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Proposed Open Learning and Distance Education Act

MANILA, Philippines – The House committee on higher education has approved for plenary action three bills, specially the expansion and institutionalization of distance education program also known as the “open learning” system, which would allow undergraduate Filipinos to pursue post-secondary and tertiary education even without physically going to school.

Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, chairman of the committee, said apart from the proposed “Open Learning and Distance Education Act of 2010,” his panel has also recommended for plenary action the proposal to strengthen and institutionalize the ladderized education program (LEP) in the country, and the measure that would extend a wide array of discounts for underprivileged students in the post-secondary and tertiary levels.

Angara said the three education measures are meant to help Filipinos who would rather work to earn their keep instead of relying on government doleouts such as the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program.

The measures complement each other in providing Filipinos, including the poorest of the poor, with better access to post-secondary and tertiary education.

“We really need to fast track the approval of these measures because we need to help those who want to help themselves by getting a degree or acquire skills through vocational training…,” Angara said.

By Paolo S. Romero 
(The Philippine Star) Updated November 04, 2010 

K+12 for the poor

MINI CRITIQUE By Isagani Cruz

President Noynoy Aquino has boldly stated, in so many words, that at the end of his six-year term he wants to be known primarily for two achievements – that he made corruption the exception rather than the rule and that there were fewer poor Filipinos when he left Malacañang than when he was elected president. In short, he considers corruption and poverty to be the main enemies of his administration.

The K+12 plan should be seen in the context of the government’s war against poverty.

The statistics are too familiar. One out of every 10 Filipino children never steps into a school. Out of every 100 that do enter Grade 1, only 86 make it to Grade 2 and only 76 finish Grade 3. Only 65 finish Grade 6 and only 58 continue to high school. Only 43 finish four years of high school and only 23 enrol in college (of whom 15 go to private HEIs). Finally, only 14 finish an undergraduate degree.

 

Right now, only those 14 have a realistic chance of getting a good job or setting up a successful business. The K+12 plan addresses the needs of the 86 that do not get a college degree. The plan gives these 86 two more years of free education that should give them enough skills to get a good job or to put up a successful business enterprise.

That is one side of the debate. Here is the other side. (In order to be exhaustive, as well as fair, I will discuss only one point per side every week.)

Opponents of the K+12 plan point out that, even if the two more years of education were free, parents still have to shell out money for transportation, clothes, food, projects, and incidentals. That most parents cannot afford the extra two years is shown by the government statistics themselves. The primary reason for dropping out of school is economic.

Parents would rather have their children stay uneducated than risk entire families going hungry or getting into indescribable debt. The plan, according to its opponents, worsens rather than lessens poverty.

Since I said last week that I would show the weaknesses of both sides of the debate, let me ask the question, what is wrong with both sides?

Proponents of the K+12 plan should not make it appear (even unwittingly) that they have found a cure-all for our problems with education. The plan will indeed, as I will discuss in future columns, solve some curriculum-related problems, but it will not solve all the other problems (classrooms, teachers, textbooks, teacher training, drop-out rate, corruption, and so on). In particular, it does not solve the problems of the 57 that do not finish four years of high school at all.

The plan attempts to help only the 20 that finish four years of high school but do not go on to college (that’s 43 minus 23). It is these 20 that will be given another chance to raise their quality of life. Even the 8 that go to public HEIs might want to just earn a high school diploma instead of working for a four-year college degree; they could also be helped by the plan. We are, therefore, talking of only at least 20 and at most 28 beneficiaries. (Of course, you have to multiply those percentages by the total school-age population.)

If the expectations from the plan were kept limited, it would be much easier to sell to the public. After all, the 57 that do not even get to finish four years of high school will not be affected by the additional two years and should not join the debate. The 15 that go to private HEIs presumably have some money and would be minimally affected by the additional years.

Opponents of the plan, on the other hand, have a credibility problem. Practically all of them do not belong to the 20 to 28 that will benefit from the plan, since they are college graduates. There is clearly something very wrong with privileged people trying to keep those that drop out after high school from having another two years of free education.

The argument against the opponents, however, need not stay on the ad hominem level (shooting the messenger rather than listening to the message). The Work Minus Two argument (that I wrote about in an earlier column) shows that parents actually save money by accepting the K+12 plan. Instead of having to pay college tuition and incidentals (transportation, food, etc.) for four years, parents need to pay for only two more years of allowances. The poor parents of the 20 to 28 can now look forward to their children earning money after the technical track of Senior High School.

