is a multi-sector initiative led by Ayala Foundation that aims to wire up all the country's public high schools to the Internet by 2010.

Recognizing the great disparity between students who have the opportunity to study in private schools, and thereby have more access to learning facilities and resources, and students who have no choice but to study in public schools, Ayala Foundation, in 2005, came up with a project that aims to provide Internet connection to all 5,789 public high schools in the country. All that within a timeframe of only five years. An ambitious goal in such a short time - sounds too good to be true, but no need to worry. Even if the project was launched only last year, there have already been a lot of individuals and organizations that have given their commitment to ensure that there are enough resources for the project to push through. They form a consortium of leaders coming from different sectors, from government leaders to low-key donors who simply have a genuine desire to improve our country's state of education. Leading the pack are Senator Manuel Roxas III and Ayala Corporation's Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala who serve as the working co-chairs of the project's steering committee.

Other government leaders and CEOs from different companies have also pitched in their share to ensure the success of the GILAS project. Moreover, the project is fully endorsed by no less than President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and by the Department of Education. Because dotcom is key
In the last few years, the government seems to have had some trouble in its allocation of resources, and the education sector has suffered as a result. This of course translates into woes such as lack of classrooms, books and competent teachers. Add to that the issue of erroneous textbooks already being used in some public schools, etc., which naturally leads to graduates ill-equipped to compete in today's fast-moving global economy.

"Global" is the operating word, and a great part of it concerns information technology which largely involves the Internet. Internet access, as well as knowledge on how to use it, is one major problem further adding up to the woes of Philippine secondary education. And it is one that requires urgent attention.

According to statistics from the Department of Education, about 90% of all Filipino students study in public schools. Among the country's over 5,000 public high schools, only about 6% have access to the Internet. The remaining 94% cannot provide its millions of Filipino students with the benefits of the Internet, such as free online resources for research and assignments, not to mention the practical know-how of using the Internet, which will eventually come into play when they seek employment in companies and industries that are growing more and more dependent on computer technology. It is clear, therefore, that an Initiative like GILAS is of paramount importance. Package deal
The GILAS project is an all-in-one deal. For schools already equipped with computer laboratories, GILAS will provide servers or routers, LAN cards, cables, as well as connectivity and unlimited free Internet usage for the first year (to be provided by different telecom giants partnered with GILAS). In addition, teachers will be trained on networking and resource mobilization; plus, a basic curriculum and yearlong lesson plan are also part of the package.

Meanwhile, for schools without computer laboratories, GILAS will setup the laboratories with at least ten PC units each, and provide Internet connectivity and training of teachers. First 1000
Last October 26, GILAS celebrated the wiring up of its first 1000 schools. This just proves that the project is moving steadily towards achieving its goals, and there is no reason not to believe that by 2010, all 5,789 public high schools in the country shall already be surfing the net. You can help too
The GILAS project provides a silver lining to the dismal state of education in our country. One can only hope that a lot more similar initiatives are under way.

At the moment, donations from corporations and individuals hoping to be part of this endeavor keep pouring in, making it possible to sustain the project. But GILAS still has a long way to go, so help is always welcome. Any donations (in the form of cash or check) may be sent to the following address: The Director, GILAS Program, Ayala Foundation, Inc., 10/F BPI Main Bldg., Ayala Ave. corner Paseo de Roxas, Makati City, Philippines, with phone numbers + 632 750 1070.

[sandrn]

Gloria insists on food-for-school subsidy
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=politics1_jan5_2007
The senators, led by Senate President Manuel Villar and Franklin Drilon, chairman of the finance committee, have endorsed an alternative scheme by which other food items like milk, chocolate, luncheon meat and nutribuns will be fed to children within school grounds instead of spending all the money on rice.
They also frown on the importation of rice through the National Food Authority since local farmers are complaining that their palay produce is not being bought by the NFA.
But during the bicameral conference committee, the House contingent led by Albay Rep. Joey Salceda took a hardline stance that the money should be for rice alone. This prompted Drilon to say “that is where we disagreed.”


Uncooked rice is way better than nutribuns, milk etc. that are easy to deteriorate. The public school canteens do not have the facilities to provide fresh supplies of those foods. It seems like Drillon and Villar would likely prefer to serve the poor kids with stale foods.
Feeding the children on school grounds also cut the benefit of what the children will get than when they take home the rice that the family can cook and serve fresh at any time of day they need it.

It is not true that the farmers are complaining that the NFA does not buy palay from the local farmers. Villar and Drillon got the militant farmers to charge such lies. The two fat-bellied snakes in the Senate did have to go through the experience of a hungry pupil.

It appears the Villar and Drillon are more concerned upon "the number of votes", or politicizing the feeding program than to actually feed the children using an effective and logical program. Villar & Drillon, your milk and nutribuns are stale!


Here is the entire article:

Gloria insists on food-for-school subsidy
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=politics1_jan5_2007
By Fel V. Maragay
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo remains firm on retaining the food subsidy for malnourished schoolchildren under the 2007 national budget, but is hopeful that the lawmakers can find a “common ground” to break the stalemate in the appropriations measure.
The stalemate was triggered by the congressmen’s objection in the bicameral conference committee to the senators’ scrapping the P4.7 billion Food-for-School Program and realigning it to the construction of additional 8,000 classrooms and hiring of 6,600 new teachers.
In calling for the restoration of the food subsidy, the President in a television statement stressed the “importance of giving 1 kg of rice every day to families that are suffering from starvation.”
Articulating Mrs. Arroyo’s stand, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye challenged the lawmakers to show the highest degree of statesmanship to save the food subsidy scheme and to resolve the impasse in the budget negotiation between the Senate and House of Representatives.
“We hope the Senate and the House will find a common ground to break the budget deadlock for the sake of the people,” Bunye said. “Vital pro-poor programs will be prejudiced by the undue delay.”
The senators scrapped the food subsidy fund for fear that it may be used to “buy” votes for administration candidates in the elections.
Under the Food-for-School Program, which was started in 2005, elementary school pupils in depressed communities are given a kilo of rice a day to encourage them to go to school and at the same time help their poor families stave off hunger.
Anti-poverty czar Domingo Panganiban said it would be illogical and inhuman to abolish the crucial fund specially in the light of the Nov. 24-29 survey of the Social Weather Stations showing that a record-high of 19 percent or about 3.3 million households admitted experiencing hunger at least once in the past three months.
Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said the funding for the Food-for-School Program has been raised from P1.6 billion in 2006 to P4.7 billion this year to expand coverage of the program to grade one to six pupils instead of only grade one to four pupils. Also the period for the rice doleout will be extended from 90 to 15 days.
Panganiban said the program will be implemented in the 10 poorest provinces.
The senators, led by Senate President Manuel Villar and Franklin Drilon, chairman of the finance committee, have endorsed an alternative scheme by which other food items like milk, chocolate, luncheon meat and nutribuns will be fed to children within school grounds instead of spending all the money on rice.
They also frown on the importation of rice through the National Food Authority since local farmers are complaining that their palay produce is not being bought by the NFA.
But during the bicameral conference committee, the House contingent led by Albay Rep. Joey Salceda took a hardline stance that the money should be for rice alone. This prompted Drilon to say “that is where we disagreed.”

[flesh_is_weak]

^^OT: ever heard of the urban legend regarding Imelda Marcos and her Nutri-buns?

well, it goes that before nutri-buns (bread fortified with nutrients) began appearing and were given to public school children by the Marcos administration as part of their campaign against malnutrition, homosexuality, especially among males, was not prevalent in the country back then...

however, after these nutri-buns were distributed to the different public schools in the country, it was observed that there was a rise of the number of male homosexuals in the country, so as the story goes...

it is said, that Imelda purposedly had those nutr-buns laced with a certain chemical or hormones that would cause changes in the physiologic processes of the child who ingests it, eventually leading to a shift in gender...this is said to have been done in accord with the Marcoses plan to stop the population explosion...

by turning school children gay, they hoped that the philippine population would be reduced...

well, that's the story of the nutri-bun...

:hilarious

[marites4]

It was stupid. they don't even have any nutrients.

[Sinjin P.]

^ I still remember our teacher's joke regarding the nutri-buns. They in their batch call those buns "Pan de Ok-ok" (Pandesal de Cockroach) because of the smell, amoy ipis daw :lol:

[chixbebe]

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=politics7_jan5_2007
By Florante S. Solmerin

SOME 1.8 million graduating high school students nationwide this school year would be the first batch to take the National Career Assessment Examination scheduled this month.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus yesterday said the examination will include graduating students in both public and private high schools.

Lapus said the examinations should have been implemented last Dec. 22 if not for lack of time. “Because of time constraint we moved it to Jan. 17.”

Lapus said the first two years of implementation of the assessment examination will serve as period for evaluation. But on the third year, the examination will eventually be a pre-requisite for college education.

The examination was designed to measure not only the general scholastic ability of students but also their technical vocational aptitude and entrepreneurial skills.

The results of the examination could also serve as gauge for students on what course to pursue for college education.

“The test will guide students and their parents on what career path they should take,” Lapus said.

Lapus also claimed the test results would served as gauge for different government agency, especially the Department of Education, to assess education and employment direction of students after graduation.

Lapus also urged school officials to pursue and support the department’s program in promoting technical-vocational education to enhance the competitive edge of Filipinos here and abroad.

“Technical and vocational education provides our students the competitive advantage they need to become viable in the cut-throat global marketplace,” Lapus said.

[renell]

“The test will guide students and their parents on what career path they should take,”

Though seriously.. wouldn't most students take the one most lucrative and most likely to give them money instantanieously? e.g. medicine will take you years nursing is about more than half the time.

[sandrn]

^^OT: ever heard of the urban legend regarding Imelda Marcos and her Nutri-buns?

well, it goes that before nutri-buns (bread fortified with nutrients) began appearing and were given to public school children by the Marcos administration as part of their campaign against malnutrition, homosexuality, especially among males, was not prevalent in the country back then...

however, after these nutri-buns were distributed to the different public schools in the country, it was observed that there was a rise of the number of male homosexuals in the country, so as the story goes...

it is said, that Imelda purposedly had those nutr-buns laced with a certain chemical or hormones that would cause changes in the physiologic processes of the child who ingests it, eventually leading to a shift in gender...this is said to have been done in accord with the Marcoses plan to stop the population explosion...

by turning school children gay, they hoped that the philippine population would be reduced...

well, that's the story of the nutri-bun...

:hilarious


True. Is that why Imelda became a gay icon, j/k :laugh:

Question is, would Villar and Drilon feed their children nutri-buns? I doubt it.
Now why would they suggest on feeding the poor school kids nutri-buns, a bread that they would not feed their children with.

[OtAkAw]

“The test will guide students and their parents on what career path they should take,”

Though seriously.. wouldn't most students take the one most lucrative and most likely to give them money instantanieously? e.g. medicine will take you years nursing is about more than half the time.

And many would choose to go where their friends go. And alot would be forced to enroll in course just because it is "in demand", even though they won't like it. Oh, these folks would just end up as "flying students", jumping from one course to another. Here in my university, among my batchmates, I've seen a considerable number of Nursing students either shifting to another course, dropping or even changing schools. They should just discover which course their hearts reside in.

[ren0312]

People always complain that the education sector lacks money, and yet I see the budget and ask, can we really afford to spend more on education? Ideally we need to spend 4 per cent of GDP on education according to the World bank, and yet look at our budget, one of the reasons for our military's sad state is because aside from corruption, the mandate in our constitution that education recieve the highest budget naturally precludes our military from recieving adequate funding, with or without corruption, because the cost of servicing our debt takes up so much of our budget, and the rest gets taken up by social spending, and as a result, the crumbs go to national defense, which is then eaten away by corruption, if in our present state, even if our education budget as a per centage of GDP is not up to standard, our military is already being starved of funds because of our constitution's mandate on top priority for education, then what more our education budget is doubled, what more will be left for the defense budget, so it is just not corruption that is hurting our military, but also the constitution, and the underinvestment because of certain provisions that are present in it, I am currently envisioning whether it will be a good idea to take the government out of the arena of providing goods on services altogether, provided those goods are private goods, and thus can also be supplied by the private sector at a profitable price, for example education and health care, and porvide more resources for the provision of public goods, such as national defense, the police force, the civil service, and the judiciary, and the construction of non toll public roads, which the private sector cannot provide for a profit, because by their very nature those goods are public goods, so under this plan, the Dep Ed and the Department of Health will become purely regulatory agencies in nature, and all public schools and hospitals will be sold off to the private sector, or at most they will have some sort of very limited voucher programto pay for a small portion of education and health care costs, but the private sector will be the one which will provide the services them, sort of like the SEC, while the budget that should have gone to those agencies will go towards increased funding for the military, the police force, the DPWH, and towards increasing salaries in the civil service to a level that is competitive with the private sector, while what is left over, whioch will still be a lot, will go towards tax cuts and paying off the national debt, which will lower the interest the we have to pay on our debt.

[kiretoce]

Neighboring countries outstrip Pinoys in primary education
Wednesday, January 10 2007

Many Filipino youth are sacrificing their education and their future by dropping out of school and working in call centers, a development that contributes to the "continuing decline in the quality of our human resources."

This is the assessment Dr. Romula Virola, secretary-general of the National Statistical Coordination Board, who thinks that Filipino youth no longer see education as an asset.

"Is education no longer the asset that we of the older generation treasured? Have our education officials failed so badly in their mission that our young Pinoys now give less value to education than they would dancing to the music of "Boom tarat tarat"? Isn't there anything anyone can do to contain the fascination of our society for our children to become singers and dancers rather than scientists and engineers?" Virola said in his presentation titled "Statistics on Philippine Education: Good News and Bad News!"

Virola said based on the results of the UNESCO's World Education Indicators Program, the proportion among Filipinos aged 15-34 who have completed at least primary education is at a range of 88 to 91%, lower than that of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, which ranged from 92 to 99%.

In lower secondary education, Virola said Malaysia has edged out the Philippines in the 15-44 age bracket. Malaysians who have at least completed lower secondary education ranged from 71 to 93% as opposed to Filipinos' completion rate of 66 to 82%.

"In other words, our edge over Malaysia in the attainment of at least lower secondary education ended as early as the sixties! And the wide education gap we the older generation of Pinoys enjoyed over Thailand and Indonesia has been dissipated by our bagets," said Virola.

The continuing decline in the quality of education in the country was evident in the 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, which showed the Philippines ranking 23rd of 25 countries in math and science among fourth-grade students. Among eight-grade students, the Philippines ranked 41st and 42nd in math and science among 45 countries.

Virola blamed the low investment in education for the declining quality of students. Virola said the country spends 3.3% of the gross domestic product on public educational institutions for all levels compared to 7.4% for Malaysia, 4% for Thailand.

He added the country spends only 17.2% on education based on the total public spending while Thailand spends 40% and Malaysia, 28%.

[crappypants]

sad sad sad.
and also the quality of education in public school is substandard compared to the private schools.
I cannot believe that DEp is one of the most corrupt agencies. What callous SOB would steal from already a measly budget.

[beads_strawberries]

^^ We really have to work on that. The Department of Education could very well address this situation since we would not want to compromise the quality of Philippine education. Maybe they can check the strategy set forth at the MTPDP in order to materialize the agenda to improve the quality of education.

[sandrn]

Is this really the case? That students dropped out of college to work in call centers, disgusting.
To all SSC forumers who are working as call center agents, please explain the real scenario.
I think jobs in call centers should help students pay for their college education or masters, post-graduate degree, and not an excuse to drop out of college. Imagine if one day a bubble burst happen on this service sector, what will become of these drop outs - inutil, who’ll sit in one corner and stare at the ceiling. What a waste of human resources..
Oh yeah, and RP is in DESPERATE need of scientists and engineers.
I think the Department of Education should shower scholarships and incentives to college students that are taking science and engineering degree. An assurance of a career after graduation will also motivate these future scientists and engineers. Enough lawyers and politicians! enough is enough.


NSCB chief slams call centers, RP education problems
http://technology.inquirer.net/infot...ticle_id=42654
By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 02:56pm (Mla time) 01/10/2007

"It pains me to hear about many of our brilliant, young students dropping out of college to work in the call centers. Yes, the call centers where the money seems to be."

This was the opening statement of National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) Secretary General Romulo Virola in his recent column called "Statistically Speaking" in NSCB's website, pointing to what he calls a downtrend spiral of the country's education system.

Virola, who has presented his vocal stance in education in his previous columns, questioned the reasons for students dropping out of school to work as call center agents, which could have come from the high cost of education or from the education plan fiasco in previous years.

The NSCB chief had even stressed that this was a "bothersome trend" though he essentially points to the lack of prioritization in improving the country's educational system that would produce worthy engineers and scientists.

But Virola is critical not just of call centers, but also of the overall social environment of the Philippines. He also aimed his disappointment at Filipino's fascination for "boom tarat tarat," which ostensibly is a jingle used in a popular noontime TV show.

"Of course the call centers can help us attain the economic growth that we need to be able to reduce poverty. But is education no longer the asset that we of the older generation treasured? Isn't there anything anyone can do to contain the fascination of our society for our children to become singers and dancers rather than scientists and engineers?" Virola stressed.

Virola said in his column that statistically, the situation is serious as the country faces a continued decline in the quality of human resources and despite the medium-term development goals set by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, it is in education where the Philippines is lagging the most.

Referring to statistics from the World Education Indicators (WEI) report from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Virola said 27 out of 100 Filipinos from age 25 to 64 have completed only at least tertiary education, which is a higher proportion than in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Apart from tertiary education, Malaysia has already outclassed the Philippines in terms of number of people who have taken at least secondary education. "In other words, our edge over Malaysia in the attainment of at least lower secondary education ended as early as the sixties! And the wide education gap we the older generation of 'Pinoys' enjoyed over Thailand and Indonesia has been dissipated by our 'bagets.'"

