IT road map to turn around Philippine basic education

The Department of Education (DepEd) faces a tough challenge in implementing its Information and Communications Technology for Education (ICT4E) road map, Secretary Jesli Lapus said on Thursday.

During a roundtable with The Manila Times, Lapus described ICT as a powerful educational tool that can facilitate the transformation of basic education in the country.

But to be able to make such weapon turn education around, he said that the Education department has to find ways by which students and teachers can become at ease in the use of modern technology in education like their counterparts in other countries.

Full story...

Private high school students now required to take national career test

MANILA (PNA)—Starting this school year, the Department of Education (DepEd) is requiring fourth year students in private high schools to also take the 2009 National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE). It is scheduled for Aug. 26 in various testing centers nationwide.

Education Secretary Jesli A. Lapus explained through DepEd Memorandum No. 241, series of 2009, that only graduating students in private secondary schools with DepEd permit to operate shall be included in the conduct of the test which he first implemented in school year 2004-2005 then exclusively covering all senior students in public high schools.

Full story...

Metrobank awards 10 outstanding teachers

MANILA (PNA)—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Education Secretary Jesli Lapus will lead other officials in conferring gold medallions to the 10 winners of the 2009 Metrobank Foundation Search for Outstanding Teachers to be held in Metrobank Plaza, Makati City on Sept. 4.

Four teachers each from the elementary and secondary levels and two college teachers from public and private institutions joined the illustrious list of Metrobank-teacher honorees which now number to 267 since the award was given out in 1985.

The winners were chosen for their outstanding contribution to the teaching profession, their personal integrity and character, instructional competence, and professional and community involvement.

Full story...

Biotechnology now a course in the Philippines

MANILA—Biotechnology is now a course in college in Philippine state universities and colleges, it was learned Thursday.

This was after the Department of Agriculture-Biotechnology Program, in cooperation with the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (NIMBB) and the Commission on Higher Education, developed a general education biotechnology course syllabus.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the introduction of the biotechnology course aims “to equip Filipino teachers, students, and other interested individuals with the basic knowledge, and enable them to make informed decisions on biotechnology products and latest breakthroughs and developments, and related issues on human health, and the environment, and ethical concerns.”

Full story...

Penguin Books publishes Noli Me Tangere

Penguin Books has published the newest translation of Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere for the global market. This establishes the Rizal novel as one of the world’s classics, an epic novel that compares with Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace.

This translation, from the original Castilian by Rizal, is by the Latin-American scholar, Harold Augenbraum. Rizal’s Castilian is rendered into today’s accessible English. Gone are the “Victorianisms” of previous translators like Charles Derbyshire. The first-time reader is given language that hews closely to Rizal’s exact meaning, form, and verve.

Full story...

FUSE holds free seminars for public school teachers

MANILA (PNA)—Non-government organization Foundation for Upgrading the Standard of Education (FUSE) continues providing free seminars to public school teachers in the teaching styles that would help them adapt to the ever changing generation.

In coordination with the Department of Education (DepEd), the group conducted training for 341 public school teachers on English, Mathematics, Physics, Elementary Science, Chemistry, and Literature as of May.

A total of 167 teachers at Urdaneta City University in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan joined the training, 32 of whom on English, 41 on Elementary Science, 32 on Math, 17 on Physics, and 22 on Chemistry.

Full story...

Japan shines at Science Olympiads

Japanese students won a record 10 gold medals in this year's International Science Olympiads (ISO), which saw high school and other students from around the world compete in math, physics, chemistry, biology and computer science events.

This year's haul was a big improvement on the four golds picked up last year, and there is hope Japan could score more in the International Olympiad in Informatics, one of the ISO competitions, in Plovdif, Bulgaria.

Gold medals are awarded to the top 10 percent of participants deemed to have excelled in each competition.

Full story...

Building bridges in teaching the English language

The eighth annual congress of Cameroon English Teachers is currently taking place in Yaounde.

English Language and Literature Teachers in Cameroon are making their mark in reinforcing the existence and teaching of the English Language in the country. Currently meeting in Yaounde for the eighth annual congress of the Cameroon English Language and Literature Teachers Association (CAMELTA), the teachers want to build bridges in English Language teaching while ensuring quality learner development through new pedagogic approaches.

While opening the four-day congress, the Minister of Secondary Education, Louis Bapes Bapes, said such a congress is necessary to the association not only to make a balance sheet but also for the teachers to put a finger on what is supposed to be done to improve the quality of English Language teaching.

Full story...