We should, therefore, stop talking of parents objecting to the extra two years. Once explained properly to them, the K+12 plan will be acceptable to poor parents. In fact, in 2003, SWS conducted a nationwide survey asking parents (rich and poor) if they would object to adding Grade 7 to elementary school and 70% said they wanted the extra year, with the figure constant across economic classes and across geographical regions. Parents clearly want children in public schools to have a longer basic education cycle. (To be continued)

(The Philippine Star) October 28, 2010

Government to push for revised Magna Carta for Teachers

BUTUAN CITY, Philippines — The Aquino administration will continue to push for the revised Magna Carta for Teachers to ensure a better working environment for the mentors and support the continuing capacity building for teachers, report from the Caraga regional office of the Philippine Information Agency said.

The Department of Education said it would continue promoting accountability among teachers and encouraged them to organize themselves into forming professional learning communities and support of improving student learning approaches, the report added.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro noted that the education department is striving hard to support the educational efforts of the teachers by making teacher education and development a second key reform thrust of Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda aimed at improving learning outcomes through improved teaching quality.

DepEd is now using the competency-based Teachers Standard (CBTS) for recruitment, selection and hiring of teachers to ensure that only the best will mentor the learners, the report concludes.

By Ben Serrano 
(The Philippine Star) Updated November 04, 2010

Review of government scholarship programs urged

MANILA, Philippines – Presiding over last week’s Senate finance committee hearing on the 2011 budget of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Sen. Edgardo Angara called for a review of the various scholarship programs funded by the government through the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) in order to assess their status, as well as their needs for the coming academic year.

According to CHED, 2.7 million students make up the total population of the Philippine higher education system.

“Of that 2.7 million, how many is the state supporting? What are the demographics of the recipients of government aid? We must make sure that we are providing enough aid for the most underprivileged in our country’s youth population,” Angara said.

Angara, chair of the Senate Committee on Education, suggested the creation of a separate division to keep track of all the government’s educational programs.

 

Angara, vice-chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, asked the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the Department of Education (DepEd), and other agencies with educational programs to provide a breakdown of their expenses.

“We should compare the per-student cost of the scholars from different bodies so that we get a grasp of how much the state is really spending. It looks as though the number of post-graduate enrollees have been gradually increasing, so they would surely benefit from the streamlining of their funds,” he explained.

“We must also monitor the number of graduates from these post-graduate programs and science schools and how many go abroad to work, since we seem to be losing our young, brilliant minds to the lure of the Ivy Leagues,” Angara said, in response to the report that about five percent of the state-funded science high school graduates go abroad to work or study further.

By Christina M. Mendez (The Philippine Star) October 28, 2010

Young scientists take lead in building a culture of science

“This event is a realization of my dream.”

Thus said Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Undersecretary and for a while, was an officer-in-charge of the Philippine Science High School System Fortunato dela Paz in his keynote address to the country’s budding young scientists who converged in Antipolo for three days of fun and learning in the first Philippine Science High School System-Meralco

Management and Learning Development Center (PSHSS-MMLDC) Science Fair held from Nov. 16 to 18.

The science fair is the fruition of the collaboration and shared dream of the PSHSS, headed by PSHS-WV director and Science Fair chairman Dr. Josette Biyo and MMLDC, represented by executive director Agnes Fidelino and academic services director Vivien Arnobit, to support and help the nation’s productivity through appreciation and learning the importance of science through knowledge and experience sharing and practice of research among the youth, especially high school students.

This year’s event, which has the theme “Building a Culture of Science,” seeks to raise the interest of students in science as well as research and investigative projects, and also provide young scientists with an opportunity to showcase their research works, inventions and breakthroughs in an environment that promotes camaraderie and cooperation instead of competition.

This was followed by a plenary session with the panel of experts, some of whom were also alumni of PSHS, composed of Dr. Rowena Cristina Guevara of the UP Electrical and Electronics Institute, Dr. Edna Amparado of the UP Institute of Biology, Asian Institute of Management professor and Hybridigm Consulting, Crimson Tayco of the UP Marine Science Institute, Jason Alcarez of the PSHS Main Campus and Dr. Maria Corazon de Ungria, head of the UP DNA Analysis Laboratory, who shared their own research works and gave the students a glimpse of emerging trends in their respective fields of expertise.

The event concluded with a Community Science Fair wherein the participating PSHS students presented their works to public school students. The fair aims to encourage the participants to take the lead in promoting a culture of science by presenting their works in a manner which can be easily understood.

