News

DepEd incorporates media literacy in school subjects

THE Department of Education (DepEd) is set to include media literacy education in the country’s basic education curriculum starting this school year. “We believe that our young learners need to be protected from adverse media which they encounter every day while in the process of acquiring information and entertainment,” said DepEd Secretary Mona Valisno.

To prepare for the integration, DepEd has created the Media Literacy Task Force (MLTF) which was given the green light to develop a National Media Literacy Education (NMLE) curriculum that would help children understand and handle media.

“Our children need help in developing their skill to distinguish good news from bad news and good programs from bad ones,” explained Valisno.

She said recent studies of the Cartoon Network New Generations Philippines (2009), the 2008 AC Nielsen kid study, and the 2002 PCTVF Media Violence Study showed that 26 percent of Filipino children go online every day.

Likewise, a 2008 study conducted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) showed that excessive exposure to television is one of the leading causes of physical weakness, stress, poor appetite, aggression, and violent behavior among children.

These prompted the DepEd National Council for Children’s Television, Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, and Smart Communications to launch the Bantay TV campaign.

The campaign involves the monitoring of television programs especially those that are shown between 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., the time when majority of children can watch TV shows.

It is aimed at reducing by 20 percent the incidence of vulgarity, discrimination, sex, and violence in TV.

The NMLE is set to be integrated in the Basic Education Curriculum under Social Studies for the elementary level; and under English, Communication Arts, and Values subjects for the high school.

Valisno said teachers, school administrators, and peer educators will soon undergo trainings in preparation for the integration. Media learning resources will also be developed for the use in public schools.

Source: Sunstar Manila, May 16, 2010

DepEd: Opening of classes smooth, orderly

MANILA, Philippines – The opening of classes for more than 21 million public school students and more than 3.26 million private school students in the pre-school, elementary and high school levels went “very smoothly,” Education Secretary Mona Valisno declared yesterday.

While there were the usual problems of crowded classrooms in some schools, particularly in urban areas, Valisno said public schools welcomed incoming Grade 1 pupils and high school freshmen as well as students returning after the summer break.

“We’ve had a very smooth opening of classes in our public schools, even in Metro Manila,” Valisno told a press briefing during the Oplan Balik Eskwela campaign at the Department of Education (DepEd) central office in Pasig City yesterday.

Valisno said DepEd is still confident that the quality of education was not compromised, notwithstanding the resource shortages in public schools.

“Even if our classrooms are packed, we are finding ways to get them all in and make sure they get taught and learn,” she said.

Valisno said DepEd is delivering 5.73 million textbooks this school year as it targets to achieve a 1:1 student to textbook ratio.

This is expected to enhance education efficiency in public schools. Public schools already have 86.2 million textbooks on inventory, she said.

There are presently more than 45,000 public elementary and high schools in the country. The number of pre-schools is placed at 15,841.

Valisno also explained that to bring public school education standards to 21st century level, the government has so far put up computer laboratories in 5,409 public high schools out of a total of 6,650 public high schools. Moreover, high schools with Internet connection total 3,820 while Internet connection for the remaining 2,830 public high schools is being procured.

Valisno though admitted that problems would still crop up despite efforts to address the concerns on the lack of schoolrooms, textbooks, availability of teachers, and the issue of no collection of school fees.

“We want to assure the public that these concerns are already being resolved… and our continuing coordination with the national agencies, local governments units, grassroots and private organizations as well as barangay officials,” Valisno said.

While agreeing with DepEd that the first day of the school year went smoothly in public schools, Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) party list Rep. Antonio Tinio said that learning conditions remain far from ideal for the more than 21 million public pre-school, elementary and high schools.

“It’s always orderly (opening). But the conditions are far from ideal. The nine years of GMA (President Arroyo) have really been bad for education, the conditions went from bad to worse,” Tinio said.

The opening of classes in several regions of the country, on the other hand, has been postponed indefinitely.

In some far-flung villages of Sumisip in Basilan, the opening of classes was postponed due to ongoing military operations against the Abu Sayyaf bandits.

DepEd officials in Batangas also ordered the postponement of classes in Pulo Elementary School in Talisay and Kalawit Elementary School in Balete. Both schools are located in Volcano Island near the crater of Taal Volcano. Edmon Pampulan, officer in charge of Pulo Elementary School, said they were advised to postpone the opening of classes while alert level 2 remains hoisted over the area.

The Philippine Star, June 16, 2010 
By Rainier Allan Ronda with Roel Pareño, Arnell Ozaeta, Alexis Romero

Gearing up Internet Literacy and Access for Students

Gearing up Internet Literacy and Access for Students (GILAS) is a multi-sectoral initiative that is composed mainly of corporations and concerned nonprofit institutions that realize the need to invest in bridging the digital divide among the nation’s public high school students.