Virola also referred to the 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) which showed that eighth-grade students in the Philippines ranked 41st in math and 42nd in science out 45 countries that participated. Likewise, fourth-grade Filipino students ranked 23rd in both math and science out of 25 countries who participated in TIMSS.

Another point that he raised was the low investment in education where the Philippines only invests 3.3 percent of its growth domestic product (GDP) to education. In comparison, Malaysia invests 7.4 percent and Thailand invests 4 percent of their GDP to education.

"How we envy the OECD countries that have the resources to spend more than 10 times what we spend per student in primary and secondary education! If only we did not have to spend so much for defense or corruption?" Virola lamented.

Another point that Virola raised are the low salaries of teachers some whom he said have left the country to work as caregivers or are forced to sell food items to students during recess just to compensate for their low paycheck.

Incidentally, Virola also criticized the apparent gender disparity in education wherein females are favored more than their male counterparts. Basing his argument on the WEI report, he said 50 percent of enrollees in secondary and tertiary levels are female, except in primary which is at 49 percent. "Just look around you -- you hear all those intelligent and articulate but sometimes 'artekulit' women!"

"More can be said by reading the WEI report. But one conclusion is safe: in education, we used to be better than many of our neighbors and competitors! Not anymore, or at least not much longer! Time to wake up! Maybe time to shift entertainment from Boom Tarat Tarat to something else!"
__________________

[chixbebe]

Acting Pasay City Mayor Allan Panaligan will soon release the P51-million budget of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Pasay (PLP) which is one of the biggest beneficiaries under the approved P2.7-billion 2007 Pasay City budget.

Panaligan said the PLP-approved budget is 90-percent higher compared to what was allocated last year by the former mayor.

Pasay City government has started to distribute different sets of books, electric fans for the classrooms, at least 300 chairs and sets of computers for the welfare of PLP students.

Panaligan reiterated students of PLP, headed by their president Winston Gines, should be given much attention in terms of facilities to hone their skills so that the city could produce quality graduates who are globally competitive.

Panaligan earlier had signed four waste disposal contracts which could save about P85 million in taxpayers’ money compared to last year’s garbage budget.

He said the deals amounted to P177,960,326.70 for the entire year versus P232 million allocated by Mayor Wenceslao Trinidad and 11 other officials for which they were suspended for six months on instructions of Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno in September last year.

Bid documents show the highest awards went to Halrey Construction Inc. for trash collection and disposal in 60 barangays of Area 4 at P62,243,250.20.

It also bagged the P25-million contract for Area 1, covering 32 barangays.

Greenline Onyx Envirotech Tech Philippines Inc. would handle Area 3’s 74 barangays for P62,248,548 with R.M.

Maintenance services serving at least 35 barangays in Area 2 for P28,468,528.50.

www.tribune.net.ph
Ben Gines Jr.

[heathcliff]

Looking at the 2007 budget for education, an additional P2.613 billion has been allocated for the DepEd's school building program. This will partially finance the classroom shortage for this year, which is apparently around 20,000. With the realignment of the feeding program, the deficit would be lowered to 2,961 units. Another P873 million would be allocated to the hiring of additional teachers.

There's also a new feeding program for school kids which will consist in giving them milk, coco pandesal and vegetable-based noodles to be eaten at school. How effective this will be in retaining kids in school remains to be seen. Drilon and Villar should listen to PGMA - she spoke sense when she stressed the importance of giving uncooked rice to the students in order to keep them in school and at the same time stave off their families' hunger. Many children drop out because their families prefer them to help in the farm or in household chores, rather than stay in school for the whole day. These are illiterate families who couldn't care less whether their kids get proper education, and would rather make use of them at home. The prospect of a kilo of rice at the end of the day could be some poor girl's only hope of being allowed to stay in school by her parents. Villar and Drilon should not be measuring these things by their own half-bushel. They are clearly clueless about what is happening in rural areas where most of them are never seen after elections.

[chixbebe]

The Department of Education launched the Gearing Up Internet Literacy and Access for Students or GILAS in support with the computerization program of the DepEd.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said GILAS aims to give the students more options and chances in opening a wider horizon in terms of new technology including information technology.

Lapus said GILAS program was envisioned to reinforce the computerization program of DepEd with the aim of providing computers to all schools nationwide and open the “window of knowledge” for students.

Lapus added once they achieved this goal, the DepEd will try to provide Internet connection to all schools nationwide before 2010.

Earlier, the DepEd disclosed that some 1,000 public secondary schools nationwide have been provided Internet connection with the help of private sector.

The DepEd expressed confidence that the Internet access for students and basic Internet literacy programs will be completed in the 5,443 public secondary schools in the Philippines in the next five years.

DepEd Internet connectivity program was incepted in January 2005 spearheaded by a social consortium of private corporations and civic organizations, in coordination with the DepEd.

At present, reports showed that the Internet connectivity program of DepEd was placed at one school for every 25,000 elementary pupils and one every 728 elementary school teachers.

On the other hand, high school penetration is at one computer for every 111 secondary school students, and one for every three secondary school teacher.

In addition, DepEd’s estimated cost of providing Internet connectivity packages per school for one year is pegged at P100,000. The estimated cost of providing 10 units of desktops for schools without labs is P200,000 while the total cost of providing both computers and connectivity to a school is P300,000.

Lapus assured that DepEd education program is geared toward ensuring the empowerment of learners with lifelong skills through the use of appropriate technologies.

He added information communication technology in basic education is part of his key priorities as he recognized the need to make ICT widely accessible and available to the students and the teachers in public schools.

He also said the DepEd’s ICT integration program focuses on educational development, in line with several national policies that include the Medium Term Development Plan of the Philippines, the Basic Education Curriculum, Schools First Initiative and the National Action Plan to Achieve Education for All by the year 2015.

Jojo Arazas
http://www.tribune.net.ph/metro/20070113met6.html

[kiretoce]

Half of all textbooks erroneous

Half of all the textbooks in public schools still contain factual errors despite a school official’s revelation two years ago of blatant errors in history textbooks, a teacher said yesterday.

Antonio Calipjo Go, academic supervisor of Marian School of Quezon City, also told the Senate that he found 100 factual errors in a new batch of Grade 3 textbooks in social studies.

But Senator Panfilo Lacson said he hoped to come up with a solution to the problem.

“We hope to be able to put up remedial measures in order to correct the defects in Republic Act 9194 and the Book Development Act,” said Lacson, chairman of the Senate committee on education.

On Sunday, Lacson said he discovered inverted pages on some of 12 million copies of elementary school textbooks.

The next day, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said inspectors discovered the inverted pages in 60,000 copies of the textbooks even before Lacson found them, and that education officials had asked that the defective copies be replaced.

The textbook Go was referring to, “Ang Bagong Pilipino,” was published by the Korean firm Daewoo and is part of the 12 million copies set for distribution this school year to elementary students in the public schools.

Go cited a passage in the book saying “Ang Karagatan ay nag-uugnay sa Pilipinas sa ibang bansa [the seas connect the Philippines to other countries].”

“Isn’t it that the seas actually separate the Philippines from other countries?” Go said.

Another passage says “Nahiwalay ang Pilipinas sa mainland Asia nang lumubog ang tulay na lupa sa pagkatunaw ng yelo nung panahon ng yelo [The Philippines was separated from mainland Asia when the ice melted during the Ice Age].”

Go said the Philippines was separated from the mainland “after” and not “during” the Ice Age.

He also noted that the book defines the acronym Pagasa as “Philippine Atmospheric, Geographical and Astronomical Administration,” when it stood for “Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.”

“Even English books have defects,” Go said, citing a passage saying “The Ifugaos are still building rice terraces today.”

“This error will be passed on to the next generation if not corrected,” Lacson said.

[wynngd]

Anyone of you who graduated college (esp. in engineering), what is your first impression when you started working? Mine is that, Our Higher education is not aligned with what most of the companies in the country need. Take for example in Semiconductor, currently Filipino engineers are hired as reliability engineers, Product Engineers, Quality People etc. While in college we are Electronics and Communication Engineers, which is also the source of engineers for telecoms, digital coms and broadcasting. When the admin of my company and other companies tried to voice out in the Academe what they need from the graduates, the Academe replied that they are just following what CHED requires them and what is given in Board Exams. It's quite disappointing. Philippines and Taiwan both started building the processing zones I think late 70s but we see a very huge difference between the 2. What Taiwan did is they concentrate first all the industries in 1 zone and also put a university inside the zone. Basically, that makes the channel between academe and industries open. While in our country, we have processing zones in Mariveles, Bataan, Cavite, Subic and Laguna while the good colleges are in Metro Manila.

IMO, our government should improve the education in the country by opening the channel between the companies and universities. I'm also not so happy about the Philippine education is more focus on courses that will make the people leave the country, like nursing. It's not that I'm against OFW, they help us a lot thru their remittances. However, we must also think that many great Filipinos are leaving the country. They are investing their minds outside the country instead here in the Philippines. Also lack of support of government. Remember the Pinoy inventor of water powered Car. He sold it to Japan shell, I think, after the government refuse to support his invention. It is sooooo sad

just sharing my point of view...

[le Reine]

Half of all textbooks erroneous

Half of all the textbooks in public schools still contain factual errors despite a school official’s revelation two years ago of blatant errors in history textbooks, a teacher said yesterday.

Antonio Calipjo Go, academic supervisor of Marian School of Quezon City, also told the Senate that he found 100 factual errors in a new batch of Grade 3 textbooks in social studies.

But Senator Panfilo Lacson said he hoped to come up with a solution to the problem.

“We hope to be able to put up remedial measures in order to correct the defects in Republic Act 9194 and the Book Development Act,” said Lacson, chairman of the Senate committee on education.

On Sunday, Lacson said he discovered inverted pages on some of 12 million copies of elementary school textbooks.

The next day, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said inspectors discovered the inverted pages in 60,000 copies of the textbooks even before Lacson found them, and that education officials had asked that the defective copies be replaced.

The textbook Go was referring to, “Ang Bagong Pilipino,” was published by the Korean firm Daewoo and is part of the 12 million copies set for distribution this school year to elementary students in the public schools.

Go cited a passage in the book saying “Ang Karagatan ay nag-uugnay sa Pilipinas sa ibang bansa [the seas connect the Philippines to other countries].”

“Isn’t it that the seas actually separate the Philippines from other countries?” Go said.

Another passage says “Nahiwalay ang Pilipinas sa mainland Asia nang lumubog ang tulay na lupa sa pagkatunaw ng yelo nung panahon ng yelo [The Philippines was separated from mainland Asia when the ice melted during the Ice Age].”

Go said the Philippines was separated from the mainland “after” and not “during” the Ice Age.

He also noted that the book defines the acronym Pagasa as “Philippine Atmospheric, Geographical and Astronomical Administration,” when it stood for “Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.”

“Even English books have defects,” Go said, citing a passage saying “The Ifugaos are still building rice terraces today.”

“This error will be passed on to the next generation if not corrected,” Lacson said.

Gosh, hindi lang kaya sa textbooks maraming maling info. Naalala ko dati nung nasa elementary and HS pa ako, marami ring errors sa questionnaires sa exam.

[Askal82]

Anyone of you who graduated college (esp. in engineering), what is your first impression when you started working? Mine is that, Our Higher education is not aligned with what most of the companies in the country need. Take for example in Semiconductor, currently Filipino engineers are hired as reliability engineers, Product Engineers, Quality People etc. While in college we are Electronics and Communication Engineers, which is also the source of engineers for telecoms, digital coms and broadcasting. When the admin of my company and other companies tried to voice out in the Academe what they need from the graduates, the Academe replied that they are just following what CHED requires them and what is given in Board Exams. It's quite disappointing. Philippines and Taiwan both started building the processing zones I think late 70s but we see a very huge difference between the 2. What Taiwan did is they concentrate first all the industries in 1 zone and also put a university inside the zone. Basically, that makes the channel between academe and industries open. While in our country, we have processing zones in Mariveles, Bataan, Cavite, Subic and Laguna while the good colleges are in Metro Manila.

IMO, our government should improve the education in the country by opening the channel between the companies and universities. I'm also not so happy about the Philippine education is more focus on courses that will make the people leave the country, like nursing. It's not that I'm against OFW, they help us a lot thru their remittances. However, we must also think that many great Filipinos are leaving the country. They are investing their minds outside the country instead here in the Philippines. Also lack of support of government. Remember the Pinoy inventor of water powered Car. He sold it to Japan shell, I think, after the government refuse to support his invention. It is sooooo sad

just sharing my point of view...

I'm a little skeptic about that water-powered car after researching the science behind it. It's like believing in Santa Claus.

However, I share the same sentiments with you regarding the mediocrity of the Philippine educational system. Most educational institutions in the country are reduced into diploma mills churning potential graduates into mindless minions for export or outsource. It is sad that the government is pimping the youth of tomorrow.

[zeejay]

Is this really the case? That students dropped out of college to work in call centers, disgusting.
To all SSC forumers who are working as call center agents, please explain the real scenario.
I think jobs in call centers should help students pay for their college education or masters, post-graduate degree, and not an excuse to drop out of college. Imagine if one day a bubble burst happen on this service sector, what will become of these drop outs - inutil, who’ll sit in one corner and stare at the ceiling. What a waste of human resources..
Oh yeah, and RP is in DESPERATE need of scientists and engineers.
I think the Department of Education should shower scholarships and incentives to college students that are taking science and engineering degree. An assurance of a career after graduation will also motivate these future scientists and engineers. Enough lawyers and politicians! enough is enough.

I have been in a call center for five months and yes it is true that many of those who are employed in the call center industry are undergrads. I am in grad school right now and so when we had some introduction before the training started, i was shocked to have heard that most of my wavemates are just undergraduates or even college drop outs... worse than that is the reality that their english is not that kind of english foreign companies expect of Filipinos.. as they say, "matetrain naman kami mag-english".. i worked in the call center just to try it out... the pay is good, but some companies also offer a job salary equivalent to a college degree holder position in government.. i once asked a fellow if he intends to study, he answered probably no more because he is earning big anyway... i agree with you that working in a call center should not encourage students to stop schooling and be contented with the money they receive... what if one day, like all other things, the call center industry falls because of financial problems and eentually close out, where would these students-cum-call center agents be? Education cannot be equated with anything, it is the key to a good future. In the first place, i believe being an agent is not a career at all. Students should work to finance their studies or help their families without abandoning rhe idea of pursuing with their education. Someday, the younger generation will be professionals too, isn't that a better position? They could even help in different industries beneficial to the local economy and not to capitalists. Never give up education. It requires no age limit anyway.

[zeejay]

i think there was the project of PGMA regarding Modular Libraries rimarily designed to reverse the backlog of public libraries in remote public elementary and high schools nationwide.

[wynngd]

I'm a little skeptic about that water-powered car after researching the science behind it. It's like believing in Santa Claus.

However, I share the same sentiments with you regarding the mediocrity of the Philippine educational system. Most educational institutions in the country are reduced into diploma mills churning potential graduates into mindless minions for export or outsource. It is sad that the government is pimping the youth of tomorrow.

It is really sad seeing that your country is producing people to be outsourced or adopted by other countries...

By the way the water powered car, the inventor brought this in Mapua during my time there and show the technology with the MEs, well I'm an ECE so not familiar with their language. There's also a famous incident about government not supporting our inventors, remember Agapito Flores... (I don't know if this is a legend)

[kiretoce]

I have been in a call center for five months and yes it is true that many of those who are employed in the call center industry are undergrads. I am in grad school right now and so when we had some introduction before the training started, i was shocked to have heard that most of my wavemates are just undergraduates or even college drop outs... worse than that is the reality that their english is not that kind of english foreign companies expect of Filipinos.. as they say, "matetrain naman kami mag-english".. i worked in the call center just to try it out... the pay is good, but some companies also offer a job salary equivalent to a college degree holder position in government.. i once asked a fellow if he intends to study, he answered probably no more because he is earning big anyway... i agree with you that working in a call center should not encourage students to stop schooling and be contented with the money they receive... what if one day, like all other things, the call center industry falls because of financial problems and eentually close out, where would these students-cum-call center agents be? Education cannot be equated with anything, it is the key to a good future. In the first place, i believe being an agent is not a career at all. Students should work to finance their studies or help their families without abandoning rhe idea of pursuing with their education. Someday, the younger generation will be professionals too, isn't that a better position? They could even help in different industries beneficial to the local economy and not to capitalists. Never give up education. It requires no age limit anyway.

In the age of the "Right Here and Right Now" generation, young people these days are blinded by things that they can afford when they have money to burn. :colgate:

[Kaze]

Include patriotism, nationalism in RP textbooks, solon urges


By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 06:45pm (Mla time) 01/26/2007


MANILA, Philippines -- An inquiry into alleged possible deficiencies in the teaching of values in schools due to alleged “sloppily written” and “biased” text books is being sought by an opposition leader at the House of Representatives.

Minority Floor Leader Francis Escudero said textbooks must not only be free from physical defects but must also teach “patriotism and nationalism in order to strengthen the Republic.”

“Many of our textbooks are sloppily written and even biased in favor of certain vested interests in our society at the expense of genuine patriotism and nationalism," Escudero said in a statement.

“Many ills of present Philippine society can be traced to the lack of patriotism and nationalism, especially among those in government authority, who fail to protect and promote the interests of Filipinos whenever they conflict with foreign interests,” he said.

The Constitution provides that all educational institutions should “inculcate patriotism and nationalism, foster love of humanity, respect for human rights, appreciation of the role of national heroes in the historical development of the country," said Escudero.

Section 3 of Article XIV of the Constitution also declares that schools should teach "the rights and duties of citizenship, strengthen ethical and spiritual values, develop moral character and personal discipline, encourage critical and creative thinking, broaden scientific and technological knowledge, and promote vocational efficiency,” he said.

