Philippine education has slipped behind its Asian neighbors’, says official

DAGUPAN CITY—The quality of education in the Philippines has “deteriorated way behind our neighbors,” the chairman of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) admitted recently.

“Sorry to say this, but yes, we’re lagging behind in all fields,” CHED chairman Dr. Emmanuel Angeles told local newsmen here.

He said the Philippines used to be the hub of quality education in the Asia-Pacific Region and many students from neighboring countries would comewanted to study. Students from abroad still want to study in the country, he said, but he emphasized that there is now a need to improve the quality of education.

“We used to be identified with quality (education), but what happened? It has been neglected,” he said, adding that the deterioration happened during the last three decades and it would take 20 years or more to address this problem.

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South Cotabato completes Internet connectivity for 56 public high schools

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (PNA)—At least 56 public high schools in South Cotabato are now fully connected to the World Wide Web, thanks to the local government’s continuing automation program for public schools.

South Cotabato Governor Daisy Avance-Fuentes said they have now fully completed the installation of Internet connections to all but three government-run secondary schools in the province’s 10 towns and lone city through priority investments from the local government and its partner government and private institutions on various Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facilities.

“This is a major accomplishment for the province as it shows the competitiveness of our public schools in terms of exposure to various modern technologies,” the governor said.

Fuentes said such accomplishment, which is considered the first in Region 12 or Southwestern Mindanao, was realized with the implementation of the Internet connectivity project for at least 23 public schools in the province earlier launched by the provincial government and various institutions backing the flagship Gearing–Up Internet Literacy Access for Students or GILAS project.

GILAS is a multisectoral initiative composed mainly of corporations and concerned non-profit institutions that has been investing on “bridging the digital divide” among the country’s public high school students.

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Retraining of all 8,000 Bohol teachers to start April 5

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol 23 (PNA)—Barely passing regional and national tests, schools in Bohol direly need the P7.1-million retraining program for all the 8,000 teachers in secondary and elementary schools to improve classroom performance and catch up with schools in other provinces.

As a priority measure, Provincial Schools Division Supt. Dr. Lorna Rances conducted an initial assessment and analysis of the academic standing of the Division of Bohol and found out the poor classroom performance of the schools across the province, especially in the second and third districts.

“The low test results indicated the necessity to upgrade and enhance the teaching competencies of our teachers by refocusing on the basic principles of learning, introducing research-based teaching strategies and building the school –the teachers, school heads and staff—as effective working team,” she said.

As a response, the Provincial School Board (PSB), through its chair—Governor Erico Aumentado, has negotiated with municipal school boards, through League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP)-Bohol chapter president, Catigbian Mayor Roberto Salinas, for a 70 percent-30 percent sharing scheme in the expenses.

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Grade-schooler shines in Japan-based art contest

MANILA (PNA)—A Grade VI student is the latest Filipino to make the country proud by winning an illustrated diary-making contest sponsored by the Japan-based Mitsubishi Asian Children’s Enikki Festa.

Vance Galvin Tangcueco, a Grade VI pupil of St. Jude Catholic School, Manila, is the country’s Grand Prix winner in the event which is held every two years. He received US$ 2,000 as prize, a medal and a plaque.

Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Jesli Lapus, who personally awarded the winners recently, said that the entire department is proud of the student's accomplishments. “This latest award shows that Filipino students are all-around performers who can compete head-to-head with other world talents,” added Lapus.

With the theme, “Here is My Life,” the art contest aims to offer Asian children the opportunity to make friends through “Enikki” (or illustrated diaries).

Participants in this contest are public and private elementary school children aged 6-12. They showed other children in Asia how they enjoy their daily life by means of a five-day illustrated diary.

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Outstanding English language “Learner of the Year” to be honored

For nine years, ever since she moved to Sheboygan, Angelica Taubenheim knew she needed one thing if she hoped to make a better life for her and her daughter.

“I need to speak better English,” the 47-year-old native of Mexico said.

So 15 months ago, she contacted the Literacy Council of Sheboygan and was put in touch with a tutor to help her develop English speaking, reading and writing skills.

Those skills paid off with her recently being named Outstanding English Language Learner of the Year by Madison-based Wisconsin Literacy Inc., a consortium of literacy groups around the state. She’ll be honored at the “Celebration of Literacy” awards ceremony next month in Madison.

“I've seen a huge improvement in her ability to speak and read English and in her confidence,” said Rose Ellinger, Angelica’s tutor, who nominated her for the award. “She was meeting twice a week with me, working 40-plus hours a week, plus maintaining a home and raising a daughter. I think someone like that deserves recognition.”

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China language company, McGraw-Hill to develop English proficiency platform

BEIJING (PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall)—ChinaEdu Corporation, a leading educational services provider in China, announced that it has signed a software license and professional service agreement with CTB/McGraw-Hill to develop the online examination for language proficiency for Chinese students.

The online examination will be able to accurately evaluate the language proficiency level of students within seconds and concentrate on improve listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills and benefit the student's English education experience. The examination is slated to launch in the summer of 2010 and will serve Chinese middle school, high school, university, and other student segments.

As the leading publisher of standardized and standards-based achievement tests for pre-school, elementary, middle, high school, and adult education in the United States, CTB/McGraw-Hill LLC offers a broad range of assessments, software and services.

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Ukraine vows not to repeat Ireland’s language “mistake”

Ireland made a “mistake” in recognising English as the second official language and this would not be repeated in his country, said Volodymyr Lytvyn, speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, in Dublin yesterday at the end of a two-day official visit.

Language rights are a major political issue in Ukraine where Russian is denied official language status despite the large proportion of the population for whom it is a mother-tongue.

Recently elected Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych came in for criticism in Moscow this month after announcing he would not promote Russian as a second state language.

Mr Lytvyn said: “We must not repeat the Irish mistake. Nowadays, the English language is dominant in Ireland. So if the Russian language would be recognised as a second state language in Ukraine, in such circumstances the Ukrainian language will be moved to the periphery.

“That is why I am convinced that Ukraine should have only one state language. At the same time, the rights of the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine should not be violated.”

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Poor knowledge of English keeps away green pasture

DAR ES SALAAM—English is used as a medium of instruction in all secondary schools and higher learning institutions in the country, but it still remains a communication barrier between teachers and students in the classroom.

To eliminate the problem, teachers and students have devised various activities that are meant to improve their ability to speak the language. Schools have also made rules to enforce English speaking and put in place punishments for violators of the rules.

“In some of the schools there are placards written ‘Shame on you’ so that students may stop using Kiswahili,” says Maryness Ruta, a student at Stanley Secondary School in Dar es Salaam.

Also as a way to improve not only the use of English language at school but likewise the students’ comprehension of the language, schools’ administration have established English essays competitions, English clubs besides morning speeches that are made in English.

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