Filipino students learn under the most difficult of circumstances. The Philippine government budget for education is not enough to provide for adequate educational facilities and other learning resources. This is why only a handful of Filipino students are given the privilege of a college education, as only a small minority are able to afford one.

Meanwhile, the Internet is becoming increasingly important in our day-to-day activities, as it opens doors to a wealth of information and resources. Access to information has become a basic necessity, not a luxury. Companies have raised the bar for new hires, requiring proof of Internet literacy as part of the minimum qualifications. Sadly, the Philippine government remains heavily burdened by the task of improving on even more basic resource shortages in the educational system.

Today, public high school students hardly have any access to computers in their schools, thus suffering the risk of being ill equipped in a world that is gradually becoming more digital. The future of the nation lies in its ability to harness the potentials of its youth.

GILAS aims to provide Internet access to all public secondary school students in the Philippines, thus giving them an opportunity to a brighter future.

UNESCO Call for Nominations

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has once again extended its invitation to the Philippines, through the Department of Education, to submit its entry to the UNESCO International Literacy Prizes 2010 call for nominations. These UNESCO Prizes are awarded to government or government agencies, nongovernment organizations, or individuals in recognition of innovative and successful work in the field of literacy.

The country’s targetted entry to the UNESCO Prizes 2010 is the Dal-on Ta (regional term forlet’s deliver) literacy program of the Municipality of Tubungan, Iloilo, three-time first place winner in the LCC National Literacy Awards.  Now a Hall of Fame awardee, the program has branched out to various Sagip (local term for save, assist; Assist the government toward its development) projects implemented in the different barangays of the municipality.

DAL-ON TA : Delivery of Assistance 
towards Literacy on New Techniques 
and Approches

The United Nations Literacy Decade theme for 2009-2010 is literacy and empowerment, thus the call for nominations particularly welcome “innovative and successful literacy projects and programs that specifically promote women’s empowerment in the social, economic, and political dimensions”  for which Dal-on Ta exhibits and supports.

UNESCO awards two UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prizes and two UNESCO Confucius Prizes for Literacy. The King Sejong Prizes give consideration to the development and use of the mother tongue languages while the Confucius Prizes  to literacy projects that give attention to people in rural areas and the out-of-school youth.

Winners will receive their awards at the international ceremony organized by UNESCO on September 8, International Literacy Day. It will be recalled that in  2009, the Philippines’ entry to the literacy awards, Agoo, Kay-ganda of the Municipality of Agoo, La Union, won a Confucius Prize for Literacy.

 

Mobile computer school gets big boost from Acer

MANILA, Philippines – A top non-government organization’s vision of providing knowledge about computers and the Internet to out-of-school youth and other marginalized sectors of society got a big boost with the recent donation made by Acer Philippines, Inc., the local office of one of the world’s top computer manufacturers, Acer, Inc.

AIHU Foundation, Inc., is a non-profit organization which sees to it that the long-term needs of the country in terms of quality education, skills training and values formation are met through love (“AI”) and care (“HU”) for their fellowmen.

The recent donation by Acer Foundation of several Acer desktops through AIHU’s Computer Van Aralan is for AIHU Foundation to be able to provide computer literacy to marginalized but otherwise deserving out-of-school-youth, students and even government employees who cannot afford to pay tuition fees in order to learn more about computers.

“We are glad that there are still organizations like the AIHU Foundation who look at education, IT education in particular, as a high-value subject with regard to helping people become more IT-savvy and competitive in the corporate environment, particularly the underprivileged members of society. This is just another small step for us in helping people become more exposed to IT; there will definitely be other steps for us to make in order to reach the objective of an IT-literate nation,” explains Manuel Wong, Acer Philippines general manager.

The Computer Van Aralan started back in May 2004 where the first Computer Van Aralan, a 35-foot container van with 15 computers inside, was established. From then on, three more Computer Van Aralan sites were put up in order to provide information technology training to various beneficiaries in areas like Manila, Bulacan, Quezon City, Laguna, Tarlac, Olongapo City, Bataan, Quezon, Bicol, Pangasinan, Aurora Province and Camarines Norte and Sur.

The Philippine Star July 29, 2010

Literacy panel gets more funds

President Gloria Arroyo has signed a law appointing the Education secretary as chairman of the Literacy Coordinating Council, the advisory body that provides policy directions for all literacy programs in the country.

Republic Act No. 10122 also doubled the budget of the literacy council to P20 million in a bid to strengthen nonformal, informal and indigenous learning systems, including out-of-school study programs that respond to needs of various communities.

The council has been tasked to monitor and evaluate the literacy situation in the country, including the establishment of a national data bank and information exchange and dissemination system to support literacy efforts at national and local levels.