Escudero then pressed for the inclusion of teaching “patriotism and nationalism” in our educational system, and its inclusion particularly in the textbooks on history, social and political science, culture and civic cuties.


http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=45802

---

I'm for this! :) The approval of this would do so much to improve Filipino character who are at lost most of the time. :ohno: Filipino 'flaws' would straighten. :lol:

[Askal82]

Include patriotism, nationalism in RP textbooks, solon urges


By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 06:45pm (Mla time) 01/26/2007


MANILA, Philippines -- An inquiry into alleged possible deficiencies in the teaching of values in schools due to alleged “sloppily written” and “biased” text books is being sought by an opposition leader at the House of Representatives.

Minority Floor Leader Francis Escudero said textbooks must not only be free from physical defects but must also teach “patriotism and nationalism in order to strengthen the Republic.”

“Many of our textbooks are sloppily written and even biased in favor of certain vested interests in our society at the expense of genuine patriotism and nationalism," Escudero said in a statement.

“Many ills of present Philippine society can be traced to the lack of patriotism and nationalism, especially among those in government authority, who fail to protect and promote the interests of Filipinos whenever they conflict with foreign interests,” he said.

The Constitution provides that all educational institutions should “inculcate patriotism and nationalism, foster love of humanity, respect for human rights, appreciation of the role of national heroes in the historical development of the country," said Escudero.

Section 3 of Article XIV of the Constitution also declares that schools should teach "the rights and duties of citizenship, strengthen ethical and spiritual values, develop moral character and personal discipline, encourage critical and creative thinking, broaden scientific and technological knowledge, and promote vocational efficiency,” he said.

Escudero then pressed for the inclusion of teaching “patriotism and nationalism” in our educational system, and its inclusion particularly in the textbooks on history, social and political science, culture and civic cuties.


http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=45802

---

I'm for this! :) The approval of this would do so much to improve Filipino character who are at lost most of the time. :ohno: Filipino 'flaws' would straighten. :lol:

Forcing nationalism down their throats will hardly improve the quality of education at all. They get to clear the text book errors only to be replaced by misplaced nationalism which is actually more damaging as they tend to opinionate facts further blurring the line between truths and lies. The country needs a productive soceity of critical thinkers who have the power to actually make a difference and not the kind of society who are easily duped into their version of nationalism by confusing State with administration who are mostly run by the powerful few with selfish interests.

[Rajah_Soliman]

The country needs a productive soceity of critical thinkers who have the power to actually make a difference and not the kind of society who are easily duped into their version of nationalism by confusing State with administration who are mostly run by the powerful few with selfish interests.

add up to that, we need an educational system that does not contribute to the current power maintenance of the few "nationalistic" oligarchs and the disenfranchisement of the poor.

[Kaze]

Forcing nationalism down their throats will hardly improve the quality of education at all. They get to clear the text book errors only to be replaced by misplaced nationalism which is actually more damaging as they tend to opinionate facts further blurring the line between truths and lies. The country needs a productive soceity of critical thinkers who have the power to actually make a difference and not the kind of society who are easily duped into their version of nationalism by confusing State with administration who are mostly run by the powerful few with selfish interests.


The point is not about quality of education, it's about the quality of the people as a society. Why the hell do you think corruption is still around in our country? It's simply because these Filipinos aren't taught to love their nation but instead themselves. :lol: If we create a society that loves their nation, they too can be critical thinkers not only for themselves but for the good of their community, because they not only think for themselves anymore but for everybody else too! :lol: People who love their nation are the ones who tend to succeed not as individuals but as people of a country truly respected by the world itself! People who love their nation are the better servers of the community, of the society. :lol:

[Askal82]

The point is not about quality of education, it's about the quality of the people as a society. Why the hell do you think corruption is still around in our country? It's simply because these Filipinos aren't taught to love their nation but instead themselves. :lol: If we create a society that loves their nation, they too can be critical thinkers not only for themselves but for the good of their community, because they not only think for themselves anymore but for everybody else too! :lol: People who love their nation are the ones who tend to succeed not as individuals but as people of a country truly respected by the world itself! People who love their nation are the better servers of the community, of the society. :lol:

Yes and the quality of people in the society is telling us what kind of education they are really getting just by simply watching the outcome of the election. I bet that Manny Pacquiao can become the next president of the Philippines simply because people wrongly associate his popularity with heroic nationalism for representing Philippines in the world of boxing without ever questioning his competency and experience in running the national affairs.

[crappypants]

The point is not about quality of education, it's about the quality of the people as a society. Why the hell do you think corruption is still around in our country? It's simply because these Filipinos aren't taught to love their nation but instead themselves. :lol: If we create a society that loves their nation, they too can be critical thinkers not only for themselves but for the good of their community, because they not only think for themselves anymore but for everybody else too! :lol: People who love their nation are the ones who tend to succeed not as individuals but as people of a country truly respected by the world itself! People who love their nation are the better servers of the community, of the society. :lol:

yeah i agree with this. pinoy in the PHils don't have a sense of community . if it's community property it is always trashed. If the jurisdiction of a district is shared ,it is not maintained or developed. Just look at Edsa.

[Kaze]

Yes and the quality of people in the society is telling us what kind of education they are really getting just by simply watching the outcome of the election. I bet that Manny Pacquiao can become the next president of the Philippines simply because people wrongly associate his popularity with heroic nationalism for representing Philippines in the world of boxing without ever questioning his competency and experience in running the national affairs.

Election in our country is truly chaotic and had always been. The media reports’ reflects that. Yet the reflection comes in without any hint of conservatism. It’s so literal to the point of being viewed as ugly or menacing. The viewers, including you, as Filipinos and as individuals, whether or not you’d want to believe all you see and hear in the television is all on you. It’s a choice given to everyone not only Filipinos. Yes, it often serves as education to children because they see this and see the chaos, they hear all this ‘bad’ news and with their innocent minds reflect on what kind of country they have. Does it guarantee good learning? No! It doesn’t, but it guarantees education bad or good.

All the chaos in our country is only a reflection of what kind of society we are. The Filipino who has such a nice, expensive cellular phone, but complains of the quality of his lifestyle, that he has no money for food, or not enough at that, does not even wonder why? Was it because his priority is to acquire material things instead of how much food he has in the table to keep him surviving? Was it because the Filipino cares more for his load than for his rice? We have a lot of underclass citizens, but how can they have cellular phones when the underclass citizens of industrialized nations don’t even have them? How can a tricycle driver, who probably earns at least P500 a day have a cellular phone much more expensive than the by-contract phones of the majority of people in America? These people obviously have money, but it’s saddening to know that their ‘money’ is set aside for less important things like cell phones than the more important things like food. Blame it on the ills of our society.

Why is that Filipinos have ‘crab mentality’ or ‘colonial mentality’ that everything foreign is better and everything Filipino must at first be put to doubt? Why is it that Filipinos have the tendency to pull on each other, if not put down each other, when they can be helping each other? Why it is that the Filipino feel the need to compete against their own, against fellow Filipinos, instead of uniting and fighting together? Why is it that Filipinos harbor jealousy of each other, envy and trash each other, only because of status or success? Blame it on the ills of our society.

Why do you think we have politicians who never stop bickering? Do they feel the need to do so, at the expense of this nation, just so they could fulfill their own agenda? Are these Filipinos thinking for the country or for themselves? It’s obviously for themselves. Why though? It’s because we lack nationalism, we lack love of country, love for our own race or people. All the chaos in the country won’t be around if we have this sense of patriotism that everything must be for the good of the country, of the people than for our own. Instead we create the opposite, making us divided, and failing us. United we stand, divided we fall.

If there’s one thing industrialized nations have in common with developing nations, then that’s underclass citizens in their society. We all, not only Filipinos, have people who struggle. Yet, in the case of our country, if we are taught the sense of community, the sense of oneness, the sense of responsibility and of duty to do what’s right for the nation, for everyone else not only for ourselves, then we can be solving the social ills in this nation as well as the problems. That's nationalism, that's patriotism, that's what Filipinos need most before anything else. The social ills will diminish, in replacement of which is a great Filipino nation arising. :lol:

Once again, Manny Pacquiao is a boxer and an ordinary citizen. If he is a nationalist, then good for him. Does it mean we need to have him as president though? No! It’s all a choice. The Filipinos will choose to their own accord. You make the choice whether or not you want him as president. Is it that too difficult to understand? :lol:

How Filipinos perceived Manny Pacquiao is to their own accord.


Quality education only works when the person learning has the learning skills and the determination . Otherwise it doesn't work. Quality education does have to come in handy though. :lol:

The point is, Nationalistic values needs to be taught in schools, but not only in schools but in our homes as well.

[Kaze]

I say we teach nationalism in schools as well as in our homes. I say we do this with quality education in schools as well.

[kiretoce]

Parents now prefer sending kids abroad to study

MANILA, JANUARY 27, 2007 (STAR) -- Because of the educational standards in the country, parents would rather send their children to colleges and universities abroad, the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA) said.

COCOPEA, an organization of academicians from private universities and colleges, blames this on the tuition cap in private schools.

COCOPEA president Vicente Fabella said local colleges and universities are finding it difficult to improve their facilities and stem the influx of teachers to better paying schools abroad because of the ceiling imposed on tuition hikes.

Thus, he said even with almost the same cost of education in private schools here, parents would rather send their children abroad as it is perceived that they have better teachers and facilities.

COCOPEA urged the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) the other day to lift the tuition cap in all private schools in the country.

Fabella said private schools have already suffered a lot due to the ceiling imposed on tuition and other fees, and the students are affected in the end.

He said CHED must also understand that colleges and universities must invest in modern facilities and upgrade the salaries of professors to produce the best graduates.

CHED Chairman Carlito Puno, however, rejected the demand, saying the increase in school fees allowed every year is based on the inflation rate. If colleges and universities want to improve their facilities, they should treat it as capital expenditure and not charge these expenses to the students by raising fees.

However, he justified the 300 percent increase in tuition at the University of the Philippines, saying that it has been some 20 years since the state university increased its fees.

Puno said the bulk of the increase would go to the stipend of the scholars and only students paying tuition will be affected by the increase.

[demented_pigeon]

we should oppose any tuition increase in state universities if it will not be accompanied by increase in state subsidy. the argument given that the tuition increase in UP was in order to improve the facilities. if they wanted the facilities to be improved then why would the government slash almost a hundred million pesos in subsidies. i'm not opposes to tuition increase in state universities so long as the government should also invest money in it and not cut back on subsidies.
there should also be a prioritization of basic education.
we keep on bragging about out colleges and universities. we even have a thread just for that here in ssc. but forget that basic education is the cornerstone of 14 years of education for a person. we must focus now on the elemntary and high school level because sadly, only around 50% of those in grade one make it to grade 2.

[portludlow]

Include patriotism, nationalism in RP textbooks, solon urges


By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 06:45pm (Mla time) 01/26/2007


MANILA, Philippines -- An inquiry into alleged possible deficiencies in the teaching of values in schools due to alleged “sloppily written” and “biased” text books is being sought by an opposition leader at the House of Representatives.

Minority Floor Leader Francis Escudero said textbooks must not only be free from physical defects but must also teach “patriotism and nationalism in order to strengthen the Republic.”

There is no question that we should incorporate nationalism in our core curriculum, however, they should be careful on how to implement it. Students might have trouble understanding genuine patriotism and misplaced nationalism. Globalization is now the name of the game. There is now a worldwide intergration of capital markets, trade and financial flows. Misplaced nationalism can inspire hostile reaction to anything non-filipino and erect barriers for our own economic progress. It also creates new avenues for corruption. The resulting close-mindedness can push us in the dark ages.

[Rajah_Soliman]

imo this is a good sign.... send these kids abroad to study and they will realize how our schools are trailing behind those in more advanced countries ... imo :cheers:

Parents now prefer sending kids abroad to study

[Rajah_Soliman]

Free lunch cuts back students’ absences in Negros Oriental

By Romy G. Amarado
Visayas Bureau
Last updated 10:48pm (Mla time) 01/28/2007

DUMAGUETE CITY— Government and school officials in Negros Oriental have found a way to check absenteeism and the cutting of classes among elementary pupils in public schools, especially in the mountains—a free lunch.

Schools division superintendent Aleli Abne said attendance improved remarkably in public schools in the third district and several pilot areas in the first and second districts, where the “free noon meal program” was implemented beginning in October last year.

“Absenteeism and cutting of classes of our pupils are practically gone, after the program was put in place,” Abne said.

She said the feeding program had also enhanced the learning capacity of the pupils, who were now in school and eating nutritious foods, but this could be validated during the examination to be given in March, she added.

A brainchild of Rep. Herminio Teves, the program was implemented in 202 public elementary schools in his district with 62,117 pupils and several schools in the two other districts.

Before, many pupils whose houses were quite far from school tended to skip the afternoon classes or would slip away when hungry, Abne said.

Under the program, the pupils are served rice, vegetables, dilis, anchovies and other food with high nutrient contents.

Teves’ chief of staff, Rolly Bongoyan said the program cost P164,610 a day. The funding, he said, was taken from the lawmaker’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and his personal funds.

Bongoyan said the program might be stopped as funding was only up to March.

The Senate disapproved a Teves-proposed budget for a nationwide feeding program despite its passage in the House of Representatives.

[crappypants]

imo this is a good sign.... send these kids abroad to study and they will realize how our schools are trailing behind those in more advanced countries ... imo :cheers:

what's good is if they return like other nationalities, koreans ,Indians
but a lot of them don't.

[Askal82]

There is no question that we should incorporate nationalism in our core curriculum, however, they should be careful on how to implement it. Students might have trouble understanding genuine patriotism and misplaced nationalism. Globalization is now the name of the game. There is now a worldwide intergration of capital markets, trade and financial flows. Misplaced nationalism can inspire hostile reaction to anything non-filipino and erect barriers for our own economic progress. It also creates new avenues for corruption. The resulting close-mindedness can push us in the dark ages.


Misplaced nationalism emphasizes blind loyalty to the state by confusing it with country. It further breeds ignorance and arrogance instead of positively using the power of reason to break those barriers of progress.

[Askal82]

Election in our country is truly chaotic and had always been. The media reports’ reflects that. Yet the reflection comes in without any hint of conservatism. It’s so literal to the point of being viewed as ugly or menacing. The viewers, including you, as Filipinos and as individuals, whether or not you’d want to believe all you see and hear in the television is all on you. It’s a choice given to everyone not only Filipinos. Yes, it often serves as education to children because they see this and see the chaos, they hear all this ‘bad’ news and with their innocent minds reflect on what kind of country they have. Does it guarantee good learning? No! It doesn’t, but it guarantees education bad or good.

All the chaos in our country is only a reflection of what kind of society we are. The Filipino who has such a nice, expensive cellular phone, but complains of the quality of his lifestyle, that he has no money for food, or not enough at that, does not even wonder why? Was it because his priority is to acquire material things instead of how much food he has in the table to keep him surviving? Was it because the Filipino cares more for his load than for his rice? We have a lot of underclass citizens, but how can they have cellular phones when the underclass citizens of industrialized nations don’t even have them? How can a tricycle driver, who probably earns at least P500 a day have a cellular phone much more expensive than the by-contract phones of the majority of people in America? These people obviously have money, but it’s saddening to know that their ‘money’ is set aside for less important things like cell phones than the more important things like food. Blame it on the ills of our society.

Why is that Filipinos have ‘crab mentality’ or ‘colonial mentality’ that everything foreign is better and everything Filipino must at first be put to doubt? Why is it that Filipinos have the tendency to pull on each other, if not put down each other, when they can be helping each other? Why it is that the Filipino feel the need to compete against their own, against fellow Filipinos, instead of uniting and fighting together? Why is it that Filipinos harbor jealousy of each other, envy and trash each other, only because of status or success? Blame it on the ills of our society.

Why do you think we have politicians who never stop bickering? Do they feel the need to do so, at the expense of this nation, just so they could fulfill their own agenda? Are these Filipinos thinking for the country or for themselves? It’s obviously for themselves. Why though? It’s because we lack nationalism, we lack love of country, love for our own race or people. All the chaos in the country won’t be around if we have this sense of patriotism that everything must be for the good of the country, of the people than for our own. Instead we create the opposite, making us divided, and failing us. United we stand, divided we fall.

If there’s one thing industrialized nations have in common with developing nations, then that’s underclass citizens in their society. We all, not only Filipinos, have people who struggle. Yet, in the case of our country, if we are taught the sense of community, the sense of oneness, the sense of responsibility and of duty to do what’s right for the nation, for everyone else not only for ourselves, then we can be solving the social ills in this nation as well as the problems. That's nationalism, that's patriotism, that's what Filipinos need most before anything else. The social ills will diminish, in replacement of which is a great Filipino nation arising. :lol:

Once again, Manny Pacquiao is a boxer and an ordinary citizen. If he is a nationalist, then good for him. Does it mean we need to have him as president though? No! It’s all a choice. The Filipinos will choose to their own accord. You make the choice whether or not you want him as president. Is it that too difficult to understand? :lol:

How Filipinos perceived Manny Pacquiao is to their own accord.


Quality education only works when the person learning has the learning skills and the determination . Otherwise it doesn't work. Quality education does have to come in handy though. :lol:

The point is, Nationalistic values needs to be taught in schools, but not only in schools but in our homes as well.

Instead of brainwashing them with nationalism in schools which is already an overkill, it is more practical if they teach them to become more responsible and productive members of the society. Teach them to think for themselves by providing unadulterated information and necesarry skills instead of spoonfeeding them with the wrong kind of education.

[kiretoce]

imo this is a good sign.... send these kids abroad to study and they will realize how our schools are trailing behind those in more advanced countries ... imo :cheers:

I agree wholeheartedly. Let them see and experience what's beyond the Philippines' shores, let them draw and compare, open their minds.

