DepEd pushes for the use of the mother tongue to develop better learners

MANILA (PNA)—In an elementary school in Ilocos Norte, the teacher asked her pupils to describe an earthen jar during a social studies class. A blank stare from across the classroom greeted her. Sensing that she had not been fully understood, she uttered the word “burnay” and the class stirred back to life, with the pupils starting to generate a lot of images about the subject matter. Soon, the classroom was alive with students wanting to take part in the discussion about “burnay.”

“When a child thinks, he naturally uses the language he grew up with. That is why the thinking process is fast and clear. But imagine if an Ilocano child has to first translate a Filipino or an English word, the thinking process is not as fluid,” Department of Education Undersecretary Vilma Labrador said.

This is the reason why in July 2009, the Department of Education issued Department Order 74, which institutionalized the mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE). The DepEd was convinced by overwhelming evidence showing that the use of the mother tongue in early education develops better and faster learners.

“Our goal here is to develop lifelong learners who are proficient in the use of their first language, the national language and other languages,” Education Secretary Mona Valisno said.

The Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education project is a continuation of the Lingua Franca Education Project launched in SY 1999-2000 as mandated by DECS Memo No. 144 s. 1999.

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Brightest business students undergo immersion program with top US firms
By Rainier Allan Ronda, The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines—The country’s “best and brightest” business school students are now undergoing a week-long immersion and orientation program with several top United States multinational companies and their top executives in an effort to introduce them to world best practices in business management.

A total of 33 students coming from leading universities in the country were selected from 181 applicants by the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham) for their annual Business Orientation Program (BOP) which started last April 19.

“Over the past seven years, we have given deserving students the chance to have actual experience as to how top companies conduct business in a bid to both educate them on industry best practices and inspire them to take the lead in their respective fields in the future,” says Carol Dominguez, this year’s BOP committee chair and chief executive officer (CEO) of John Clements Consultants, Inc.

By the end of the week, selected delegates will be given a chance to take Test of English for International Communication or TOEIC, which is significant to corporate communications.

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Summer jobs for students granted by Department of Department

MANILA (PNA)—The Department of Education (DepEd) has hired 150 students who need to earn during summer to pursue their studies under the Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES).

DepEd Secretary Mona Valisno expressed her appreciation to the SPES project, saying that the summer job will give the students a sense of personal responsibility where they can use their free time more productively by performing office works.

“This is their best bet for summer, a sort of on- the-job training for 40 days which could give them a good head start,” said Valisno.

This year, under Valisno’s leadership, the department has stepped up the implementation of the SPES by allocating about P1.6752 million to qualified students.

The selected students will be paid minimum daily wage, 60 percent of which will be shouldered by DepEd and the remaining 40 percent by DOLE.

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Cebu student journalists and faculty attend online campus journalism seminar

CEBU CITY—An advanced seminar on online campus journalism was conducted by Smart Communications Inc. (Smart) here recently for invited student journalists and faculty advisers from six colleges and universities in the city.

The participants in the two-day seminar were students and faculty from Benedicto College, the University of the Philippines, the University of San Carlos, the University of San Jose-Recoletos, the University of the Visayas, and St. Theresa’s College.

The seminar is part of Smart’s journ.ph program, an initiative to promote online campus journalism through partnerships and trainings using the journ.ph online platform.

The seminar resource persons were lawyer Rose Versoza, who discussed journalism ethics; Ritchie Quijano, Cebu situationer; Nini Cabaero, online journalism; Michelle So, community journalism; and Alex Badayos, photojournalism. Blogger and journalist Max Limpag acted as moderator and critic for the participant’s outputs.

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Obama’s plan to reward schools for innovation sparks debate
By Nick Anderson, staff writer, Washington Post

At Adelphi Elementary School, students peel away from their classrooms twice a week for tutorials in reading and math. Clusters of five or six children shuffle into a book closet, a hallway, a computer lab or any place teachers can fit a few chairs for 45 minutes of catch-up lessons or enrichment.

Such all-out efforts helped this Prince George’s County school win a national award this year for gains in test scores. But the federal anti-poverty program that funds the academic drive at Adelphi represents a model of education reform—spreading aid to states based on population and need—that is fast going out of fashion.

President Obama aims to reinvent the Education Department as a venture capitalist for school reform, investing more in schools with innovative ideas. The Title I program, which supports Adelphi and thousands of other schools in low-income areas based on formulas of need, is not facing extinction. But Obama would freeze funding to the core of that program even as he sends billions of dollars to states that harmonize their policies with his

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In UK schools, students are increasingly taking neuro-enhancing drugs

Students are increasingly taking neuro-enhancing drugs to fight fatigue and help them concentrate. But how safe are they – and is it cheating?