For inquires on MMLDC’s academic programs, call 6328111 loc. 750/753 or e-mail: macuraming@mmldc.org ormmldc.marketing@mmldc.org, or visit www.mmldc.org. MMLDC, your one-stop training shop, is located along Sumulong

Highway in Antipolo, just one hour drive from Makati and 45 minutes from Quezon City.

The Philippine Star 
Updated December 09, 2010 

Dunong-Gulong ng ALS sagot sa ‘illiteracy problem’

MANILA, Philippines – Ipapakilala ng Department of Education (DepEd) ang isang bagong mukha ng pag-aaral para solusyunan ang ‘illiteracy problem’ sa bansa.

“At ang salita ay naging gawa,” ito ang paglalarawan ni DepEd Secretary Armin Luistro sa kauna-unahang Alternative Learning System sa mobile bus katuwang ang channel UNTV at Ang Dating Daan.

Ang Alternative Learning System project ay kinabibilangan ng mga state-of-the-art buses na iikot sa rural roads ng bansa. Ang proyekto ay tinawag na “Dunong-Gulong ng ALS” at ito ay may dalawang buses para sa initial operation na ibinigay ng UNTV at ng Ang Dating Daan.

“This project is considered as milestone for the public service endeavors of DepEd,” sabi nina Kuya Daniel Razon ng UNTV at Bro. Eli Soriano ng “Ang Dating Daan.”

Ang Dunong-Gulong bus ay maaaring makapagsakay ng 30 learners at ito ay nilagyan ng UNTV ng LCD monitor para sa visual presentation, teacher’s desk, projectors, laptop, cabinets at isang library.

Pilipino Star Ngayon, December 02, 2010

 

To learn Pinoy culture well, study Phl history before colonization

For renowned Filipino anthropologist Dr. Felipe Landa Jocano, a real look at our Philippine ancestry requires going back to way before the Philippines was supposedly discovered by its colonizers.

To him, this approach in education will teach Filipino students that there are things in our culture that had long been there even before the colonizers set foot on our islands.

In a lecture to high school students held last week in Quezon City, Dr. Jocano said students must approach Philippine history “going back (way before colonization) and not just start with colonization.”

Dr. Jocano, a Ten Outstanding Young Men awardee in 1965, is the first to hold a PhD in Anthopology in the Philippines.

Dr. Jocano hinted that Philippine history has been focused on the negative aspect of our culture that “when we speak of culture, we go to Juan Tamad.”

“Education must be geared towards nation-building,” he stressed.

During the lecture titled “Yaman ng Lahi” and organized by C. Futures Inc., historyko.org and Teachers@Work, Dr. Jocano was accompanied by his son and namesake, Professor Felipe Jocano Jr. of the University of the Philippines.

Dr. Jocano cited the Filipino epics, some of which he had studied and translated himself.

One of those was “sung to me by a mountain elder” for two to three weeks, he said. It took the woman two to three weeks to finish singing the epic, which according to Dr. Jocano was consistent and long.

“For a 65-year-old woman to memorize it is simply amazing,” he said, noting that the epic has some 28,000 lines.

According to Dr. Jocano, these epics, which form part of the Filipinos’ oral tradition, usually talk about courtship and love, very much different from the European epics that depict stories about wars and battles.

“We always look at Iliad and Odyssey (that) we have escaped looking at our backyard for possible literature,” he said.

Dr. Jocano also cited that long before the country was colonized and modern technology supposedly came to the Philippines, the locals already had their way of embalming the dead and even their own form of government.

Professor Jocano Jr. said that while a lot has been said about the supposed negative trait among Filipinos, these characteristics have a rather positive side to them.

The example he cited was the “bahala na” concept, which to outsiders might appear as not recognizing responsibility and total resignation.

But Professor Jocano Jr. said “there’s something wrong with this definition.” He noted that the concept was actually the assumption of responsibility for whatever the outcome of something may be.

According to Prof. Jocano Jr., we should change the way we view our identity as a nation and our value system towards our race.

“We should not apologize for being Filipinos,” he said.

By Reinir Padua (The Philippine Star) 
Updated December 09, 2010 

Early registration day for preschool, Grade 1 children scheduled on Jan 29

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd) said that it was all set for the early registration day scheduled on Jan. 29.

In DepEd Order No. 2, Education Secretary Armin Luistro said the early registration day targets all five-year-olds to be enrolled in kindergarten and all six-year-olds in Grade 1.

Early registration is also mandated in public secondary schools to guarantee the enrolment of incoming first year students in their preferred high school.