[Rajah_Soliman]

I agree wholeheartedly. Let them see and experience what's beyond the Philippines' shores, let them draw and compare, open their minds.

yup... but what if they don't return to this country anymore (as @crappypants pointed out).... :dunno: sayang naman


btw, most of our technocrats were also educated abroad, how come they haven't contributed much to the improvement of our educational system? i think one problem with us pinoys is that we are adamant to change, kaya walang pagbabago, probably we have to be more experimental to find out the right (educational) system for us and to effect change ......... IMO

[Askal82]

ASTI introduces course modules for integrated circuit design


INQUIRER.net
Last updated 05:59pm (Mla time) 01/28/2007

IN AN effort to strengthen the country’s microelectronics design capabilities, the Department of Science and Technology – Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DoST-ASTI) has introduced self-paced learning modules for integrated circuit design courses.

The course modules, a mix of software-based learning and laboratory implementation, will be distributed to local universities and colleges that want to upgrade their curriculums with advanced subjects on microelectronics.

The content of the course modules were based on materials developed by the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department of the University of the Philippines, Diliman.

The modules are intended for the self-paced learning of instructors as well as for use as instructional materials in classrooms.

ASTI conducted training activities in several schools across the country on the modules. Forty-six faculty members from 27 universities and colleges throughout the country attended the training events, which consisted of lectures and demos on how to use the course materials and hands-on laboratory exercises to familiarize the participants with the software.

ASTI also created an on-line discussion group wherein attendees of the trainings can communicate with each other.

http://technology.inquirer.net/infotech/infotech/view_article.php?article_id=46113

[demented_pigeon]

Misplaced nationalism emphasizes blind loyalty to the state by confusing it with country. It further breeds ignorance and arrogance instead of positively using the power of reason to break those barriers of progress.

that's the difference between official nationalisms (propagated by state forces) and those of the popular nationalism (the genuine one derived from the people). the former only seeks to legitimize government policies and actions.

[crappypants]

Monday January 29, 2007





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We can’t depend on OFWs forever
DEMAND AND SUPPLY By Boo Chanco
The Philippine Star 01/29/2007

The way our government spins the positive news about OFW remittances, they make it look like Ate Glue should get credit for all that. The worse part of it is the impression being made that sending our workers abroad is an important permanent pillar of Ate Glue’s economic program. If this is so, we have reason to worry simply because it is not sustainable. Sending workers abroad was supposed to have been a stop gap measure, something temporary while government works to get our domestic economy humming.

I have mostly considered the opinions of the Ibon Foundation a lot of leftist propaganda that cannot be relied on for real policy making. But this time, I completely agree with the view they expressed that "the growing dependence of the country’s economy on the money sent home by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) has become alarming."

It is definitely alarming that the remittances of around $12.3 billion last year were roughly equivalent to 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. There are those who estimate the real figure at the $14-billion to $21- billion range, if other remittance channels are considered.

"The double digit mark makes the Philippines the most overseas remittance-dependent economy of any significant size in the world. This means that the economy continues to be kept afloat by the external and volatile OFW remittances, and not by a strong local economic capacity," an Ibon economist was reported to have said.

Government statements estimate that about two to three thousand Filipinos leave the country everyday to find jobs abroad. That is definitely a sign that government’s economic programs have failed to create jobs domestically. The scarcity of jobs indicates, as Ibon observes, "the economy lacks an internal dynamism that is able to productively harness and employ the Filipino workforce."

Quick cut to Vietnam, one of the fastest growing economies in the region today... According to the Financial Times, Vietnam is now experiencing a spectacular stock market boom. Interest from both Vietnamese and foreign investors fuelled a stunning market rally at the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange.

Their one big problem however, is lack of qualified manpower. It is hard enough to teach communists the basics and the nuances of a strictly capitalist money making institution, they also have the general inability to communicate in English. I have a strange feeling that headhunters will soon be prowling the floor of the Philippine Stock Exchange to engage talent to help keep the bulls running in Vietnam’s stock market. We have some of the best analysts and traders in the region, after all.

The Financial Times article went on to say that unlike in many other Asian countries including ours, Vietnamese students abroad are starting to come home to provide the trained manpower to manage their country’s economic boom. But they don’t have the numbers their country needs. Our problem is, we have more than we need and many talented and trained manpower are merely fetching coffee or twiddling their fingers here while waiting for action.

Many of our bright young talents have grown tired of waiting and have joined the exodus abroad. This is also why OFW remittances have ballooned. The composition of our manpower export has started to shift from brawns to brains. They earn more and are sending back more. The danger however, is that this college educated types tend to assimilate well in their host countries and end up as permanent migrants... a total loss for our country.

Former banker Ramon "Ray" Orosa warned that in the long run, the " unfortunate consequence of their departure is to deprive our economy of the qualified labor needed in order to build a sustainable economy. The lack of qualified, competent labor has so grown that even foreign investors are now concerned whether to invest in the country due to the lack of qualified manpower."

Ray worries that "the declines in domestic investment implied a diminishing capacity to expand production and warned of a slowdown in the near future." In other words, go and enjoy their remittances now. But don’t get addicted to it. That’s just a short term benefit. Unless we are able to attract them to eventually come home and help rebuilt our country’s economy, we are going to be worse off in the future.

How do we get them to come home, or for that matter, keep them from leaving? According to a recent World Bank study, good governance will do the trick.

"What really helps putative migrants stay at home is not just higher wages but the prospect of fast, effective reform, bringing better public services and a dependable legal system." The final misconception is about what motivates migration, the World Bank study notes. " Everyone thinks it is all about income differentials, but actually it is all about expectations. Even in poor countries we can expect low levels of migration if people think that conditions there will improve," argues Brice Quillin, one of the report’s authors.

There are no ready-made solutions for effective migration policy, yet one possible route might be to combine short-term migration with incentives for return or circular migration. Circular migration could allow migrants to spend short periods of time abroad without creating new amounts of permanent migration.

Circular migration, the World Bank study asserts, will yield a ‘Triple Win’ for migrants and sending and receiving countries. Potential benefits of circular migration include: Receiving countries could fill labor shortages, increase revenue, and reduce social tensions related to undocumented and unmanaged migration; Sending countries would accumulate human capital that might otherwise be lost; and Migrants could increase their income, build human capital and financial savings, maintain links with their families, pay lower remittance costs, and create trade/investment linkages between countries.

Theoretically, returning OFWs constitute the great hope of our country for the future. Many of them have some savings that could spur countryside development. Their overseas experience has exposed them to more effective governance that would make them a force for improvement in our own governance as well.

Our big problem is how to get this circular migration going... how can we get our trained migrants back. As such, an effective OFW program should not be singularly focused on remittances but also on how we can use this phenomenon as an investment for our future, by getting our trained manpower back home.

The fast and easy answer is to get our government to drastically improve governance so that every Filipino will be so proud of his country and there would be no place in the world for him like home. But given the quality of our political leaders and the quality of our bureaucracy today, good governance is a dream. I want to think it shouldn’t be hopeless, unless we give up. Economic forecasts
Albert Einstein dies and goes to heaven only to be informed that his room is not yet ready. "I hope you will not mind waiting in a dormitory. We are very sorry, but it’s the best we can do and you will have to share the room with others," he is told by St. Peter.

Einstein says that this is no problem at all and that there is no need to make such a fuss. So St. Peter leads him to the dorm. They enter and Albert is introduced to all of the present inhabitants.

"See, here is your first room mate. He has an IQ of 180!", says St. Peter.

"That’s wonderful!" says Einstein. "We can discuss mathematics!"

"And here is your second room mate. His IQ is 150!".

"That’s wonderful!" says Einstein. "We can discuss physics!"

Suddenly, another man moves out to capture Einstein’s hand and shake it. "I’m your last room mate and I’m sorry, but my IQ is only 80."

Einstein smiles back at him and says, "So, where do you think interest rates are headed?"

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is bchanco@gmail.com

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[heathcliff]

Instead of brainwashing them with nationalism in schools which is already an overkill, it is more practical if they teach them to become more responsible and productive members of the society. Teach them to think for themselves by providing unadulterated information and necesarry skills instead of spoonfeeding them with the wrong kind of education.

Our students should be encouraged to have a critical mind - not to simply swallow what the books say, but to find out what really happened and to develop their personal analysis of historical facts. Rightly led, our youth will learn to appreciate for themselves the real essence of heroism and nationalism.

[chixbebe]

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=politics6_jan31_2007
By Florante S. Solmerin

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus has ordered an investigation on the 12-million error-laden textbooks to be used by public schools nationwide this school year.

Lapus made the announcement following incessant criticisms about the errors and ordered an extensive two-day review of the books to determine how the mistakes can be corrected.

“In order to verify the allegations of content errors, our Instructional Materials Council Secretariat has involved 35 master teachers and head teachers, all of whom are experts and practitioners in social studies,” Lapus said.

A review team found an average of four factual errors per book, Lapus said.
Typographical and spelling errors were also present, as well as some minor production errors, which included books with untrimmed and wrinkled pages, and smudges.

Major production errors including books with inverted or missing pages and poor binding were rejected outright by the recipient division offices.

As of Jan. 25, the education department IMCS conducted at least 23 inspections at the warehouses of publishing companies to determine the quality of textbooks that will be distributed to the different schools nationwide.

At least 18,071 samples of the textbooks were inspected to determine major production errors.

The education chief also enjoined the public to involve themselves in the review of the textbooks.

“As part of the Textbook Count program, we welcome the continued participation of our civil society partners in the review of these materials. We cannot allow our students to use textbooks with these errors. This is totally unacceptable. We want this done right,” Lapus said.

Meanwhile, Lapus said his department is one with Senator Panfilo Lacson in the quest for truth and improvement in the procurement system.

“We believe that this is crucial in our efforts toward attaining quality education,” he said.

The Senate educational sub-committee on textbooks, headed by Lacson, in conjunction with the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, held a public hearing last Jan. 23 on four Senate resolutions concerning textbook quality and procurement. During the hearing, the senator also cleared the department of any involvement in alleged payoffs made by some key members of the publishing industry to some legislators in order to stop the probe.

While the department has already instituted many reforms in the department’s procurement system, Lapus argued that the system can be improved. ‘‘This whole process is very helpful in improving our capacity to protect public interest in future textbook procurement transactions. To us, this is a moral issue. We cannot allow our students to suffer from the ineptness of a few individuals.”

The Inter-Agency Bids and Awards Committee, the committee in charge of the procurement of these textbooks, was composed of several government agencies, headed by the Department of Budget and Management. The textbook bidding process was governed by World Bank international competitive bidding guidelines.

[beads_strawberries]

^^ I've heard about those books. Well, good thing the DepEd made an initiative for this issue. After all, it should assure that the books used by our students are of good quality. That or we are just spending funds for books which could not give enough knowledge to our students.

[chixbebe]

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/feb/02/yehey/metro/20070202met5.html
By JONATHAN M. HICAP , Reporter

PUBLIC-SCHOOL students who don’t have computers in school can now improve their computer literacy and surf the Internet through STI Mobile School, a computer laboratory in a bus that aims to bring technology to even the remote areas in the country.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus and STI officials unveiled the STI Mobile School on Wednesday at the DepEd Central Office in Pasig City.

“STI aims to improve the country’s competitive advantage by providing the Filipino youth, the underprivileged especially, ICT and ICT-enhanced education,” said Monico Jacob, STI president and CEO.

The STI Mobile School is equipped with 24 multimedia computers, each with wireless broadband Internet connection, DVD-CD writer, NetOp School Software and powered by Intel Pentium 4 chip. The bus, an Isuzu LV314 model, is fully air conditioned.

STI said the bus would be deployed to 64 public high schools in Luzon this year, targeting about 12,000 student beneficiaries.

The mobile classroom is part of STI Foundation’s “Driving Education Where IT Matters” project that gives students and youth belonging to disadvantaged sectors access to education and IT opportunities.

“This Mobile School represents the best in corporate social responsibility. For not only does it represent the commitment of STI Foundation to the cause of public education, it also represents the innovation and creativity that we attribute to the private sector, the innovation and creativity that can do wonders for our public-school system,” Lapus said.

The education department said there’s only one computer for every 25,000 elementary pupils and one computer for every 728 elementary-school teachers. In the secondary level, there is one computer for every 111 high-school student and one for every three high-school teachers.

STI aims to use the mobile school as instrument for the youth to realize the importance of computer literacy in their pursuit of higher education.

[zeejay]

the government, together with private instituitions are jointly making efforts to ensure quality education is available to the Filipino youth. In doing so, more children will be given free and better education and will not be in to drugs or other evils of the society. With the joint efforts of the government and some computer institutions, the Filipinos will be educated on modern technology and may be able to be employed easily because of their computer literacy.

[heathcliff]

The DepEd has integrated savings consciousness in the curriculum of public high schools, in Values Education and Economics subjects. This is something that needs to be inculcated into our youth early on, a value which, sadly, Filipinos are lacking today.

[Sinjin P.]

Revision of high school curriculum set this year

By TONY PE. RIMANDO

CEBU CITY — The Department of Education (DepEd) will revise the high school curriculum next school year to make the four-year secondary education more responsive to the needs of graduating elementary school children.

Education Undersecretary for programs and projects Wilma Logronio-Labrador reported during the 2007 national conference of DepEd schools superintendents at Parklane International Hotel here that the proposed revised curriculum, initiated by Education Secretary Jesli A. Lapus, contains two streams.

Labrador said the first stream calls for the enrichment of technology and livelihood education (TLE) subjects in all regular high schools while the second stream intends to strengthen technical-vocational (tech-voc) curriculum in all secondary schools offering tech-voc courses.

Under the first stream, specialization and skills training would start as early as first year, Labrador said, adding that the program will be piloted in 100 selected regular high schools in 17 regions starting next school year.

She said the first stream curriculum offers courses that are ladderized without additional hours.

Labrador said that the second stream, which seeks to enhance and strengthen tech-voc institutions, will be piloted in 60 schools within the premises of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and in 20 agri-fisheries schools supervised by the Department of Agriculture.

According to Labrador, the implementation of the revised high school curriculum will be collaborated and supported by various partner agencies.

[chixbebe]

Australia’s support for Muslim education in the country serves as a model for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a peacemaking strategy that would help achieve long-term peace and development in Mindanao, the Australian Embassy in Manila said yesterday.

The embassy said officials from the Thai Ministry of Education and Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs recently visited Davao to learn about the educational approaches being undertaken by the Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao (BEAM), a joint-project of the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID).

Embassy officials said the group, accompanied by officials from AusAID, met DepEd officials and BEAM staffers in Davao during the three-day Muslim Education Exchange Program (MEEP).

MEEP aims to establish links among the different stakeholders and showcase the interventions developed by the BEAM-Expanded Support for Muslim Education (ESME) team for possible adaptation in the Thai and Indonesian education systems.

"I have gained a lot about the management of Muslim education in the Philippines from this exchange. Upon my return to my country, I will make a report about the strategies I have learned from BEAM, among which are the ustadz (religious teacher) training, procedures to develop a comprehensive Muslim curriculum and a possible collaboration between Thai and Philippine universities," the Australian embassy quoted Prasert Geowpet, Inspector General of the Thai Ministry of Education, as saying.

Director of Higher Islamic Education in the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs (MORA) Abdurrahman Mas’ud was also quoted by the embassy as saying: "The topics discussed (in the MEEP) were all relevant in Indonesia. More dialogues should be organized to talk about issues such as poverty, injustice and the lack of education and competence which are affecting ASEAN countries."

Noor Mohammad Saada, BEAM Muslim Education coordinator, said BEAM-ESME does not provide only training but it is also building bridges among Muslim teachers and madaris (Muslim schools) and give them the space and opportunity to articulate their aspirations. More than just an affirmative action, ESME is a peace building strategy for long-term peace and development in Mindanao.

The Australian Embassy said BEAM assists Muslim schools obtain DepEd recognition and provides trainings for madrasah (school) administrators in school management, while improving teaching competencies, upgrading limited facility and materials development.

It also helps the Bureau of Madaris Education in DepEd-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to take a more proactive and sustainable leadership role within its jurisdiction.

The project also supports programs focused on assisting DepEd introduce Arabic language and Islamic Values Education (ALIVE) subjects into the curriculum of public schools within Muslim communities.

BEAM is one of the Australian government’s education initiatives that demonstrate Australia’s strengths in the field of Islamic studies, the embassy said.

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200702050415.htm
— Helen Flores

[beads_strawberries]

^^ If this is necessary, why not? After all, it might really be the right time to revise the present curriculum of our education system. We are in a very fast changing and challenging environment and the needs of the youth in terms of quality of education also changes as time goes by.

Just be careful with the changes. Not all can easily adapt to such changes. But as I said, if it will be developing the quality of our education, then this should be implemented as soon as possible.

[kiretoce]

"Teenpreneur" competition challenges high school students

The Entrepreneurs School of Asia, in cooperation with the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship, launched the Philippines’ first inter-high school entrepreneurship competition dubbed “Teenpreneur Challenge.” The challenge involves allowing the ideas and inputs of high school students to be used to improve livelihood projects of Gawad Kalinga communities.

The competition gathered 25 teams from 20 high schools in Metro Manila. The participating schools are Assumption College (San Lorenzo), Elizabeth Seton School, Immaculate Conception Academy, Immaculate Heart of Mary, International Christian Academy, Kostka School, Lourdes School of Quezon City, Makati Hope Christian, Miriam College, O.B. Montessori, Philippine Science High School, Reedley International School, San Beda College, San Benildo Integrated School, St. Bridget School, St. Paul’s College (Pasig), St. Paul’s University (Quezon City), Tabernacle of Faith Christian Academy, and Xavier School.

The teams will be trained by entrepreneur lecturers from the school and the University of Portsmouth (United Kingdom) before they embark on the challenge of providing winning ideas to improve the business performance of the Gawad Kalinga communities’ livelihood projects.

The competition’s culminating activity will be the Teenpreneur-Gawad Kalinga Bazaar on March 2 to 4 at SM Mall of Asia during the Tourism Negosyo Expo.

Vivianne Tan, Entrepreneurs School of Asia co-founder and founding trustee of the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship, said the competition sought to address the gap in GoNegosyo’s youth programs, which are mostly for college students and young professionals.

“If we inculcate entrepreneurial values early on to the next generation, then we have bigger chances of finally creating a country of entrepreneurs,” she said.

