Winners of 2008 National Book Awards announced

MANILA—The winners of the 2008 National Book Awards were announced by the National Book Development Board (NBDB) and the Manila Critics’ Circle last November 14 in ceremonies held at the Ayala Museum in Makati City.

Publisher of the Year Award: Anvil Publishing, Inc. for having published the most number of winning books in 2008.

Arts & Alfonso T. Ongpin Prize for Best Book on Art: The Shared Voice: Chanted and Spoken Narratives from the Philippines, Grace Nono (Anvil Publishing and Fundacion Santiago)

Autobiography/Biography: Afro-Asia in Upheaval: A Memoir of Front-line Reporting, Amando Doronila (Anvil Publishing)

General Nonfiction: Ah, Wilderness! A Journey Through Sacred Time, Simeon Dumdum Jr. (Ateneo de Manila University Press)

Leisure: Café by the Ruins: Memories and Recipes, Lia Llamado, Adelaida Lim and Feliz Perez (Anvil Publishing)

Literary Criticism/Literary History: Our Scene So Fair: Filipino Poetry in English, 1905 to 1955, Gémino H. Abad (University of the Philippines Press)

Poetry: The Gods We Worship Live Next Door, Bino A Realuyo (Anvil Publishing)

Professions: Sine Gabay: A Film Study Guide, Nick Deocampo and the Center for New Cinema (Anvil Publishing)

Sciences: Diabetes is BitterSweet: A Guide to Understanding Diabetes, edited by Estrellita V. Fernando-Lopez, (SweetStar Publication)

Social Sciences: Competing Views and Strategies on Agrarian Reform, Volume I: International Perspective and Volume II: Philippine Perspective, Saturnino M. Borras Jr. (Ateneo de Manila University Press)

Design: The Philippines Through European Lenses: Late 19th Century Photographs from the Meekamp Van Embden Collection, designed by Karl Frederick M. Castro (Ateneo de Manila University Press)

This year’s trophy was designed by young sculptor and TOYM awardee Michael Cacnio.

The 28th National Book Awards was sponsored by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Ayala Foundation, Ayala Museum, Manila Bulletin, Fuji Xerox Phils., Michael Cacnio, and the Metro Gallery.

The MCC is a nonprofit, nonstock organization of professional literary critics and newspaper columnists. Membership is strictly by invitation and a unanimous vote is required before anyone is invited to become a member.

The current MCC members are National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario, Juaniyo Arcellana, Cirilo F. Bautista, Isagani R. Cruz, Ruel S. De Vera, Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta, Resil B. Mojares, Danton Remoto, Soledad S. Reyes,and Alfred A. Yuson.

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Reading recovery project for Philippine elementary pupils pushed

MANILA (PNA)—The Department of Education (DepEd) and the University of Auckland (UoA) in New Zealand sealed on November 18 an agreement that seeks to improve reading among selected public elementary schools in the country.

The partnership will push for the Reading Recovery in the Philippines Project, a research-based early literacy intervention that successfully decreased the incidence of reading and writing difficulties among children across a range of linguistic, ethnic, and cultural-social groups in New Zealand.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus and New Zealand Ambassador Andrew Matheson, who represented the UoA, signed the agreement.

“It is our firm belief that improving reading can significantly enhance our students’ overall performance. The pursuit for excellence continues as the Department strives to make its reading program at par with international standard,” Lapus said.

In the agreement, the UoA will train Philippines Reading Recovery trainers and tutors, who will be selected by DepEd. As the Department implements the Reading Recovery Project, partners from New Zealand will facilitate the project through advisory and support visits. The project is also comprised of research for moderation and evaluation and wider academic collaboration.

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319 Asian youths cruise the sea on two-month exchange program

MANILA—A total of 319 youth ambassadors from Southeast Asia and Japan are currently sailing the seas aboard a Japanese cruise ship as part of a two-month cultural exchange  for almost two months not for leisure but for a cause.

The youths from the Philippines, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia and Lao P.D.R. arrived in Manila last November 12 aboard the Fuji Maru to mark the start of the 36th Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program (SSYEAP).

The 640 million yen- funded-program, initiated by the Japanese government, traces its roots in 1974 when Japan decided to join hands with SEA countries to promote friendship and mutual understanding among young people.

“It’s not only a cultural exchange, but also a significant program to deepen the understanding of each society from political, economic to social aspect,” said Tomoko Dodo, director of the Japan Information and Cultural Center of the Japanese Embassy to the Philippines.

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US Secretary of state Hillary Clinton vows $5M in storm relief funds

MANILA—US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Thursday visited a flood-devastated school in Marikina City last November 12 and pledged another $5 million relief package in addition to the $14 million in flood-relief assistance already provided to the Philippines by the United States.

“The new support will be to build new schools, construct classrooms, 300,000 books and desks for 15,000 students, as well as to repair water and sanitation systems, refurbish clinics and provide medical supplies and assistance,” Clinton said. “I promise you that the United States of America will always be a friend to the people of the Philippines.”

During her Philippine visit, Clinton also opened a book fair that will distribute to students some 50,000 books donated by an American foundation through the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

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Education Department renews partnership with Knowledge Channel

MANILA (PNA)—The Philippine Education Department and Knowledge Channel Foundation Inc. recently renewed an agreement that will benefit more public high school teachers and students by making educational TV programs available through cable, satellite, and the internet.

“Continuing this partnership with Knowledge Channel will allow more public schools to experience non-traditional yet effective mode of instruction,” Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said.

Since 1999, the Knowledge Channel has provided and installed satellite infrastructure and cable TV facilities to 2,000 public high schools nationwide to deliver educational TV materials to help improve the academic performance of public school students in English, Math and Science.

Lapus said that under the new partnership, another 4,000 public high schools stand to benefit which includes a teacher training program on TV-assisted instruction.

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Obama gives emphasis to education grants

The White House intends to use the first anniversary of President Barack Obama’s election to showcase his education agenda. The president is planning a trip to Madison, Wisconsin, to spotlight his Race to the Top competition, a new federal program that allows states to compete for $4.35 billion in education grant money.

“It’s the first anniversary of the president’s election, and we think that’s important because in this past 12-month period we have been able to meet and achieve various benchmarks, consistent with the president’s goals on education,’’ Melody Barnes, Mr. Obama’s domestic policy adviser, told reporters Tuesday in a conference call to preview the president’s trip.

The decision to highlight Race to the Top makes political sense for the president: the competition, which has drawn favorable reviews from some Republicans, is already prompting states to change their education practices – even before any money is handed out. Under the draft criteria for the competition, states must not prohibit the use of student achievement data in evaluating teacher performance.

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USA Today tests online edition at colleges

STATE COLLEGE (AP)—Penn State, Indiana, and Missouri are the first schools to participate in a USA Today initiative meant to test how students respond to electronic versions of printed newspapers.

The “e-Edition” is free for students, faculty and staff. USA Today says it’s identical to the newspaper’s print edition but with additional interactive and exclusive content. For instance, the Penn State edition, which officially launched last week, includes a university-themed story selected and written by the school.

Newspapers across the country have been searching for new sources of revenue and readership as they battle the explosion of free online news sources. While newspapers typically make their Web sites available for free, many have been selling access to digital replicas of print editions. Students could be a key target group given the comfort they've had growing up with the Internet and technology.

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High school drama students present David Ives’ series of comedic plays

By Yovanna Bieberich, staff, Argus-Courier

The complexities of language, love and social interaction can be both intriguing to examine and easy to poke fun at. The humor found in these human experiences are the subject of “All in the Timing,” a series of one-act plays by American playwright David Ives.

Casa Grande High School drama students will perform six of Ives’ “All in the Timing” short plays Nov. 13-15.

The collection of plays was written by Ives between 1987 and 1993. It was first published by Dramatists Play Service in 1994, with a collection of six plays; the current collection contains 14. They are short, comedic and frequently employ wordplay. The brevity and easy stage requirements make it a popular play for high school and college students to perform.

The six-pack of short plays the students will perform include “The Sure Thing,” “The Universal Language,” “Variations on the Death of Trotsky,” “Words, Words, Words,” “English Made Simple” and “The Philadelphia.”

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Bill Gates makes big push on US education reform

WASHINGTON - The real secretary of education, the joke goes, is Bill Gates.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been the biggest player by far in the school reform movement, spending around $200 million a year on grants to elementary and secondary education.

Now the foundation is taking unprecedented steps to influence education policy, spending millions to influence how the federal government distributes $5 billion in grants to overhaul public schools.

The federal dollars are unprecedented, too.

President Barack Obama persuaded Congress to give him the money as part of the economic stimulus so he could try new ideas to fix an education system that most agree is failing. The foundation is offering $250,000 apiece to help states apply, so long as they agree with the foundation's approach.

Obama and the Gates Foundation share some goals that not everyone embraces: paying teachers based on student test scores, among other measures of achievement; charter schools that operate independently of local school boards; and a set of common academic standards adopted by every state.

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Kids become “depressed” without play time

A loss of playtime in early childhood is creating an epidemic of Australian children suffering depression and mental illness, an adolescent psychologist says. About one in four young people battle a mental illness before they reach the age of 18.

Adolescent psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg says it’s important for children to learn resilience in their early years and this can be done effectively through play.

“Children teach themselves to crawl, stand and walk through repetitious practice play,” Dr Carr-Gregg said. “At the preschool level, children engage in dramatic play and learn who is a leader, who is a follower, who is outgoing, who is shy. They also learn to negotiate their own conflicts.”

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Crackdown on school place cheats urged

BBC—Tougher action should be taken against the thousands of parents who lie to get their children into popular schools, England's school places watchdog says.

Schools Adjudicator Ian Craig said an estimated 3,500 parents lied on school application forms each year.

Local authorities should use all means open to them to deter parents from cheating the admissions system. This includes removing places from the guilty and pursuing them through the courts, possibly using the Perjury Act.

In his government-commissioned report Dr Craig said currently people had “nothing to lose” if they lied to get a place, but he stopped short of calling for school place fraud to be made a crime.

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Bangladeshis swamp English language service

A service using mobile phones to teach English in Bangladesh has been overwhelmed by users since its launch on Thursday.

The Janala project, developed by the BBC World Service Trust, provides short English lessons by mobile phones.

It had expected 25,000 users on its first day but received more than 100,000—four times the number who use similar services in the country to check cricket scores. By last night, the service had taken more than 375,000 calls.

“'It’s technically very basic—you call a number and you hear a recorded voice,”' the project's manager, Sara Chamberlain, said from Bangladesh.

''It's the lowest common denominator when it comes to technology [but] our service provider has called to say they need to expand the capacity.''

The service offers 250 three-minute recorded lessons on pronunciation and conversational English, augmented by a website and text message testing. It is hoped to reach 6 million Bangladeshis by 2011, as part of Britain's nine-year English in Action program.

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