It is an all too common story: a diligent student works hard and finally achieves a coveted place at Cambridge University. Once there, the pressure becomes too great and they turn to drugs. These days, however, the old narrative has changed. Instead of the spliffs that apparently so delighted generations of our politicians, the latest fad is for educational, not recreational, drugs.

“It was the summer term of my second year,” explains Raj Perera, in his final year of a natural sciences degree at Cambridge University. “I’m an international student, which means my parents are paying £20,000 for every year I am here. That sort of money puts a huge pressure on you. But last summer, I had two weeks to go before my exams, and I had done pretty much no revision. It was a make-or-break moment. So I bought modafinil.”

Modafinil is one of the new neuroenhancing "smart drugs" now being taken by growing numbers of students. It was originally developed for the treatment of narcolepsy, but is now used by students to combat fatigue.

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Translations of Emirati books bring English language to life
By Anna Seaman, TheNational.ae

ABU DHABI—Omar al Zaabi’s eyes light up as he talks about the short story he read for a recent class—One Day a Week by the Emirati author Mohammed al Murr.

“It is about a man living and working in Abu Dhabi who only sees his wife on Fridays when he drives to Dubai,” said Mr. al Zaabi, 24, from Sharjah, waving a copy in the air. “It was my favourite story because life for all men in Abu Dhabi is like this.” But Mr. al Zaabi is no regular student.

He is a federal police officer based at Al Baniyas Police Station – and just one of some 650 working Emiratis and mature students taking part in a pilot project at Abu Dhabi Men’s College that aims to help nationals master English and teach them more about their history and culture.

What is unique about the project is that it is using Emirati literature and books that have been translated into English.

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More hours in English to bring positive results

The Malaysian Education Ministry is of the view that the extended time for the teaching of English will benefit pupils as its objectives are to strengthen and enhance pupils’ learning experience in the subject.

The move to increase the number of hours for the teaching of English in national and vernacular schools by 2011 is a strategy to encourage the mastery of the English language through the transformation of the curriculum.

The new curriculum that begins with Year One, is a modular structure and focuses on the learner acquiring basic literacy and communicative skills.

With curriculum structure, schools will be notified of the adjustments to be made within the existing timetable.

The ministry is also aware of the need to bring the standard of teaching English to be on par with Bahasa Malaysia. Therefore, the increase in the number of hours for the subject will allow pupils to use language in a meaningful manner.

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Rural students to get free spoken English training

DINDIGUL—A 40-hour free spoken English course meant for rural students was launched by the district administration in association with the English Language Teachers' Association of India at PSNA College of Engineering and Technology here on Wednesday.

Collector M. Vallalar said that the course, the first of its kind, would impart nuances of English to rural students to make them employable. All classes would be held in the forenoon of Saturdays and Sundays and participants would attend at least 13 classes.

Experts in communicative English and professors from various universities and MIT, Chennai, would train them. Trainees would have access to sophisticated language lab of PSNA College. Regular classes would be held at the college training centre on Tiruchi Road junction.

The Project Officer, District Rural Development Agency, K. Arunmani, said that rural students were highly talented, efficient and hard working. But these qualities did not come to light owing to lack of communication skills.

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Madonna lays first brick for her Malawi school

CHINKHOTA (AFP)—US pop star Madonna Tuesday laid the first brick at the 15 million dollar (11 million euro) girls’ academy that she is building in Malawi, promising to bring quality education to young girls.

The singer and actress laid a stone with an inscription “Raising Malawi Academy for Girls” and the motto, Dare to Dream.

“It has always been my dream to train women leaders who can help develop the country,” Madonna said during the event. “I grew up as a poor girl with my mother, I had no chance for good education. It is my aim to see Malawian girls get the right education.”

The colorful ceremony at the site of the school in Chinkhota village, some 15 kilometers (nine miles) from the capital Lilongwe, was attended by education officials and curious villagers.

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US diplomat advises Angola to invest in the English language

CABINDA—The US ambassador to Angola, Dan Mozena, on Tuesday suggested that the Angolan government should invest in the diffusion of the English language, which can help the country to play its legitimate role as leader of central and southern Africa, as well as in the international arena.

Mozena said so at a ceremony that served to symbolically hand over a donation of English books to the Education Sciences Higher Institute (ISCED), linked to the public 11 de Novembro University (UON), an incentive for the creation of an English Language Department in this institution.

The North American diplomat said that Angola is an emerging power in Africa, a fact that has been recognised by the US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, when she visited this country.

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