“The participating schools are so excited because the students are not only able to hone their entrepreneurial schools but are also contributing to the development of society through the Gawad Kalinga communities,” said Joel Santos, the school’s co-founder and chairman of the challenge.

Teenpreneur Challenge is sponsored by taipan Lucio Tan’s Tan Yan Kee Foundation and the Splash Group of Companies owned by Dr. Rolando Hortaleza. The main beneficiary of the competition is Bayan-Anihan Livelihood Program of Gawad Kalinga communities.

Entrepreneurs School of Asia was established in 1999 as Asia’s first college dedicated to entrepreneurship education and research. The institution has its main campus in Metro Manila with a satellite campus in Hangzhou, China. For information, call 638-1188 or log on to www.entrepreneur.edu.ph.

[kiretoce]

Teachers eyeing reform in Math curriculum
Friday, February 16 2007

An organization of Math teachers is eyeing reforms in the Math education in the primary and secondary levels to help produce more globally-competitive professionals in the future.

"Being more mathematically-competent means more than having the ability to compute and perform algorithms and mathematical procedures," Catherine Vistro-Yu, president of the Philippine Council of Mathematics Teacher Educators (MATHTED) Inc. said on Friday during a roundtable discussion at the Traders Hotel in Pasay City.

The goal of the reform focuses on developing the students' critical and analytical thinking, and this, according to her, includesm problem solving, communicating mathematically, reasoning mathematically and making mathematical connections.

An estimated 18 million Filipino students are currently enrolled in public high schools. Of this, 12.09 million are elementary pupils while 5 million are in high school.

Results of the National Achievement Tests conducted by the Department of Education in 2005 showed that fourth-year students in public schools garnered a mean percentage score of 50.7 in math, 39.49 in science and 51.33 in English.

In a worldwide survey of the trends in international mathematics and science study for 2003, Filipino students ranked 41st in science and 42nd in mathematics among eighth-graders from 45 countries.

Filipino fourth-graders ranked 22nd out of 25 countries in science and mathematics, based on the survey.

The reforms also aim to develop fully-competent mathematics teachers who will posses a strong mathematical content knowledge, and strong teaching and management skills, Yu said.

“Mathematics should be real to students and therefore, teachers should be mindful of students’ contexts when teaching mathematics,” she added.

Teachers must have a good and solid pedagogical knowledge, which includes the understanding of students and their development as learners, knowledge of general teaching methodologies and classroom processes, hence he or she must have good lesson planning techniques, knowledge of theories of assessment, and understanding of professional responsibilities, she said.

“Mathematics can never be learned in an instant, but rather requires lots of work and attitude…mathematics as a field continues to develop and evolve. Therefore, the teaching of it must keep up with the developments in the field," Yu stressed.

[kiretoce]

PGMA zeroes in on science and technology research and development
Friday, February 16 2007

To cope with the challenges of globalization, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued Friday an Executive Order creating a Presidential Coordinating Council on Research and Development and earmarked P200 million for scholarship programs on science and technology (S&T).

Showing the signed Executive Order during her speech at the 2007 International Science and Technology Conference of the Philippine-American Academy of Science and Engineering (PAASE), held at the Century Park Hotel in Manila, the President said she has ordered Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya to allocate P200 million for the scholarship program.

"In my State of the Nation Address (SONA), I said that a country that wants to be a player in the global economy needs bold and well-funded research and development initiatives on its own. For in today's global economy, knowledge is the greatest creator of wealth," the President said.

The PAASE conference is a bi-annual activity that intends to share scientific information and promote collaboration among local and international Filipino science and technology researchers.

This year's conference, in cooperation with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP), and Philippine Association for Technological Education (PATE), is themed "Science, Engineering, and Technology in Economic Development."

The President said the issuance of the executive order and the allocation of P200 million for the scholarship programs are part of the five action plans agreed upon when PAASE and the government's education and information and communications technology (ICT) agencies met last year.

The President said foremost among the action plans is a review of policies by a Presidential Coordinating Body.

"Today I am issuing an Executive Order creating a Presidential Council on Research and Development," the President said as she showed the signed copy of the Order.

The second agreed action plan, the President said, is to expand the number of Filipino S&T experts as building up of S&T capacity is urgently needed to enhance productivity, competitiveness and problem-solving skills.

"This morning I have a phone conversation with Budget Secretary Andaya. I have instructed him to release P200 million for Science and Engineering Masters and Ph.D. scholarship program," the President said.

The President said the third agreement called for the establishment of a science complex.

"Our supplemental budget for 2006 provided P500 million for a UP Science Complex. I asked UP president (Emerlinda) Roman how is it coming along and she said it is coming along fine," she said.

The fourth agreement, according to the Chief Executive, is to strengthen linkages between and among the stakeholders of S&T development to speed up technology transfer to micro, small, and medium enterprises.

The President said she has instructed DOST Secretary Estrella Alabastro to put up four business incubators this year, including one in Camarines Sur, a coconut producing province, to promote virgin coconut oil.

"We would like virgin coconut oil to be as famous as Italian olive oil is," the President said.

She also asked the PAASE members to provide the media with information materials, as the fifth agreement was to increase public awareness and advocacy for S&T.

The President said increased public and private sector spending such as for R&D and S&T is one of the paybacks of the country's fiscal reforms.

Studies have shown that economic growth can be best sustained through technological innovation that can come about from R&D.

"Now that we can get a bigger share of the budget for science and technology, I am optimistic that together we can fully tap the wonders of S&T to achieve growth, preserve peace, and improve lives on the longer term," the President said.

[chixbebe]

The Quezon City government will soon be fielding mobile computer classrooms to help improve delivery of information and communication technology services to public elementary schools pupils.

Under the "E-school on Board Program," shipping containers will be converted into computer laboratories or classrooms to offer one-month skills acquisition program to grade six pupils on courses such as word processing, spreadsheets, Powerpoint Presentation and Internet use.

City officials expect grade six graduates to become computer literate by the time they enter high school because of the program.

The city government will set aside P14.7 million for the project. Initially, five will be fielded, with two units to be assigned to the city’s second district, which has the city’s highest share of the urban poor population.

A memorandum of agreement will be signed by Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. with the program’s officials to facilitate the implementation. City Schools Division Superintendent Victoria Fuentes said the program will complement the national government’s e-curricular program for elementary schools.

Last week, the Commission on Information and Communication Technology chose Quezon City as one of the recipients of its e-Skwela project. Under the program, ICT-enhance educational opportunities will be provided to out-of-school youth and adults.


http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200702206307.htm
The Philippine Star 02/20/2007
– Perseus Echeminada

[kiretoce]

Still hemorrhaging....brain drain continues on.... :ohno:

==========================================================

Learning to look
By David Harrison

To fill a void in Virginia, schools are sending ambassadors to the Philippines to find qualified teachers.

Faced with an acute shortage of teachers, Roanoke school officials are setting their sights on recruits as far away as the Philippines.

The school system's human resources director, Gloria Simon, traveled to Manila, the capital of the Philippines, and to the city of Cebu from Jan. 13 to Jan. 19 to meet with job candidates.

She talked to 30 or 40 teachers and made job offers to eight, six of whom have already accepted, she said, adding that she would like to hire as many as a dozen Filipino teachers for the next school year. Those teachers will be full employees of the school system and get the same salary and benefits as their American colleagues, she said.

With low pay driving some American teachers away from the profession, many districts nationwide have turned to overseas recruiting to fill gaps in their teacher corps. It's a way for school districts to plug into the global economy the same way high-tech employers have done for years.

Most in demand are special education teachers as well as math and science teachers, who find they can make more money by joining the private sector.

Several Virginia districts, including Virginia Beach and Spotsylvania and Henry counties, have hired Filipinos, generally with good results, said Charles Preston, Henry County's human resources director.

Isidro Rodriguez, whose recruiting firm Green Life Care International hosted Simon and other recruiters, said he's placed 300 to 400 Filipino teachers in Virginia and North Carolina over the past three years. Nationally there are as many as 10,000 foreign teachers in American schools, according to the National Education Association.

Bedford County has hired three teachers from Canada, Chile and Ecuador through another organization, said Ryan Edwards, the school system's spokesman. Virginia Beach also has hired more than 30 Filipino teachers over five years.

The Roanoke schools' first foray into the global hiring marketplace comes at a time when the school district is suffering from unusually high turnover. In summer, Roanoke had to replace 227 teachers and still had eight vacancies when the school year started. Of those openings, 56 were for special education teachers alone, Simon said.

Green Life Care International paid for the trip, Simon said, costing city taxpayers nothing. Rodriguez said his company doesn't charge a finder's fee for placing teachers in American schools. It is entirely funded by Filipino applicants, who each pay roughly $3,000 for a shot at a job in America, he said.

That's a considerable investment in a country where teachers make less than $500 a month. But the company vets prospective candidates to make sure they are qualified to teach in the United States before signing them on, Rodriguez said.

The January trip came about three months before the Roanoke school's job fair, which is planned for April. That's two months later than several surrounding jurisdictions, many of which scheduled their job fairs this month.

So why didn't Simon wait until she held her local job fair before jetting off to the Philippines?

"I won't get enough special ed teachers" at the job fair, she said confidently.

It was a "grueling" trip for Simon, who had never before left the United States and who had to pay almost $200 out of pocket to get her passport delivered quickly.

While in the Philippines, she met math, science and special education teachers, but seemed most impressed with the special education candidates. One teacher, in particular, was qualified to teach both special education and English as a foreign language, a rare combination.

"I wanted to put her on the plane and take her back with me," Simon said.

But Princess Moss, president of the Virginia Education Association, said school districts wouldn't have to hire teachers overseas if they raised salaries and improved working conditions.

Moss cited a National Education Association study showing that teachers point to low pay as the top reason why they leave the profession followed by poor working conditions, such as tougher federal requirements, more paperwork and a lack of support from top administrators.

"As long as they [foreign teachers] are caring and competent and qualified then we should welcome them into our classrooms," she said. "Still, we need to look at why we're having to go outside of our country to attract teachers."

Foreign teachers are eligible for a Virginia teaching license if they can show that their credentials are similar to equivalent credentials in the United States, according to the Virginia Department of Education.

With the proper degrees, Filipino teachers can also meet the federal definition of a "highly qualified teacher," a requirement under the No Child Left Behind Act. The recruits come to the United States on an H-1B visa, which allows them to work temporarily in the country, Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez, a Filipino who moved to the United States 13 years ago, said he'd tried for a couple of years to persuade Roanoke officials to travel to the Philippines.

"I told them that I want them just to try me, no commitment. Just go the Philippines, look at my teachers, and if they're good, then OK. If they're not good then it's a big loss for me, but at least I tried my best," he said.

Preston said he hired five Filipino teachers last year to teach middle school math and science. School officials held video interviews with job candidates. "Overall," he said, "it's been positive."

Lovi Bacudio left a teaching job at the University of the Philippines and made his first trip away from his country four months ago to teach math at Fieldale-Collinsville Middle School in Henry County.

"In the Philippines, everyone wants to go to the U.S, work in the U.S., for the American dream," Bacudio said.

Not everyone has been a satisfied customer. John Tutterow, human resources director for Gaston County schools in North Carolina, said the school system won't use Green Life anymore. In October he contacted the company with a desperate need for teachers but gave up around Christmas.

Still, Simon said she intends to go on recruiting trips to the Philippines every year from now on.

"It was a lot of work but I'll do it again," she said.

[chixbebe]

CEBU CITY — New classrooms worth at least P100 million will be constructed in the city to benefit thousands of school children here, said Mayor Tomas Osmeña in a press conference.

Osmeña said he has already instructed city hall consultant on education Joy Augustus Young to identify areas that will benefit from the project. The construction will take place in four batches and each batch will cost P25 million.

The mayor made the pronouncement after he received a positive response from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on his request to facilitate the early release of the development fund of his brother, Sen. Serge Osmeña III.

He said that it’s hard to say "no" to his request because it is intended to promote better education.

The P100-million project will be funded from the pork barrel of Senator Osmeña, said the mayor.

Mayor Osmeña said that he also requested Department of Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya to expedite the release of the budget for the city to immediately start the project’s implementation.

Because of the severe lack of classrooms in the city, Mayor Osmeña said he wanted the project prioritized since many schoolchildren will benefit from it.

Mayor Osmeña has picked education and children among his top priorities.

Cebu City last year was declared as the regional winner for the Highly Urbanized City category in the 2006 Search for Child-Friendly Municipalities and Cities.

For the regional award, Cebu City received P50,000 cash plus a Child-Friendly seal. This recognition means the city’s automatic nomination by the RSCWC to the National Awards Committee to compete at the national level against other regional winners of the same category.

Under the guidelines, the cash prize will be utilized by the city to increase the capability of service providers, and to repair/upgrade infrastructures (health centers, daycare centers, reading centers and rehabilitation of centers for street children or children in conflict with the law, among others.

The cash prize will also be used to purchase equipment and supplies or other innovative projects approved by the Council for the Welfare of Children.

Though Cebu City has received several national and international recognition for its children’s programs especially in its community-based diversion program for the CICLs, this is the first time that the city has joined the Child-Friendly Search.

http://www.mb.com.ph/PROV2007022387894.html
BY MARS W. MOSQUEDA JR.

[kiretoce]

What a Champion Educator Can Do
People Asia Magazine 02/24/2007

Palawan State University (PSU) is a microcosm of everything that is enchanting and free in the Philippines' Last Frontier. It is a 20-hectare oasis where sun-showered palm trees and lush greenery outline the campus, and where student chatter flits into the dewy, open sky.

Butterfly Garden Herbarium, Biodiversity Park Herb Garden, Orchidarium, Oil Palm Plantation and bangus fishing ponds add more vitality to the area. Gazebos with vine-covered arches provide a view of the bay sprawled out like blue green satin - a view so dramatically beautiful any student who chooses it as a review spot will be torn between studying and lolling on daydreams.

PSU president Teresita Salva takes in the beauty and smiles, knowing she's instrumental in the campus' dramatic improvement. After all, this beautification was her brainchild, transforming PSU into a livelier, environment-friendly community. Inside her home within the campus, she sits and raises her hand, gesturing to the vast expanse of Palawan's premiere state university.

"Dati maraming talahib diyan sa gitna (There used to be a lot of tall grass over there)," she recalls. "When I became the president, I told the people in charge of the landscape - 'This is my expectation from you: keep it clean. Now if you can't make it Friday, come Saturday or Sunday. Basta, keep it clean. Because if you can't do it, I'll hire other workers for that.' I am very particular. Maski halaman pina-pakialaman ko (I'm hands-on, even with the plants)," she laughs.

Salva has truly introduced so many changes within the university since she was installed as president in 1999. On the heels of presidents who were too indecisive they could not even pinpoint what the university's mission was, Salva was a breath of fresh air, almost a Godsend to those who had seen the university tumble down to mediocrity. Take for instance Prof. Fe Ricon, dean of the Student Affairs who believes that, "Before Salva, PSU was just cruising along. It was not climbing back, not going ahead. (After she took her position), PSU has tremendously changed. You can feel it. There is life. It's prospering with life. There is more dynamism now."

For Salva, it wasn't hard to figure out what to do upon assuming the position. Her first job: clarify the mission and vision. Palawan State University would provide World-Class Higher Education in Palawan for Sustainable Development and Global Competitiveness, she decided. While her predecessors might have shrugged this off, Salva did not waste any time fulfilling her vision.

She started establishing fruitful linkages with international institutions like Sam Houston State University in Texas, University of Illinois, the French government, Conservation International, Manila Xiamen International School, World Bank, United Nations Development Project-Small Grants Program, Georgetown University and World Wildlife Fund. She also collaborated with national agencies and corporations and integrated innovative instruction into the university which was instrumental for the increased performance of the students in licensure examinations. She built the College of Nursing Health and Sciences, Marine Laboratory buildings and facilitated the rehabilitation of several buildings. Though busy with operational matters, she remains supportive of the artistic and athletic arms of the university, sending them abroad for concerts and strengthening the sports programs.

She was on a roll and the government took notice.

For years, PSU, which registers the highest enrolment among all tertiary schools in Palawan, has maintained the highest rating among all universities in Region IV-B. Since 1999, this woman has reaped superlative praises and notable awards: International Who's Who of Professional and Business Women, Outstanding Service to Philippine Education, and Outstanding Woman of Puerto Princesa.

What overwhelming success for someone who started out as a classroom teacher in 1972, initially as a Math teacher in St. Joseph's College where she graduated with a degree in BS Education, major in Science and Mathematics. She was also a classroom teacher in Nolasco High School-Tondo, Palawan National School and eventually Palawan Teacher's College, which was to become PSU.

She remembers those humble days. "I was a night shift teacher. It was my husband who took care of our children. As a teacher, I was strict. Very particular with pronunciation," she chuckles. She remains proud of her students, some of whom were intimidated by her voice that was enough to hush the burliest in class. Still, they were grateful and would always tell her, "I was your student in Math. I learned so much from you."

She climbed her way to the top - from high school teacher to college instructor to dean to vice president. For a time, she was also the president of the State Polytechnic College of Palawan before coming back to PSU as its newest president.

What exactly makes her a good president? "I stayed in the place long enough that I know everything. I respond to the needs of the university." She cites an example: she's now asking her Tourism faculty to come up with the pamphlet "Things to do in Palawan" as there are still visitors who ask her what to do in this tourist destination. To her detractors though, her work is never enough. She was once berated for pushing for the use of costumes during Foundation Day. ("The biggest day in the university is the Foundation Day. We will not regret having spent 350 pesos for the costumes.") Good thing no amount of backbiting can downsize the number of Palaweños who regard her with so much respect.

For Salva, the key to effective leadership is a passion for excellence. "A life without excellence is not worth living. You have to be good in everything that you do." The most revered educator in Palawan - and probably in Region IV - says. "As president, everyone looks up to you and you have to be responsible for everything."