Under the new law, the Education chief, as chairman, may designate an undersecretary as his or her permanent representative to the council.

Other members of the council shall include the Interior Secretary; the president of the Philippine Normal University; the director general of the Philippine Information Agency; the director general of the National Economic and Development Authority; the chairman of the Senate committee on education, arts and culture; and the chairman of the House committee on basic education and culture.

Manila Standard Today, June 22, 2010
By Joyce Pangco Pañares

 

Much work still to be done on literacy in RP

The Philippines still has much to do in catching up with other countries when it comes to literary. Education Network Philippines national coordinator Cecilia Soriano revealed that the Philippines currently ranks with countries like Cambodia and Myanmar when it comes to functional literacy.

“In 1950s, we ranked second to Japan,” she said during her guesting with other judges of the 2010 National Literacy Awards in Kapihan sa Kapitolyo at the Provincial Media Center of Davao del Norte.

While noting that Filipinos are aspiring to go above ranks of other third world countries, Soriano threw the challenge to do more and move forward programs on literacy.

Soriano bared the country’s overall literacy rate was placed at 98 percent in 2008 from 94 in 2003 and that the functional literacy level showed improvement from 84.1 percent in 2003 to 87 percent in 2008.

“Still, so much needs to be done,” she said.

The national government has been into goals of improving the literacy status of the country especially now that it has committed to help achieve a global goal of reducing adult illiteracy by 50 percent in 2015.

To help the national government achieve the goal, the Department of Education and Culture and the Literacy Coordinating Council (LCC) are networking with all sectors, government agencies, non-government organizations, LGUs, among others to “promote literacy and disseminate the importance of literacy to national progress”.

To recognize efforts of cooperating sectors, especially LGUs, the Literacy Coordinating Council launched the National Literacy Awards in 1994. After it was held in abeyance in 2006 to 2007, NLA resumed in 2008.

Judges of 2010 National Literacy Awards are visiting these year’s contenders for Outstanding Local Government Award, Component City category of which Tagum City of Davao del Norte has landed as one of the five finalists.

Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Program Management, Creative and Production Services Director Emilyn Libunao who chairs the 2010 NLA board of judges said local government units (LGUs) play a crucial part of institutionalizing literacy programs.

She said LGUs are expected to integrate literacy programs in their development agenda.

While NLA is recognizing other stakeholders, it is giving importance to LGUs which develop and implement literacy programs and projects in their respective communities.

NLA seeks to sustain, expand and institutionalize literacy efforts by motivating and recognizing individuals, institutions and LGUs through awards and appropriate recognition.

It aims to encourage the development and replication of innovative, creative and indigenous literacy programs, and contribute to the realization of the goal to universalize literacy in the Philippines by creating public awareness of and interest in programs and projects addressing illiteracy.

By Jeanevive Duron-Abangan 
July 14, 2010, Tagum City -LCC/PIAXI

EDITORIAL – Additional years of learning

Some parents who studied in exclusive private schools may have noticed that a number of their high school subjects are now being taught to their children in the elementary grades. There is so much more to learn in a world where advances in science and technology are changing lifestyles, revising old concepts and adding new information at warp speed.

Some private schools have extended class hours or started elementary pupils on whole-day classes at an earlier grade. Public schools, with student populations that grow larger every year with no corresponding expansion in school facilities, cannot afford such moves. These days a proposal to add two years to elementary and high school, which will make the number of years the same as those in many Asian countries, has been revived.

The proposal is laudable – if it can be backed by the necessary resources for effective implementation. Additional years in primary and secondary schools will require more teachers, classrooms, and all the other facilities and equipment for education. As it is, the government’s teaching pool is already stretched thin, especially in schools that have been forced to hold classes in three shifts to accommodate the booming student population. More textbooks – free of factual and grammatical errors – must be produced. Do we have the resources for all of these?

Equally important is the quality of education that will be imparted in the additional years. If the added years will simply allow the slow learners more time to absorb what has already been learned in previous years, this will be a waste of precious resources. This concern has been raised particularly by parents with limited resources, who must provide transportation and snack money to their children apart from miscellaneous school fees throughout the year.

A sound investment would be in free, universal kindergarten in public schools. Numerous studies have shown the unusually high capacity of young minds to absorb information. Children from financially well-off families get an early edge over their poor counterparts, beginning kiddie school at three years old and entering kindergarten at five.

There is general agreement that the country needs to raise the quality of education to improve national competitiveness. In all these proposals, the government must not lose sight of the objective: not just to stay longer in school, but to learn more.