“Early registration is in line with our efforts to ensure that DepEd remains on track in meeting our MDG targets and Education For All (EFA) commitment as the 2015 deadline comes closer. We are doing every possible means to uphold this commitment of reaching all children of school age,” said Luistro.

The pre-registration will allow the DepEd to get a picture of the student population for the coming school year and determine interventions needed to ensure that the EFA commitment is met.

Luistro added that DepEd will work closely with local government units, barangay officials, parents, civic organizations, business sector and other education stakeholders to make the necessary preparations and address potential needs when classes open in June.

“With early registration, the department will also have enough time to come up with education interventions and prevent students from dropping out of school,” the order stated.

According to Luistro, the DepEd was keen on convincing parents pre-register their children and help DepEd in bringing their children to schools, keep them there and finish basic education.

In previous years, DepEd conducted early enrollment activity in secondary level in line with its Drop-Out Reduction Program (DORP). But this is the first time that the department goes full throttle in the ground mapping of school-aged children for early registration in all three levels – kindergarten, elementary, and secondary.

The advocacy campaign has started with Child or Youth Find Activities last January 10 and will be conducted up to 28 at the DepEd division and school levels in collaboration with the barangay.

Children from indigenous cultural communities and the Special Education (SPED) centers that cater to children with disabilities shall also be mobilized to ensure early registration of the targeted enrollees.

The Philippine Star, January 13, 2011 
By Rainier Allan Ronda

P271.6B 2011 education budget biggest in Phl history – P-Noy

President Aquino said that the P271.67 billion education appropriation in the 2011 budget, already passed in the Senate, surpasses the education allocations of any of his predecessors.

“We have committed more resources to primary and secondary education to ensure that the children of the 4.6 million (poorest of the poor) families have schools to go and then be provided with skills for sustainable livelihood,” Aquino said in his speech after leading groundbreaking rites for a P200-million Medical City here last Monday.

“This is the reason why we have increased the education budget in 2011 by 16 percent or to P271.67 billion,” he added. Last Dec. 2, the Senate passed the proposed budget of P1.6 trillion for 2010.

He stressed that “no other administration has spent this much on education.”

This, even as the President also said that the 2010 budget as already passed in the Senate, also provides an 11 percent increase in the budget for state universities and colleges (SUCs), contrary to claims that funds for government tertiary schools have been slashed lower.

“Despite the claims of some elements that we have cut the budget for state universities and colleges, we have actually increased the total appropriations that they will receive by more than 11 percent,” the President said. Budget already approved by the Senate “can confirm this,” he added.

SUCs held recently a series of protest rallies directed at the President and Congress over alleged big cuts in state funding for the tertiary education institutions. At least 87 SUCs held various forms of protests. Even the conservative Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC) joined the protest actions.

The protesters had quoted the President himself announcing 1.7 percent slash of budget for 112 SUCs nationwide. The President was quoted as having said: “We are gradually reducing the subsidy to SUCs to push them toward becoming self-sufficient and financially independent, given their ability to raise their income and to utilize it for their programs and projects.”

In an interview with the STAR, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said “we are concerned about SUC’s but there’s just too many of them.”

“Just because they are not getting enough does not mean the government has already abandoned them. We are in a discussion with the Commission on Higher Education as we look at rationalizing SUCs so we can truly have worthy centers of tertiary excellence,” said Abad.

By Ding Cervantes (The Philippine Star) 
Updated December 09, 2010

DepEd introduces mobile school to lighten illiteracy problem

“At ang salita ay naging gawa,” (And the word came into action). This is how Education Secretary Armin Luistro describes the country’s first Alternative Learning System on mobile bus. Luistro referred to the support of the public service channel UNTV and the benevolent group, the Ang Dating Daan, to anti-illiteracy campaign.

The project called “Dunong-Gulong ng ALS” currently has two buses to carry out its initial operation.

The Dunong-Gulong bus can accommodate 30 learners at a time. UNTV equipped the buses with LCD monitor for visual presentation, teacher’s desk, projectors, laptop, cabinets, and a library in a separate section. However, the teaching service doesn’t stop there as the mobile classroom extends outside the bus to accommodate more students. Portable tables and chairs and other necessary equipment for outdoor schooling is also provided such as projector and appropriate sound system.

For the mobile teacher’s and other personnel accommodation, the buses are equipped with room and toilet.

Photo shows Secretary Luistro and Daniel Razon of UNTV signing the Dunong-Gulong memorandum of agreement.

The Philippine Star
Updated December 09, 2010