So just what can a champion educator do? She wholly commits herself to service, sets standards for other educators to emulate, encourages colleagues and students to move forward, and contributes beneficial changes not only to the university, but the entire community.

Exactly like what PSU president Teresita Salva does.

[kiretoce]

A century of absolute commitment
By Perry Gil S. Mallari Sunday, February 25, 2007

The year was 1907, and the class of three that American educator Delia Delight Rice had in front of her was unusually small. Her students were all from the provinces; each had a disability—two were deaf and one was blind. Everything was as it should be.

Rice, a native of Columbus, Ohio, was invited to the Philippines to spearhead a pioneering school for the handicapped in the country and its Asian neighbors. The request came from David P. Burrows, then director of education in the Philippines, who trusted the educator’s expertise in special education. Rice, whose parents were both deaf, had immeasurable experience in the field.

And so, one hundred years ago, a small rented house in Ermita, Manila, became the School for the Deaf and Blind (SDB), and was later known as the Philippine School for the Deaf (PSD).

The SDB in its early days was considered a semiresidential school and the only government-owned institution of its kind in the country. In June 1923, the school moved to a lot donated anonymously by American lady at nearby F.B. Harrison Boulevard to accommodate its growing number of students. New buildings and facilities were built in the location during this period aimed to meet the special educational needs of Filipinos with hearing and sight impairment.

Adapting to change

Forty years later in June 1963, Philippine law under Republic Act 3562 mandated that the SDB be separated into two schools—one for the deaf and the other for the blind. Thus, the Philippine National School for the Blind was established in July 1970, while the PSD remained at the F.B. Harrison compound.

Another 16 years passed and the PSD, in response to the changing times, refocused its thrust in 1986 and existed to serve as an educational, research, resource and service institution for the deaf. They did so to maximize resources and potentials and shape their students to be globally competitive and responsive citizens of a technologically advancing world, which would consequently ensure their integration in mainstream society.

A sound curriculum

The PSD faculty is comprised of competent special education teachers who received training both locally and abroad. Dr. Yolanda T. Capulong, who joined the school in 1987 to follow her calling as a special needs educator, manages the institution.

Besides sign language, which is the staple methodology of instruction in schools for the deaf, the PSD also uses assistive listening devices and other teaching aids in its Modified Basic Education Curriculum (MBEC). The MBEC is implemented in PSD’s elementary and secondary levels, covering varied subjects, namely language, speech, speech reading, rhythm and auditory training. The program uses English as the primary language of education.

To date, the school’s curricular offerings are divided into five categories: pre-elementary education, elementary education, secondary education, transition education (vocational education and apprenticeship program) and special classes and programs.

A believer in early intervention

The PSD recognizes the need to provide assistance and training to a child with hearing impairment as early as possible. It therefore established the Early Childhood Education Program in 1974 and 1975, which is followed to this very day.

Under the program, children who enroll at the PSD has to pass through two preparatory stages before they are allowed to enroll in the elementary level: First is the Early Childhood Education Program, which is open to students aged 5 to 6; and the second, the Preparatory Grade stage, which is a prerequisite to Grade 1, for children between 7 and 14 years old.

The PSD’s early education program and special programs for the multihandicapped are housed in a P5-million facility donated by the Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corp. The department boasts of advanced facilities that allow students to have fun while learning.

The silent artist

Jose A. dela Cruz knew that he was artistic at a very early age. Inspired by Tony Velasquez’s Kenkoy comic strips and illustrations in Liwayway Magazine, dela Cruz recalled impressing his childhood friends with figures he drew on the soil with a twig for a pencil.

One thing stood between dela Cruz and his dream of becoming an accomplished artist, however, is he is deaf in both ears.

After years of uncertainty, the young artist found renewed hope when he enrolled at PSD. He soon excelled in his studies and graduated as first honor in elementary and as valedictorian in high school. Looking back at his formative years, he remembers Mrs. Virginia Gorospe and Mrs. Belen Herreros as his most influential teachers, who both brought out the best in him.

Without the education and special communication skills he acquired from PSD, dela Cruz believes he would never have made it to the University of Santo Tomas, where he secured his degree in Fine Arts. Without the PSD, neither would he have reaped awards as a visual artist, as well as accolades from his peers whenever he represents the country in international educational conventions abroad.

Dela Cruz’s most recent awards are gold medals in the oil painting and water color painting categories of the 6th International Abilympics held in New Delhi, India, in 2003.

And like an accomplished son bringing home his triumphs to his parents, dela Cruz is now at the PSD as a teacher. He counts 20 years as its resident artist and special education teacher, generously sharing his rich knowledge and experience in the graphic arts to students with the same interest.

On the move

At a glance, no one would even think that 29-year-old Ariscel P. Lobo has a hearing impairment. A dapper dresser with a lively gait, Lobo recalled having partial hearing as a child, but he was totally deaf by age 13.

His ears were still functional to some degree when he entered the PSD and remembered having difficulty interacting with his hearing impaired classmates. The difficulty was temporary though, for soon enough, Lobo considered the school his second home and made lifetime friends.

An adept communicator using lip reading and sign language, Lobo said he would never forget his teacher Mrs. Elna Tobillo who first taught him the alphabet of the hands. Lobo has gone a long way since then, now a Bachelor’s Degree holder in Applied Deaf Studies at the De La Salle University’s College of Saint Benilde (2001), and is on his way toward a Masters Degree in Special Education at the Philippine Normal University.

It must have been Lobo’s gratitude and desire to use the expertise he gained through his studies and personal experiences impairment that prompted him to return to PSD as a teacher. Lobo is teaching at two institutions for the deaf, the PSD and the Philippine Institute for the Deaf. In addition, he also teaches History, Filipino and other subjects to regular students at the Saint Benilde.

Always on the move, Lobo is also an avid player of volleyball, bowling, tae kwon do and tennis.

The absolute commitment

Triumphs such as those achieved by dela Cruz and Lobo would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of the generous and patient teachers at PSD.

Twenty-three-year-old Lovelyn M. Siñel, who is assigned at the guidance and counseling department of the school, affirmed the special care and patience required of teachers for children with hearing impairment. She emphasized that this is particularly needed in teaching preschool and lower elementary classes where the very young students have limited sign language vocabulary.

“If they can’t express what they want, they might throw tantrums and you have to be very patient and loving in dealing with them,” she elaborated.

Siñel’s care for her students goes beyond the four corners of the classroom. She related an incident where a female high-school student who had so much potential suddenly stopped attending class. She visited the girl’s house and discovered that the student was demoralized because her parents, who were both jobless, were using the financial support she was receiving from the PSD for their personal expenses. Siñel confronted the girl’s parents, and got the student attending class again.

Siñel’s story is but one of the many heartwarming anecdotes of the bond that is shared by teachers and students at the PSD. The institution turning 100 years old is no doubt a testament to the devotion and professionalism of all its teachers through the years.

Then and now, the PSD upholds the philosophy that the child with hearing impairment is simply a child with a communication problem. With education the child can and will become an integral part of the hearing world.

[davaoeagle]

Greetings from the Ateneo de Davao!

Below is another interesting article in the maiden issue [Vol. 1 No. 1] of The Ateneo Chronicle, the official publication of Ateneo de Davao University, which appeared last month.

Many of our alumni and friends, particularly the science majors, know Fr. Francisco "Kiko" Glover, S.J. who has been teaching physics at the Ateneo de Davao for many years. Fr. Glover holds a doctorate degree in physics from St. Louis University, a Jesuit University in St. Louis, Missouri. He taught many years at the Ateneo de Manila University, and was involved in Days with the Lord Movement. He was the "Father" of the Management Engineering Program in the Ateneo de Davao.

The article below describes another "vocation" of Fr. Glover - manufacturing Physics "toys" to facilitate the comprehension of the principles of physics by students of physics, not only at the Ateneo de Davao but in many other schools as well. Below are some of the Physics "toys" designed and developed by our Physics department and manufactured by Leadtech Mentronics. Congratulations to Fr. Glover and his team for this remarkable contribution to upgrading the teaching of physics! More power to the team!

with my warm regards and good wishes for a blessed Season of Lent,

Fr. Renato C. Ocampo, S.J.
Alumni Director
Ateneo de Davao University
alumnidir@addu.edu.ph



http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n233/davaoeagle/APD.jpg

Although it is not uncommon to see knit socks with the label one-size-fits-all, or nylon briefs labeled unisex, yet in education this is not feasible. On the collegiate level each discipline has its own unique pedagogical methods to maximize student comprehension. For Physics this comes down to teaching with-toys.

The college Physics faculty swears by this proposition. Chalk-boards, white-boards, even Power Point presentations do not fully suffice. Hands-on (and minds-on, too) experience in the laboratory is an essential ingredient for grasping scientific principles and abstract formulas. However in the laboratory the question is "hands-on what"?

Although good laboratory apparatus costs big bucks, yet the department persisted in dreaming an impossible dream. The nitty-gritty of that dream boiled down to the following specifics:

1) In laboratory students are to work in groups not exceeding four members.
2) All groups work with similar equipment on the same task, so that the laboratory activity is closely
allied with the current lecture topics.
3) Since the Science branch of the Ateneo money-tree is parched and shriveled
there is no other viable option than do it-yourself.

With a little bit of luck that dream has slowly become reality over the past six years. Currently, apart from spring-scales from Guandung and multimeters from Taipei, almost all our Physics laboratory apparatus has been designed and fabricated within the Ateneo, and this has meant 12 sets of identical equipment for each experiment. Animo Ateneo talaga!

Some five years back it became apparent that while the Physics facilities were improving, there was a real need of additional student apparatus in our Engineering programs. Accordingly the Physics department turned its attention toward assisting the Engineering division in this area. To date student laboratory equipment and accompanying laboratory manuals have been completed for seven different ECE courses. Averaging ten experiments per course and ten equipment sets per experiment, this comes to more than 700 individual units. While the design and quality control has been done on campus the duplication of this Engineering apparatus has been done by a group of out-of-school youth from Panacan, especially trained for this work as part of the department's social outreach program.

As of the present school year the capabilities of the Engineering division have sufficiently developed so as to permit further equipment design and production to be carried out by their own faculty. This fortunate development allowed the Physics department to turn their eyes toward Matina.

The high school saw the desirability to completely upgrade their Physics laboratory holdings. A plan was laid out to produce approximately forty new student laboratory experiments, prepare pop-sheets for each and provide eleven sets of equipment for each experiment. As of mid-January of this year, this work is approximately 60% complete with the target date for wrap-up as June of this year.

All this magic has emanated from a grotto located at R-304, Del Rosario building. The witches stirring the cauldron there are Engr. Reymann Zamora, Romulo Pepaña and Fr. Francisco Glover. Interestingly enough, about half of what has been produced over the past years has been for other schools in the area interested in upgrading their instruction. Xavier University in Cagayan and Silliman University in Dumaguete have been our best customers. Currently we are designing a new sticker to be placed unobtrusively on each item produced, reading "Proudly Filipino Made" and in much smaller letters "No refund, No return".

[kiretoce]

Taiwan is active in Philippine higher education
Saturday, March 3, 2007

Taiwan has been steady in annually granting postgraduate and Mandarin-language study scholarships to Filipinos as well as in joining educational projects organized by local colleges and universities.

For the past four years, Taiwan has participated in De La Salle University’s International Educational Expo Fair. The DLSU expo has been a venue for foreign embassies and educational institutions to familiarize Filipino students with educational opportunities in their countries.

Other than Taiwan, the other foreign countries and institutions that have been joining DLSU’s educational expo are Japan, the British Council in the Philippines, New Zealand, Canada, France and Australia.

There are few occasions when the flag of the Taiwan-based “Republic of China” is seen in the Philippines. The ROC was trounced by the communists’ People’s Republic of China in 1949 and ended up ruling only Taiwan and some other islands off the Fujian coast of mainland China. The ROC flag is displayed at the Taiwan exhibit at the DLSU International Educational Expo Fair.

To promote academic exchange between Taiwan and the Philippines, the Taiwan government every year provides seven scholarship grants to Filipino scholars pursuing masteral and doctoral degrees.

Taiwan scholars receive a monthly stipend of NT$30,000 (approximately US$950). Dead*line for submission of applications and required documents is March 31.

Also annually, the Taiwan government offers six scholarship grants to Filipinos to study the Mandarin language in Taiwan.

Mandarin is the official spoken language of China (called putonghua, or common speech, in Mandarin) as distinguished from the various other regional or provincial dialect-speech forms (such as Fujianese/Fookienese, Cantonese, Shang*hainese, Hunanese, etc.)

Mandarin-language scholars receive a monthly stipend of NT$25,000 (approximately US$790). Deadline for submission of applications and requirements is also March 31, 2007.

==========================================================

Applicants—for both the post-graduate and Mandarin-language scholarships—can download application forms from the website of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) at www.taiwanoffice.org.ph.

Guidelines for the scholarships and application forms are also available at the Press Division of the Taipei Economic & Cultural Office (TECO), 41st Floor, Tower 1, RCBC Plaza, 6819 Ayala Avenue, Makati City from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon and 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday to Friday. Applicants may also call the TECO for further information at 887-6688 ext. 141.

[Ady001]

Another crisis to be considered when reforming the educational system is GRADE INFLATION:

From wikipedia.com

Grade inflation is the increase in the number of high grades over time. Grade inflation is often conflated with lax academic standards. For example, the following quote about lax standards from a Harvard University report in 1894 has been used to claim that grade inflation has been a longstanding issue: "Grades A and B are sometimes given too readily ... insincere students gain passable grades by sham work." [1]. Issues of standards in American education have been longstanding. However, rising grades did not become a major issue in American education until the 1960s.

The evidence for grade inflation in the US was sparse, largely anecdotal and sometimes contradictory until recently. Hard data was not abundant. A Stanford University report in the 1990s showed that grades had been rising since the 1960s; in an effort to stem grade inflation, Stanford changed its grading practices slightly. National surveys in the 1990s generally showed rising grades at American colleges and universities [2], but a survey of college transcripts by a senior research analyst in the US Department of Education found that grades declined slightly in the 1970s and 1980s [3]. Data for American high schools were lacking.

However, recent data leave little doubt that grades are rising at American colleges, universities and high schools. Leaders from number of institutions, including Harvard University and Princeton University, have publicly stated that grades have been rising and have made efforts to change grading practices. An evaluation of grading practices in US colleges and universities written in 2003, [1], shows that since the 1960s, grades in the US have risen at a rate of 0.15 per decade on a 4.0 scale. The study included over 80 institutions with a combined enrollment of over 1,000,000 students. An annual national survey of college freshmen [2] indicates that students are studying less in high school, yet an increasing number report high school grades of A- or better.

The debate on grade inflation has moved from assessment to causes. Are grades rising because standards are being lowered or because students are producing better work?

[Louman]

You know a school has inflated grades when a lot of students are failing a nationwide standardized test even though most people in the school are getting Bs and As.

Is there some type of standardized test you have to take whether you go to a private or public school in the Philippines? If so, is it yearly? I only went to school there until the first grade and I don't think I remember taking any nationwide test.

[Ady001]

^^ I don't really know, but a lot of schools espouse and are secretly doing those things to get their students at the highest echelons of their school.

Numbers don't lie, but then, people can.

[laquacherra]

^^ I don't really know, but a lot of schools espouse and are secretly doing those things to get their students at the highest echelons of their school.

Numbers don't lie, but then, people can.



but the students still have to pass an entrance test... at least for schools such as DLSU, ADMU and UP. i don't trust those high school equivalency test such as the one Pacman took... but that's just my opinion of course

[demented_pigeon]

hay kakaiyak na sitwasyon ng edukasyon ng pilipinas...

[OtAkAw]

i don't trust those high school equivalency test such as the one Pacman took... but that's just my opinion of course

I would have to agree with your opinion. I don't think Manny Pacquiao could even simplify a basic quadratic equation or concisely explain the Bill of Rights, all of which are essential tasks we ALL did while we were in high school. There should be no high school equivalency test because what we learned in 4 YEARS could NEVER be encapsulated in just a single piece of answer sheet.

[kiretoce]

Chinese University To Tie-Up With Premier Philippine College (http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7006809832)
By Komfie Manalo March 21, 2007

Manila, Philippines (AHN) - China's prestigious Tsinghua University on Wednesday forged a tie-up with the University of the Philippines, one of the premier schools in the Philippines. The deal will pave the way for the introduction of distance learning program in UP's educational system.

Chen Xi, chairman of the Tsinghua University informed Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the partnership during a courtesy call in Malaca?ang.

"We came to the Philippines to promote research, cooperation with the Philippine universities, to provide scholarship training with UP particularly on the distance learning program," Chen told Arroyo.

The president was visibly elated by the commitment made by the Chinese education delegation. She expressed hope that they will focus on the many remote villages in the countryside so that students and teachers could have access to the program through the broadcast medium.

"We should adopt DLP in remote villages particularly in the countryside. My commitment now is to put up electricity in areas where there is no power in order for them to have access to this program," she said.

Chen said that he wanted the Philippines to adopt the DLP because China has similarly established it in 80 other countries. In China alone, he said, they have put up 100 DLPs in 2,000 remote villages.

Chen told the president that they will likewise visit the University of the East in Manila for a possible inclusion of DLP in their system.

He also said that they would donate non-invasive type of X-ray machines to the government's customs bureau particularly the fast cargo scanning where cargo unloading process is no longer an imperative.

"Good! The business community would benefit from it," the president retorted.

Also present at the courtesy visit were China's Ambassador to the Philippines Li Jin Jun, University of the East chairman Lucio Tan and Chairman Carlito Puno of the Commission on Higher Education.

[tigidig14]

^mahihirapan ang mga pilipinong nde marunong ng mandarin
but the students still have to pass an entrance test... at least for schools such as DLSU, ADMU and UP. i don't trust those high school equivalency test such as the one Pacman took... but that's just my opinion of course

everyone agrees but packyaw

[Nabartek]

I believe there's a need for a curriculum overhaul.