The Philippine Star, June 28, 2010

Mining company gets top education stakeholder award

MANILA, Philippines – Responsible minerals development company Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI), the Philippine contractor for the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project, was honored as the 2010 Outstanding Stakeholder in Education by the Department of Education (DepEd) for the company’s immense contribution to various education programs in Region 12, specifically in the provinces of Saranggani, South Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat.

The award has been acknowledged as unprecedented in terms of its nature and its recipient company and industry. No other mining company in the Philippines has been cited as an outstanding stakeholder in the education sector.

In its citation, the DepEd has taken note of SMI’s contribution of at least P14 million worth of scholarships for thousands of elementary, secondary, and tertiary students, mostly from impoverished tribal communities in South Cotabato.

 

SMI has also joined with DepEd Region 12 in facilitating several projects in the region related to education. These projects include the implementation of the Indigenous People (IP) Curriculum in Tampakan, South Cotabato, the construction of school buildings, and the production of textbooks and other school materials for schools in the said region.

In addition to this, SMI has also pursued other education related programs such as wage subsidies for teachers, oratorical and storytelling competition for students, book donations through the Democratizing Reading Among Mindanaon (DReAM) Children Project, and the conduct of adult literacy classes.

The Philippine Star, August 05, 2010

Education in the SONA

MINI CRITIQUE By Isagani Cruz 
July 29, 2010

During his campaign for the presidency, Candidate Noynoy offered a 10-point agenda for education. In his State of the Nation address last Monday, President Benigno Aquino III focused on three of these points, namely, the 12-year basic education cycle, additional classrooms, and GASTPE.

Because the SONA was meant merely to outline what he wanted to achieve in the first year of his presidency and not to defend his proposals, Aquino had no time to repeat what he had already explained anyway several times during his campaign.

Let us review the details of the three points on education.

First, the addition of two years to our basic education cycle. Aquino said, “Mapapalawak natin ang basic education cycle mula sa napakaikling sampung taon tungo sa global standard na labindalawang taon.” The official English translation inadequately puts it this way, “We will be able to expand our basic education cycle from ten years to the global standard of twelve years.” I say the translation is inadequate because it fails to translate the word “napakaikli,” which is the point of the sentence in Filipino.

We have the shortest basic education cycle in the whole world. In all other countries in the world, a student needs to have gone through 12 or more years of formal schooling before being admitted to a university. Because universities around the world (except for ours) expect students to have gone through at least 12 years of formal education and, therefore, to be adults (18 years old or older), they can offer higher level courses immediately. The European first year college, for example, is the equivalent of our third year college in the Philippines (a year consisting of major subjects). Partly because we have only two years of major subjects and the Europeans have three, our college degrees are understandably looked down upon by European universities as substandard. (Our four world-ranked universities make up for the lack of years through excellent research outputs.)

Since 10 percent of our population work abroad and need credentials recognized internationally, we have no choice but to raise the standards of both our basic and higher education. By moving some of the subjects taught in the first two years of college to high school, we free at least one year of college for more major courses. Therefore, we not only make our basic education quantitatively equal to that of other countries, but we also make our higher education qualitatively comparable to that of foreign universities.

Second, Aquino mentioned classrooms twice during the SONA. The money squandered by the National Food Authority could have built “all the classrooms that our country needs, which cost P130 billion,” and public-private partnerships will allow the government to build more classrooms.

Money that should not be lost and money that can be earned will certainly solve the problem of classrooms. Aquino had no time, however, to mention one of the major financial problems in the construction of classrooms – the corruption in DPWH. Senator Franklin Drilon, for one, has built a huge number of classrooms at a fraction of the cost quoted by DPWH. We could build more than three times the number of classrooms envisioned in the current budget of DepEd, if DPWH would just stop overpricing.

Speaking of money, Aquino also mentioned the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program funded by the World Bank, part of which is meant to help very poor students to go to school. (The speech writers missed using the Filipino name of the program, Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, which would have been more in keeping with the rest of the speech.)

Third, Aquino mentioned Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE), a program that funds part of the tuition of poor students in private schools in places where there are no public high schools. GASTPE fits in well with Aquino’s overall vision of public-private partnerships (a logical extension of the People Power that installed both Cory and Noynoy). GASTPE helps both students and private schools; conversely, private schools help the government fulfil its duty to educate everyone. In his 10-point Education Agenda, Aquino promised to replace GASTPE’s education voucher system (EVS) with education service contracting (ESC); in the SONA, Aquino thus mentioned ESC.

Aquino promised ten educational reforms, and within his first year in office, he can do at least three of them. He can already add one year to basic education (very simply by reengineering the current Prep to become Grade One, thus making a seven-year elementary school; funds for this are already in the budget). He can reallocate CCT and GASTPE to help really poor students. Finally, he can moderate, if not eliminate, the greed of DPWH.

The Philippine Star