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NEWS AND COMMENTARY


Philippines:

Need to mandate use of English as medium of instruction cited

MANILA—Three presidential candidates cited the need to mandate the use of English as a medium of instruction.

Speaking during the recent Presidential Policy Forum sponsored by the Carlos P. Romulo Foundation in Makati City, Nacionalista Party standard bearer Sen. Manuel Villar Jr., Bagumbayan bet Sen. Richard Gordon, and administration candidate former defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro agreed that there is an urgent need to revitalize the use of English as a medium of instruction in the country’s preschool and elementary levels.

Responding to a query over the need to use English to enhance the country’s competitiveness and to steer economic development, Villar said he thinks both the use of English and Filipino should be promoted among students.

Gordon also stressed the importance of learning and speaking English the right way.

“English is very important. It’s an advantage by Filipinos but at the same time it’s faster if a kid learns his vernacular in the first four years. I would favor Tagalog as a medium or even the vernacular such as Ilonggo in the first four years and then after that, start making them learn to speak and think in English,” Gordon said.

“I agree with both gentlemen. I think there is no debate that English is important. But I subscribe, in accordance with the policy of China, that we teach it at preschool age, not in elementary because it might be too late to catch up,” Teodoro added.

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UN warns that Philippines in danger of missing primary education targets

MANILA—A major United Nations report has warned the Philippines that it is in “real danger” of missing its target of providing universal primary education by 2015.  

The UN’s 2010 Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report, noting an “absence of decisive political leadership,” cited the Philippines as a “particularly striking example of under-performance” in educational reforms, with current polices that are failing to make a difference in improving the education of the poorest Filipinos.

The report said: “Education indicators for the Philippines are below what might be expected for a country of its income level,” the report said. “With an average income four times that of [African countries] Tanzania and Zambia, it has a lower net enrollment ratio.”

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Education secretary defends education performance of the Philippines

MANILA—Philippine Education Secretary Jesli Lapus has taken issue with a recent United Nations report critical of the education reform performance of the Philippines, saying that the report had overlooked some bright signs in the last three years.

He explained that the 2010 Education for All Global Monitoring Report (GMR), which described the country as a “particularly striking example of under-performance,” used 2006 statistics and did not take into account developments from 2007 up to 2009.

“We have reversed the downward trend in the participation rate. It is now increasing,” said Lapus, pointing out that the country’s primary school participation rate had increased to 85.12 percent in 2008, up by almost two percentage points from 2006, when he was appointed secretary of education.

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United States:

Dictionary, banned for entry on sex, returns to Los Angeles school

After being pulled from the shelves for what some saw as racy content, Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary may have the last word in Menifee.

A committee of parents, teachers and administrators decided Tuesday to return the dictionaries to the fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms at Oak Meadows Elementary School just days after they were removed over complaints about entries detailing references to various types of oral sex.

“The dictionary will go back to the classroom but the parents will be given the option to determine if they want their kids to have access to that dictionary,” said Betti Cadmus, a spokeswoman for the Menifee Union School District in southwest Riverside County. Students will take permission slips home and parents who don't want them to use Webster's 10th Collegiate Edition can opt for alternative dictionaries.

The controversy began last week when a parent complained to the school principal about what she believed was explicit sexual content in the dictionary. The books were ordered off the shelves until a committee could determine if they were “age appropriate” for fourth- and fifth-graders.

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English-only policy gets bookstore in hot water

An English-only policy at the Atticus Bookstore and Cafe, a landmark establishment on the outskirts of the Yale University campus, has brought harsh criticism for the management and at least one worker has been fired as a result of the policy.

“Here we speak English: effective immediately the official and only language spoken on the floor and behind the counter is English. Spanish is allowed in the prep area, the dishwasher area and the lower level. Let’s make our customers feel welcome and comfortable,” read the notice posted in the store and signed by the manager, Jean Recapet, according to a story in the Hartford Courant.

“English is the primary language of this business,” said Recapet in an interview Friday.

A protest is planned in front of the store at noon today.

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There’s no national language in India, says Gujarat High Court

AHMEDABAD—Does India have a national language? No, says the Gujarat High Court. The court also observed that in India, a majority of people have accepted Hindi as a national language and many speak Hindi and write in Devanagari script, but it’s not officially the national language.

With this observation, a bench headed by Chief Justice S J Mukhopadhaya refused to issue directions that packaged commodities must contain details about goods in Hindi.

Petitioner Suresh Kachhadia had, in 2009, filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Gujarat HC seeking mandamus to the Centre as well as the state government to make it mandatory for manufacturers of goods to print in Hindi, all details of goods like price, ingredients and the date of manufacture. His contention was that the consumers are entitled to know what they are consuming.

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China:

Children in China sickened by school pressure, says study

PARIS—A third of primary schoolchildren in China are suffering from psychological ill-health as a result of classroom stress and parental pressure, according to a study published on Tuesday. The problem is so bad that urgent measures are needed, warns the study, led by British and Chinese researchers.

The investigation, led by Therese Hesketh, a professor at University College London (UCL) Centre for International Health and Development, pointed the finger at extreme competitiveness in China's education system, from the onset of primary school.

The investigation surveyed 2,191 pupils aged nine to 12 in nine schools in urban and rural Zhejiang, a relatively prosperous coastal province in eastern China.

Eighty-one percent of the youngsters said they worried “a lot” about exams, 63 percent feared being punished by their teacher, 44 percent had been physically bullied at least sometimes – with boys likelier to be victims than girls – and 73 percent had been physically punished by their parents.

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India:

Programme to promote English language launched in Mumbai

MUMBAI—The Times Foundation, the corporate social responsibility wing of The Times of India group, and Yuva Unstoppable, an NGO working for the upliftment of underprivileged children, have joined hands to start “English Unstoppable,” an initiative to promote English language education among secondary school students in Mumbai.

Already a success in Ahmedabad, the Mumbai chapter of the project was launched on Saturday by Priya Dutt, Congress MP from South Mumbai. Celebrities like filmmaker Imtiaz Ali and Pantaloons Femina Miss India 2008 Simran Kaur took part in the cause.

“I am not here as an MP, I am here because I care,” Ms Dutt said. “I am part of this country and I want to contribute.” She appreciated the initiative and its uniqueness which asks for time and not for money.

The project hopes to bring a change in the education level of some 6,000 children in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The project was started a year ago in Ahmedabad and has helped in bringing down the dropout rates among the students of municipality-aided and government-aided schools.

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Lessons in English for today’s diplomats

English may be the preferred language of international diplomacy, but one of the results of growing democratization is that some of the candidates who want to serve in India’s missions overseas have entered after taking exams in regional languages—which means they need special language training in English apart from whichever foreign language they choose.

Out of the 19 IFS probationers of the 2008 batch, six had made it through the civil service exams with Hindi as their first language, answering their papers in Hindi. For the first time, arrangements had to be made to teach English to probationers who were weak in English. Senior foreign service officers are certainly not happy about the trend—“Imagine getting recruits who cannot even speak English!”

Says a retired foreign service officer: “Increasing democratisation that brings in people of all kinds of backgrounds into the service is not a bad thing per se, but not by compromising quality. Knowing English is basic even if you have to function within the country, let alone abroad. Even in countries like Japan and Indonesia it is mandatory to know English to join the foreign service.”

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Dubai:

English-language scholarships for underprivileged launched in Dubai

Dubai, UAE (SBWIRE)—Eton Institute today announced a scholarship programme worth AED 150,000/- for learning English as part of their CSR initiative. The six-month scholarship programme will include all tuition and material expenses which will be awarded to deserving candidates that do not have the economic means to learn English.

Dr. Eli Abi Rached, Director, Eton Institute remarked: “We have long supported the cause for corporate social responsibility and education. We strongly believe that education is the ticket to a better life and is the greatest need in our community. It is this belief which is the driving force behind all our initiatives and is central to everything we do. ”

He added that the English language “is the single most important language for trade and commerce, which is why otherwise gifted non-English speaking individuals often find themselves greatly disadvantaged. We are extremely excited and privileged to be able to offer deserving candidates this invaluable opportunity to learn English and realise their dreams and aspirations.”

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Brunei:

Every student at UNISSA needs to improve English proficiency

The Sultan Sharif Ali University, UNISSA, is urging its students to use English in their daily conversations as a means for preparing them for real-life situations.

The speak-English program was launched by the university during its English Week recently, with the rector of UNISSA, Dr Haji Mohd Yusop bin Haji Awang Damit, delivering the opening remarks. The program, which runs until the 23rd of January, hopes to attract students to join the fun activities and other English language-related activities.

The English Week was launched by the UNISSA’s Centre for the Promotion of Knowledge and Language Learning with the primary objective of increase English fluency among students and to create a new and exciting environment for students to learn English.

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Nigeria:

“The English language is dying in Nigeria,” says university lecturer

A university lecturer, Dr Adeyemi Daramola, has raised the alarm over what he called inappropriate use of the English Language in Nigeria.

Daramola, a senior lecturer in the Department of English, University of Lagos, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Lagos that most Nigerians neither write nor speak English well.

“Most Nigerians don’t use English well. They don’t speak it well; they don’t write it well. This is unfortunate,” Daramola lamented.

The don stated further that the problem was more pronounced in higher institutions and corporate organisations.

“If you go to our higher institutions and corporate organisations, you will know that we have serious problems with English Language in Nigeria. If you go into its analysis, you will discover that the rate at which the language is being murdered by Nigerians is alarming,” he said.

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Page last modified: 30 January, 2010, 1:25 a.m.