I was surprised when an Indonesian classmate of my classmate mentioned that even in college our Math is actually just "basic math". Aas a Filipino, I find it surprising kasi yung basic math eh nangangamote na kami.

[Sinjin P.]

P26-B cyber ed scheme approved
(http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/03222007/headlines07.html)
GOVERNMENT is on the cusp of helping students in small towns modernize their learning methods and courses with the use of technology-based teaching and learning systems. This, after the Interagency Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) approved the Department of Education’s P26.48-billion Cyber Education project.

“The Cyber Education project is a way of using distance education to promote equal access to high quality education, including those in rural and remote communities,” said the ICC.

The department will get the proceeds of a Chinese government soft loan of P22.77 billion, with the P3.73-billion balance covered by the Philippines’ counterpart contribution.

The department is also working out a grant component of as much as $1 million [about P48 million] for education courseware and training.

It is a 5-year program with satellite-based equipment, computers, and digital accessories for 37,794 schools outside first- and second-class cities as well as 665 alternative learning system centers for out-of-school youths and adults.

Schools located in first- and second-class cities would be served through the proposed National Broadband Network.

“The [basic education] sector has been facing the problems of inequitable access to quality information and communications technology both in terms of hardware and software…including poor ratios of students and teachers to computers and access to the Internet, poor competencies of teachers and low level of technology integration in school curriculum,” noted the ICC in approving the project. “Worse, the digital divide has widened and continued to favor learners in urban areas.”

ICC data showed computer penetration at the elementary level is insignificant at one computer for every 25,000 pupils and one for every 111 students in secondary schools. In Manila, penetration level is highest at 85 percent followed by Central Luzon at 25 percent, and Southern Luzon at 22 percent.

Penetration rate in the country’s poorest regions is at lowest levels: 4.9 percent in Eastern Visayas, 3.4 percent in Western Mindanao, and 3.2 percent in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. R. Balaba

[le Reine]

I hope the government would still push through with the additional 2 years to primary or secondary level. And they should also implement the NEAT and NSAT. And these exams should be a requirement before students could enter higher a higher level of education.

[kiretoce]

^^ I was wondering about that XP, why are there only 10 grades of schooling (primary and secondary) before you head for college in the Philippines, while most countries have 12 grades? :dunno:

[beads_strawberries]

I believe there's a need for a curriculum overhaul.

I was surprised when an Indonesian classmate of my classmate mentioned that even in college our Math is actually just "basic math". Aas a Filipino, I find it surprising kasi yung basic math eh nangangamote na kami.

I don't know. Or is it because students don't really like math? I hate math eh. :ohno: I'm not really good at it.

[jgacis]

^^ Well, I'm an algebra tutor and math isn't that bad. It's just a matter of practicing problems like doing sit-ups and push-ups. I think the problem with most students is not only lack of motivation, but the quality of instruction by the professors. To me, I've learned that being an educator is just not having the knowledge to teach, but by excercising the ART of communications and understanding the weak spots of each student individually.

Philippine education can greatly improve if we also focus on the quality of our educators. It's easy to forget this if we only concentrate on the physical limitations of our classrooms.

[le Reine]

^^ I was wondering about that XP, why are there only 10 grades of schooling (primary and secondary) before you head for college in the Philippines, while most countries have 12 grades? :dunno:

I don't really know either. I think it was 12 years compulsory education before our independence. But in the time of Manuel Roxas, they changed it to 10. I'm not very sure though. Surprisingly, even if kids here only get 10 years of compulsory education, they can still arguably compete with other kids in the region. BUt that statement was actually true several years before.

[kiretoce]

Six out of 10 students unfit for university (http://www.bayanihan.org/html/article.php/20070323124438985)
Friday, March 23 2007

More than half of the 1.3 million students in public and private high schools are unfit for college, the government said Thursday.

Department of Education said the results of the National Career Assessment Examination showed that just 49,066 or 3.76 percent have "high aptitude" for university education while 478,909 or 36.69 percent had "moderate aptitude."

The rest had "low aptitude" and were rated as likely to fail university.

Nelia Benito, head of the department's National Education Testing and Research Center, said the test sought to assess the students in general scholastics, entrepreneurial skills and non-verbal ability.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said the results showed a majority of high school students are not fit for college and should take the technical and vocational track.

He criticized young people for instead wanting to become "dancers and actors."

"The tests supports our theory that a lot of our students are better suited to take the technical-vocational track. And it supports the shift in our policy directions for education," Lapus said.

He said there were more than half a million blue collar jobs not being filled due to a shortage of skilled workers in the country while millions remain unemployed.

"We have to address what we call as the 'job mismatch'. Out of the 2.6 million unemployed Filipinos, around 1.1 million are college graduates.

"But at the same time, we have 650,000 technical jobs available in the local market, and we cannot fill in the vacancies because our applicants lack the required skills," Lapus said.

[portludlow]

^^ for our country to prosper it must have a pool of highly trained carpenters,plumbers, electricians,pipefitters, and iron and metal workers and the like. Our economy should diversify to be competetive in this age of globalization. We are dependent on the services and farming sector for growth. Manufacturing is very limited.

while this type of work is not attractive to many of us... Our government should promote it to individuals who are unemployed and to people who are atrracted to this line of work. In many countries this type of work has paved the way for a middle class existence.

[demented_pigeon]

why don't we build more libraries in order to help in education.

[tigidig14]

^kulang budget
yung mga ibang skwela nga sa ibang probinsya, walang bubong, kisame o ultimo libro. magdadag pa kaya, kulang na lang kung may magdodonate, pero syempre sasaluhin ng gobyerno ang pabayad sa mga employado. talagang malabong mangyari.logically

[Insanedriver]

One more thing...
Bisayan and tagalog english accent (wutever u call it) should be corrected in schools. I'm studying in an overseas Philippine school and of course, most of our teachers are from visayas(as well as the students). Pati mga estudyante napapa Chikin Tinula at right Angol na rin.

[Ady001]

I don't really know either. I think it was 12 years compulsory education before our independence. But in the time of Manuel Roxas, they changed it to 10. I'm not very sure though. Surprisingly, even if kids here only get 10 years of compulsory education, they can still arguably compete with other kids in the region. BUt that statement was actually true several years before.

I think it's not in the number of years that people really learn. Kahit na 15 years pa yan, it won't do anything.

What we should do is to study what we apply. Parang hands-on kumbaga. That's what we fail to see in our schools today. Kaya nga hindi naaapreciate ang math is because some people fail to find its relevance. Me teacher nga kami nuon, teaching us advanced geometry, but all he ever taught us was how Nora De Aunor became a superhero. No relevance whatsoever.

The point is, kahit na 10 or so years pa yan, the quality of education matters most. As they say, it's not the years you live, it's the time you shared. If 10 years is scanty, bakit may mga students tayo na nagta=topnotch sa mga kompetisyon?

However, I have to say that kung mag-10 years tayo, we have to acculturate our people to have a ready mindset. And 10 years is a lot of hard work than 12 years.

[Ady001]

^^ And think about this, we've got so many lawyers in our country. some of them even got to america for further studies. When they come back here, what do they do? Further their ambitions. Instead of applying, they downsize and maintain the status quo by preferring people to be morons and bufoons rather than clear-thinking, deconstructive individuals. Parang ginamit lang nila ang mga PHDs nila para magpalaki ng tiyan.

[demented_pigeon]

^kulang budget
yung mga ibang skwela nga sa ibang probinsya, walang bubong, kisame o ultimo libro. magdadag pa kaya, kulang na lang kung may magdodonate, pero syempre sasaluhin ng gobyerno ang pabayad sa mga employado. talagang malabong mangyari.logically

hindi sa schools ang ibig kong sabihin kundi sa mga cities. at least isang library sa isang syudad. para naman ma-augment yung kakulangan sa libro at hikayatin ang mga tao na magbasa. Napapanahon nang hikayatin ang taumbayan na ugaliing magbasa ng libro FOR leisure. Dapat yung librong babasahin hindi yung mga pocketbooks lang kundi mga novels din.

[Askal82]

hindi sa schools ang ibig kong sabihin kundi sa mga cities. at least isang library sa isang syudad. para naman ma-augment yung kakulangan sa libro at hikayatin ang mga tao na magbasa. Napapanahon nang hikayatin ang taumbayan na ugaliing magbasa ng libro FOR leisure. Dapat yung librong babasahin hindi yung mga pocketbooks lang kundi mga novels din.

Malls and entertainment centers are mushrooming in the city instead of public libraries that provides wealth of information for the overall benefit of the public. Public libraries are storehouses of knowledge and the lack thereof consequently deprives the public vast opportunities that enables them to be the productive members of a society.

[OtAkAw]

^^Even if libraries would be set up, will Filipinos pour in? I mean juxtapose an SM mall nearby a library/museum, for sure, Pinoys would prefer to go inside the mall. Instead of appreciating art, reading good books and nurturing an effective intellect. Pinoys would rather sit at home and watch Willie Revillame act like a baboon on national television. But perhaps indeed, having a library in every city would be a start, and a good one at that.

[le Reine]

I think it's not in the number of years that people really learn. Kahit na 15 years pa yan, it won't do anything.

What we should do is to study what we apply. Parang hands-on kumbaga. That's what we fail to see in our schools today. Kaya nga hindi naaapreciate ang math is because some people fail to find its relevance. Me teacher nga kami nuon, teaching us advanced geometry, but all he ever taught us was how Nora De Aunor became a superhero. No relevance whatsoever.

The point is, kahit na 10 or so years pa yan, the quality of education matters most. As they say, it's not the years you live, it's the time you shared. If 10 years is scanty, bakit may mga students tayo na nagta=topnotch sa mga kompetisyon?

However, I have to say that kung mag-10 years tayo, we have to acculturate our people to have a ready mindset. And 10 years is a lot of hard work than 12 years.

I'm not really sure if the years would contribute to the students performance or not since I have not seen any reasearch about that. But my point of adding two years is simple-students' learning or shall I say problems, would be spread to 12 years and it would surely lighten their burden.

Everytime that I'm recalling all those years that I've spent in primary and secondary education, I've come to the conclusion that what I know today is not enough to help me in my tertiary education.

It is just common sense that students will learn more if we would give them more time to study all those lessons in all subjects. You have already said it yourself. We should focus on applying all those theories and concepts that they have learned. But how would they do that if takes a lot of time for students to learn those concpet thus, limiting their time for application. When I was in elementary and high school, we spent so much time memorizing all concepts but a very short time for experiments. Take note that it is still in memorizing stage. It would surely take several days or weeks before the student could actually understand it. And wait, I'm still assuming here that students are in school for at least 10 hours. There are many schools or almost all schools in our country have adopted the 2 shifts program. This means that students only have half the time to learn everything that they have to learn. Or if we look in the long run, it would only take them 5 years to learn everything.

Based from the statistics, our neighbors who have a higher number of years to spend for education, scores higher in math and science which a country needs to develop its society. And where are we now? We are ranked 2nd or 3rd from the lowest. Of course, you could argue that there are factors aside from the number of years. Then I would not disagree on that. I just want to emphasize that adding 2 years would also contribrute to the standard. Based from empricial evidences from other countries I really believe that it could contribute to a higher standard of education for our country.

[Ady001]

^^ I meant without the two shifts...

But honestly, it will take time. Not all of us are geniuses.

[tigidig14]

Pati mga estudyante napapa Chikin Tinula at right Angol na rin.

:lol:

[Askal82]

^^Even if libraries would be set up, will Filipinos pour in? I mean juxtapose an SM mall nearby a library/museum, for sure, Pinoys would prefer to go inside the mall. Instead of appreciating art, reading good books and nurturing an effective intellect. Pinoys would rather sit at home and watch Willie Revillame act like a baboon on national television. But perhaps indeed, having a library in every city would be a start, and a good one at that.

All it needs is the government initiative in addition to setting up the facilities such as reading awareness month or other programs particularly designed for that purpose. It's all about bridging the information gap that separates them from attaining progress.

[beads_strawberries]

^^ Well, I'm an algebra tutor and math isn't that bad. It's just a matter of practicing problems like doing sit-ups and push-ups. I think the problem with most students is not only lack of motivation, but the quality of instruction by the professors. To me, I've learned that being an educator is just not having the knowledge to teach, but by excercising the ART of communications and understanding the weak spots of each student individually.

Philippine education can greatly improve if we also focus on the quality of our educators. It's easy to forget this if we only concentrate on the physical limitations of our classrooms.

Well, to a certain extent, yes. Come to think of it, I liked math when I attended in one of my math classes because the teacher seemed to have that aura that he will never stop teaching his students until you learn.

I guess there's interdependence between the students and its educators. If we have excellent educators, then the students should also be willing to learn.

As to the libraries, I think we have a lot of libraries in the area. The students just have to explore if they want to learn, really.

[jgacis]

^^ Thanks for sharing your story. I just brought up that topic because when I heard about the diminishing english quality among some of our Philippine educators last year I was dismayed. The last thing we need is poor quality of instruction in addition to the lack of chairs, desks, textbooks, classrooms, aircons in the classrooms, pera to pay for the electricity to run the aircons, etc. etc. etc... :ohno:

why don't we build more libraries in order to help in education.

I totally agree with demented_pigeon. Maybe we won't get kids from MOA or the other SM malls flocking to the libraries right away, but building more of them is a GOOD START!! :)

First of all, as mentioned, libraries are schools of thought that provide a place among many students and book-lovers (like me :colgate:) an alternative haven to relax and enjoy reading (with maybe an exception for most students cramming for a test or paper due). Besides, although OtAkAw might be right in that most people would rather watch Willie Revillame (its the beautiful ASF dancers for me ;)) on Wowowee, filipinos have yet to be exposed to new resources of learning. I remember growing up and having a library near my house. It has made a big difference on all those extra "free" time I had as a kid to walk there and expand my knowledge and reading skills. From my analysis, if we start building more libraries no one would really go there at first but over time it would start becoming more popular.

Second, libraries would act as an extension of the classroom after school hours. That would definitely help us in achieving our national educational goals. Although there would be no teachers lecturing in these libraries, having a good source of quality books would entice more students to have the freedom to read at their discretion. Students would be more empowered to choose what to read and when to read, allowing them to feel that education is more about the self and thus making learning more fun in their "free" time during non-school hours.

If you look at histories most powerful civilizations, libraries have always been the reflective icons that have portrayed the powerful knowledge these societies cherished. The Greeks are a perfect example. Here in California, the number of public libraries are numerous for us residents. In my city, they will bull-doze the old one a few blocks away and are building a modern brand-new 2 storey one right across the street from my condo :colgate:. Jose Rizal himself amassed huge quantities of books during his travels around the world, particularly science books from Europe. Everyone knows how he has helped our nation through his education, knowledge and leadership - by traveling, learning, and reading books.

My only concern are the costs associated in operating these places. Although not a money profit-generating business, a library can pay back to society (in terms of long-term education and knowledge) that to me, is literally priceless. I did find one book that talks about operating a library similar to running today's popular bookstores (ie., floor-plan design, coffee shop, computers, etc.) We filipinos need to really spend our money on long-term goals instead of short-term gratifications that we have customarily been used to.

I look forward to the day when the masses will have equal access to education from all the lands; from Basilan to Ilocos. Libraries would play a key asset for this. Then hopefully we would be a bit more knowledgeable and not repeat the mistakes we have done in the past (ie. choosing wrong leaders, corruption through ignorance, etc.)

[kiretoce]

I totally agree with demented_pigeon. Maybe we won't get kids from MOA or the other SM malls flocking to the libraries right away, but building more of them is a GOOD START!! :)

Here's a thought....put libraries in the malls! :okay:

[jgacis]

^^ Yes! Let's INNOVATE and educate our people to a BETTER life!!!

If we can build megamalls, we need to build mega libraries!

Here's one, and it's in MEXICO!!! Where is ours at this grand scale?? I know it's all about the money. But look at all those other infrastructure projects!! If I was GMA, I would allocate a portion to more libraries as well.

They are the infrastructure to our educational system as well!!!

A library in Mexico City....
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/6162/josevasconceloslibrarymsd4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Here's another one in the U.S. (Minneapolis) that is mall-like...
http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/1679/1498800174f160f5069xh9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

We need to put these all over Mindanao, Visayas, and Luzon. We need to liberate our people from our feudal wars and start to educate the masses away from corruption... :colgate:

[le Reine]

^my gosh, mall-like libraries. Well, I don't think we need those big libraries. Small ones are enough esp in the remote areas as long as the books are up to date. In our library here in Paranaque, which is a highly urbanized city, the library is almost useless. All you could see are old books. Even in my school (both elementary and HS), the libraries are so useless. It's big but very useless. And lo' it is just used by students as venues for district or division level contests... And I also want the libraries to be the catalyst for information technology explosion in the country. Imagine a library where you don't have to store great numbers of books. You just have to find it in the net. We are doing it right now in UPD. We have access to online journals and publications so we don't need to bring down all those books from the foreign serials section. I hope this would also be done in other parts of the country.

ANd wait, have I mentioned the very "useful" NAtional Library in Luneta?! Yeah, it is the National Library. So when you go inside, you'll see that UP's library is better.

[demented_pigeon]

^my gosh, mall-like libraries. Well, I don't think we need those big libraries. Small ones are enough esp in the remote areas as long as the books are up to date. In our library here in Paranaque, which is a highly urbanized city, the library is almost useless. All you could see are old books. Even in my school (both elementary and HS), the libraries are so useless. It's big but very useless. And lo' it is just used by students as venues for district or division level contests... And I also want the libraries to be the catalyst for information technology explosion in the country. Imagine a library where you don't have to store great numbers of books. You just have to find it in the net. We are doing it right now in UPD. We have access to online journals and publications so we don't need to bring down all those books from the foreign serials section. I hope this would also be done in other parts of the country.

ANd wait, have I mentioned the very "useful" NAtional Library in Luneta?! Yeah, it is the National Library. So when you go inside, you'll see that UP's library is better.

old books? iappreciate pa rin natin yun dahil pwede pa rin siyang pagmulan ng kaalaman pero tama ka na kailangan nga ng mga bagong libro. Access to online journals should be encouraged since it can supplement the lack of resources in the library itself. i think there ought to be a one public library per city policy and public universities and highschools can be given permission to have their students borrow from these libraries if ever they can't afford to beuild their own.

[jgacis]

^^@XP I can imagine what a useless library can look like. That's sad. I think an important factor for a library to be used is the "feeling" one gets by going in one. Outdated books and poor design with no online search queries or internet will definitely make a library less appealing....

That's why libraries in the Philippines have to be updated and improved. It's just the years of neglect that make it less appealing today. Modernizing them with internet and new books along with better design can make a world of difference. Just look at the old buildings and new skyscrapers of today. It makes a big difference...

I'm sure if your library in Paranaque did a make-over with newer books you might get more traffic. Book selection and magazine/periodical varieties also play a key role, as well as free DVD/VCD rentals with library membership. But in my honest opinion, there is probably no heart and interest in your library because it has never been promoted and been taken care of. Then over the years it lost its reputation as a learning center and the result is what we see today.

Internet is playing a big role in libraries nowadays, but books I think are still the core of a library. Reminds me of a vinyl record and an mp3. Books might eventually be replaced by the internet one day, but nothing beats a portable tangible medium that you can hold, touch, and feel without depending on electricity or any other electronic device. :)

[jgacis]

old books? iappreciate pa rin natin yun dahil pwede pa rin siyang pagmulan ng kaalaman pero tama ka na kailangan nga ng mga bagong libro. Access to online journals should be encouraged since it can supplement the lack of resources in the library itself. i think there ought to be a one public library per city policy and public universities and highschools can be given permission to have their students borrow from these libraries if ever they can't afford to beuild their own.

I definitely agree with your good ideas. That would help with the infrastructure of our educational system! People sometimes forget; schools and libraries go together like roads and bridges.... :colgate:

[demented_pigeon]

^^ and to think a library is a good investment. If the congressmen want their names to be seen by their consituents why don't they just build a library and name it after them, that way we can benefit from their oozing ego.

[jgacis]

^^ Haha...Oo nga. Talaga...And all the corrupted ones will have the crappy libraries with the old books and no a/c...

Then we will really know who's who.... :lol:

[demented_pigeon]

^^ Haha...Oo nga. Talaga...And all the corrupted ones will have the crappy libraries with the old books and no a/c...

Then we will really know who's who.... :lol:

hmmm. Chavit Singson Library and Museum of Weaponry... oh my God!
Magkano ba para gumawa ng library? 1 billion, 2 billion, 3 billion pesos?

[jgacis]

hmmm. Chavit Singson Library and Museum of Weaponry... oh my God!
Magkano ba para gumawa ng library? 1 billion, 2 billion, 3 billion pesos?

Oo, you make a point. Maybe the corrupted politicians will have the better libraries because of their stolen money. Now I'm thinking libraries should be audited. Oh well, if the corruptors funnel their money into libraries, at least its for a better cause if the people benefit....... :nuts:

[demented_pigeon]

^^ im actually thinking of building a library. im just curious maybe one day i can immortalize myself by buildging a library for myself with a huge statue of me in the entrance... just a thought though.

[AH-7Raja]

malaki na talaga ang problema natin sa edukasyon ngayon, tignan nyo ang huling balita sa hostage taking sa manila. :(

[jgacis]

^^ Oo, pero Ducat's tactic for the education of his daycare's children wasn't a good example for the children. What will the children see in this? That it's ok to take hostages to make the government do something?

But honestly I hope GMA doesn't take this event lightly and pushes further for education reform. We really need it....

[beads_strawberries]

^^ It will never be a good example to anyone, especially those children he wanted to educate. His good intentions will never be enough especially if the means employed risked the life of 32 other children.

There are other people who help others and have their own foundations to help the less fortunate ones while others actively participate in outreach programs as volunteers just so as to help these children. I cannot comprehend why would that hostage taker resorted to such acts just so as to call the government's attention. Well, aside from the fact that he had previously done that.

[kiretoce]

^^ Haha...Oo nga. Talaga...And all the corrupted ones will have the crappy libraries with the old books and no a/c...

Then we will really know who's who.... :lol:

Library buildings can be built by anyone. It's what's inside, the content, it's what matters most. That, and the services that the facility provides to it's users.

[jgacis]

Library buildings can be built by anyone. It's what's inside, the content, it's what matters most. That, and the services that the facility provides to it's users.

Totoo...pero I was comparing them like the neglected schools we have when a corrupted official mis-allocates the funds...

But your right, the inside is more important than the outside. The problem is, how do we get more people from the outside go to the inside? :)

[heathcliff]

One important reform that the DepEd is pushing for is the integration of entrepreneurship lessons into the curriculum of public schools. This was launched last year and hopefully will be implemented permanently. We need legislation for this, and there is currently a pending bill in Congress that seeks to institutionalize the teaching of business skills to students.

[Sinjin P.]

Angara proposes review of country’s educational status (http://www.mb.com.ph/MAIN2007040291001.html)

Educator and reelectionist Senator Edgardo Angara is calling for a reassessment of the status of education, particularly in the areas of science, engineering, and technology.

Addressing hundreds of new graduates at the University of Cebu last week, the three-time senator underscored the need to expand the scope of science and technology subjects in the country’s universities in order to cope with the demands of the times.

Angara noted that in Cebu, many new jobs are available owing to the unprecedented success of the province’s homegrown furniture designers as well as foreign investors and pioneers who have made a name in handicrafts and home furnishings, earning for the Philippines the reputation as the Milan of Asia.

"Many of the graduates of Cebu are now working in Singapore and Dubai as engineers and designers," he acknowledged. "For some of you, that may be where the future lies."

According to Angara, the Philippines cannot remain dependent on other countries for breakthroughs in science and technology.

"The time is overdue that we undertake a comprehensive review and assessment of the state of competitiveness of the nation’s science, engineering, and technology in order to stem the decline of our most precious resource – our people," he explained.

The senator has filed a resolution creating a congressional commission to review and assess the state of competitiveness of science, engineering and technology research and development (R&D) in the country.

[jgacis]

^^ Encouraging science and technology subjects will be hard since this country glamorizes the media and sports industries.

We need to empower our students also and let them know they have a profound impact in shaping our future. :)

[Sinjin P.]

I just heard this headline to be reported later on Bandila:

"Sky is the limit: Mga kolehiyo pinayagang magtaas ng matrikula hanggang kung saan nila gusto"

[OtAkAw]

^^Naku malaking problema yan!

[le Reine]

Ano?! Totoo ba yan? Para namang katangahang balita yan ah?

[death327]

How about introducing calculus in elementary? quantum mechanics in high school?

How about introducing local history? local culture development? native language class?

How about introducing programming in elementary?

[smokingunmanila]

I just heard this headline to be reported later on Bandila:

"Sky is the limit: Mga kolehiyo pinayagang magtaas ng matrikula hanggang kung saan nila gusto"

Kung gusto nila..mag charge sila ng P 1M per semester diba? para maging lost city yung mga schools nila...GMA should put more funds on public education and public universities besides UP and other state colleges....

[smokingunmanila]

Kawawa talaga mga parents ngayon....I am just wondering how they survived with these horrendous expenses of getting their child in schools...grabe ...ginawa talagang business ang schools...di tulad ng unang panahon...school was more of a sacrifice and an obligation to society...not profit...

[demented_pigeon]

*sigh* another tuition fee increase.

[Risk Taker]

the gains of peso appreciation recently should be rather spent here by the government. bakit lahat na lang ata tumataas, presyo nang mga bilihin ngayon pati pa to, tuition tataas na rin buti sana kung yung sahod tataas rin *sigh*

[demented_pigeon]

^^ and there is another attempt by major trade union federations for a wage increase. expect another rehashed explanation by the employers to prevent a wage increase. if they dont want a wage hike then they should pursue and agree to a profit sharing scheme if they do agree to sharing the benefits of an improved economy to the labor force.

[smokingunmanila]

I implement profit sharing with my employees...para naman ganahan sila mag trabaho....

[kiretoce]

DOTC, PUP launch Philippine Railway Academy (http://news.balita.ph/html/article.php/20070419123959746)

In an effort to provide an improved railway system all over the country, the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) launched on Thursday the Philippine Railway Academy (PRA) in partnership with Polytechnic University of the Philippines and government of Austria.

DOTC undersecretary for railways Guiling Mamondiong and PUP acting president Dante Guevarra led the signing of memorandum of agreement held at the PUP in Sta. Mesa, Manila.

"It's a great privilege that PUP has been chosen as partner to establish the Philippine Railway Academy which is the first of its kind in our country to improve the railway system under the current programs of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo," said Guevarra.

"We can only be proud, for being the attached academic institution, it will be the center of excellence in railway education aiming to produce competent railroad engineers and personnel," he added.

The PRA, a brainchild project of House Speaker Jose De Venecia Jr., will start in the schoolyear 2007-2008 by offering the Bachelor of Science in Railway Engineering and Management (BSREM).

An initial budget of P10 million from general annual appropriations of the national government will be allocated to the initial operation of the academy.

Manuel Muhi, dean of college of engineering, said PUP is planning to have two sections for the first batch of BSREM even as short railway-related courses will also be offered in the first year of the academy.

"There are already students who have inquired about this academy and we expect big turnout of enrollees starting this coming June," said Muhi.

Aside from DOTC, the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Innovation and Technology of Austria will also send their experts to help PUP in enhancing the capabilities of the instructors/professors and staff of the Academy.

"We might also send our instructors or professors to Austria to upgrade the quality of instructions and conduct of seminars," Muhi said.

At present, the DOTC has four attached major agencies mandated to operate railway systems that include: Philippine National Railway (PNR), Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), Metro Rail Transit Authority (MRTA or MRT3) and Panay Railways Incorporated (PRI).

The DOTC has adopted a policy for the establishment of National Railway System under the priority programs of President Arroyo to promote agricultural productivity and tourism and to provide cheaper and faster means of transportation.

Aside from House Speaker De Venecia, Guevarra and Mamondiong, other officials who graced the launching of the Academy are Commission on Higher Education chairman Carlito Puno and MRT3 general manager Roberto Lastimoso who represented DOTC secretary Leandro Mendoza.

[Nabartek]

To cut the cost, I think we should go back to kalesa-ing and get rid of those jeepneys and trikes. I mean, kung bababa ang demand ng oil, baba din ang presyo..Less pollution pa....that's how it works in a capitalist economy. Patalinuhan lang sa pagmanipula sa supply and demand law.

But the question is sinong presidente ang may will na gawin ito? Parang wala pa ata..ni gamot na nga lang at semento di pa nila maipababa ang presyo kahit puwede naman.

Sa akin, I think ang sagot is not higher wage but lower cost of basic goods...which can be brought about by lower electricity, gas, water...and raw materials. Kasi kapag magtataas ng wage, most likely tataas din ang price ng goods..so parang nonsense lang...



Baka magdomino effect din yan since bababa din ang production cost ng maufacturing companies and probably electricity na rin.

Regarding sa unlimited tuition fee, I was watching ANC kanina...ang pagkakaintindi ko niyan is puede silang magtaas ng kahit anong gusto nila given that dapat may consultation sa students.

Sa sistema kasi ngayon..puede magtaas ang schools ng wala consultation as long as lower siya sa inflation rate

Yun yung pagkakaintindi ko dun


I implement profit sharing with my employees...para naman ganahan sila mag trabaho....


Just be careful of the manloloko employees.

My mom's cousin was beated by her employee. Ninakawan pa siya...grabe..to think of it na LIBRE ang meals ng mga workers niya(as in free..di bawas sa suweldo). Buti nalang nahuli siya..tanga kasi, tinext niya sa katrabaho niya kung nasaan siya...nagsumbong yung tita ko sa pulis

[smokingunmanila]

Well in regards to kalesa..I think it is not feasible already...they would occupy so much space in the road..plus getting rid of their manure..plus the fact that we carry more loads now compared to before..so these kalesa can't do the job for transporting heavy loads..

My suggestion...import electric scooters and electric buses..or we can make it with the help of the national government...or activate the tramvia like the ones in San Francisco specially in taft avenue..ayala, buendia...recto...etc....

[Sinjin P.]

P400-M school repair fund released by Palace (http://www.mb.com.ph/MAIN2007042492489.html)

By GENALYN D. KABILING

With less than three weeks before the May 14 elections, President Arroyo authorized yesterday the release of R400 million for the repair and rehabilitation of 19 state universities and colleges damaged by the series of typhoons last year.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said school repair funds would come from the Calamity Assistance and Rehabilitation Effort (CARE) under the approved 2007 national budget.

Ermita said the bulk of the funds would go to Region 5 or the Bicol region, the hardest hit during the onslaught of typhoons in 2006.

The latest order for the release of funds came amid speculations from the opposition bloc that the government was using public funds to win votes for the administration ticket in the May elections.

At least R276.4 million would be released for the repair of Bicol University, Catanduanes State College, Sorsogon State College, Partido State University, Camarines Sur Polytechnic College, Camarines State Agricultural College, Camarines Norte State College, and a school of arts and trade in Mandaon, Masbate.

The government also allocated R106.9 million for the rehabilitation of four state universities in Region IV-A (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon or Calabarzon). These are the Laguna State Polytechnic College, Technological University of the Philippines-Cavite campus, Southern Luzon Polytechnic College and University of the Philippines in Los Baños-Laguna.

Region IV-B (Southern Tagalog) will receive R16 million for the repair of the Marinduque State College, Romblon State College, Mindoro State College of Agriculture and Technology, Occidental Mindoro National College and Aklan State University.

At least R520,000 would be used to repair the Taguig City campus in Metro Manila, and another R150,000 for the Northern Iloilo Polytechnic State College in Region VI (Western Visayas).

Last week, President Arroyo met with allies from local government units in Malacañang where she promised to release R300 million for the rehabilitation of government hospitals in regions devastated by typhoons last year.

Ermita admitted that the administration promised more benefits and projects for the local governments if they help ensure the victory of the Team Unity senatorial slate in the May 14 elections.

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GMA wants climate change taught in class (http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news4_april24_2007)

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday presented a program to place the Philippines at the forefront of a worldwide effort to combat global warming, starting with the teaching of climate change as a subject in public schools.

“Educating young Filipinos on this global scourge will lead to the inculcation of personal discipline, which is vital to check the problem. Without this personal discipline, the best policy and official initiatives will be wasted,” Mrs. Arroyo told non-government organizations involved in environment protection, and on the occasion of Earth Day.

She sought the public’s cooperation in carrying out the Green Philippines Plan drawn up by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. She said the plan would include reforestation, preservation of reefs and waterways, removal of land and air pollutants, and energy independence.

Mrs. Arroyo said the full implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, officially known as the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, was the guidepost behind the country’s green program.

She repeated her standing order to the environment department to speed up the reforestation of denuded forests and the protection of watersheds.

“We must reforest the land and bring back the beauty of the Philippines that we all love and want,” she said.

She announced she would be visiting New Zealand next month, and that she looked forward to discussing a reforestation and eco-tourism cooperation program with Prime Minister Helen Clark. She recalled that when Clark visited the Philippines last year, they agreed on projects to maximize the potential of eco-tourism sites here including Pamalican Island in Bohol, a sure tourist draw because of its dolphins and whales.

She said she wanted to turn the Philippines’ coral reefs and beaches into national parks and international maritime sanctuaries.

She said the government would rid villages of trash, build more river parks, and clean up industrial sites.

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Education and training key to labor competitiveness (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/39798/Brion-Education-and-training-key-to-labor-competitiveness)

Labor Secretary Arturo Brion underscored Wednesday the importance of education and training in improving the Filipino workers’ level of competitiveness in the global arena.

“The reality is that there are plenty of jobs waiting to be filled up by qualified workers," Brion said at the 2007 National Human Resource Conference at the Manila Hotel.

The labor chief cited the long-held observation that thousands, or even millions, of jobseekers fail to get employed because of a mismatch between jobs available and the applicants’ skills and training.

“Some critical skills are either missing, or need to be improved on among jobseekers," he said.

Labor Undersecretary Romeo Lagman echoed Brion’s statement, saying the country needs to improve access to higher education and upgrade the quality of graduates to enable them to compete in a fast-changing global economy.

Brion said some nine million jobs, including five million overseas, would be available to Filipinos in the next four years.

These positions could be filled up, he said, if the country improves the quality of its manpower stock.

“What we found out is that there are sectors that are in need of workers who possess the critical skills required by the respective industries. Given an ensured supply of employed-ready individuals, some four million job vacancies can be filled in the country between 2006 and 2010," Brion said.

“We also found out that for the same period, more than five million jobs are available overseas," he added.

Brion blamed negative publicity and social discourse for making people “believe that there are no more jobs in the country."

According to him, the labor department has identified nine “hard-to-fill" jobs where all stakeholders can work together to improve employment generation and productivity.

These are cyber services, mining, health services, hotels and restaurants, agri-business, medical tourism, creative industries, aviation, and overseas employment.

Brion said that while the country’s human capital is “our single biggest competitive edge," Filipinos lag behind other nationalities in terms of competitiveness.

“It is very disheartening to note that we are presently lagging behind many nations in the global competitive race. But we are happy to learn that still we are not far behind when it comes to our human resources. We are not content on merely generating jobs. We want the Philippines to be known in the world as the Center for Workforce Excellence in selected fields," he declared.

It was at this point when Brion stressed the need for stakeholders to focus on critical areas such as education and training, labor relations, and human relations in the workplace.


As of January this year, the country’s labor force is estimated at 36.4 million and the unemployment rate at 7.8 percent.

More than half or 50.6 percent of these workers are found in the services sector while agriculture comes second with 34.7 percent followed by industry with 14.8 percent, according to labor statistics.

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New thread! (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=12833808#post12833808) :colgate: