Jose Carillo's Forum

NEWS AND COMMENTARY


Philippines:

Higher 2011 education budget proposed to address reforms, shortages

MANILA—If the Department of Education (DepEd) will have its annual budget doubled, adding another two years in the basic education for a grade 7 and a fifth year would be doable, Education Secretary Mona Dumlao-Valisno said.

Valisno said that DepEd even has provisions in their proposed 2011 budget to enable adding the two years in the basic education curriculum reportedly being mulled by the incoming administration of President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

“There’s a provision for that in our proposed 2011 budget since we asked for double the 2010 budget of DepEd of more than P170 billion, about P340 billion,” Valisno said.

Valisno said that only lack of funds prevents DepEd from pushing through the recommended additional two years in the basic education curriculum, to establish a 12-year basic education curriculum.

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Philippine sex education in English, please

If the Department of Education (Deped) must push through with the pilot testing of basic sex education in selected public schools, Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas wants the new program to be taught wholly in English.

“This way, the Deped also gets to use the new program to advance the English skills of our children at an early age,” said Gullas, an educator and principal author of a bill seeking to reinforce the use of English in schools.

Assuming the trial run of sex education will proceed, Gullas said the Deped has the option to teach the new program in English, Filipino or in the regional/native language.
"Of course we would prefer that it be taught entirely in English, as a language is best learned and mastered through constant exposure and use in school and elsewhere," Gullas said.

Despite resistance from the Catholic Church, the Deped said it intends to carry out this school year the pilot testing of sex education in 80 elementary and 79 high schools nationwide.


Inclusion of computer education in the Philippine school curriculum urged

MANILA—In an effort to make Filipinos more globally-equipped in information technology, Senator Edgardo Angara stressed on Tuesday the need to pursue a legislation to integrate computer education into the curriculum of students in as early as the elementary level.

“In our efforts to recover from lost economic grounds, our people need to be updated on the latest advances in technology. The youth must be scientifically and technically prepared to fully tap their inner talents and contribute to national development," Angara, former president of University of the Philippines, said.

Senate Bill 909, already filed, seeks to promote computer literacy by including basic computer applications and programs in primary schools, with the aim to produce highly-skilled workers in programming, digitally-aided design, hardware, networking and software development.

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Smoking ban in schools apply even to teachers

MANILA—The Department of Education (DepEd) asserts that schools are no smoking zones and anyone caught violating the order would be suspended. And the ban holds true even to teachers and non-teaching staff.

DepEd official and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said anyone caught violating the no-smoking rule will be brought to the principal’s office, or if a teacher or non-teaching staff is caught, he will be prosecuted and suspended.

“There have been existing DepEd orders on smoking ban but with this, [and] we want to affirm that the schools—including the students, teachers, and non-teaching staff—are covered,” Secretary Mona Valisno said in reports.

The DepEd has accordingly instructed all principals and school heads to ban smoking inside the campus, even in open or covered spaces around school buildings, and instructed regional and division officials to oversee the implementation of the order.

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Seven modern heroes and how they lived
By Ruel S. De Vera, Philippine Daily Inquirer

For many, heroism may sound like an antiquated word, synonymous with paper money and monuments. But beyond the revolutionaries of the 19th century and the soldiers of the 20th remain those who have the power to inspire. They are heroes for a new generation. While some may have sacrificed their lives, all of them have spent their lifetime working to effect a profound change in Philippine society.

Perfectly distilling that idea is Bookmark’s line of children’s book called Modern Heroes for the Filipino Youth, a series conceived by company president Amb. Bienvenido Tan Jr.

“The idea is to give proper role models to our youth and to teach English,” Tan says of the series and of Bookmark’s collaboration with the Ramon Magsaysay Foundation on another series called the Great Men and Women of ASIA.

Tan gathered a group of writers and artists at the Manila Polo Club in January 2008, who drew up a list of new role models for the Filipino youth. A panel led by Tan and editorial head Eddie Yabut vetted the manuscripts and later that year, the books started coming out. The most recent title was released in April.

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United States:

In bold move, Colorado alters teacher tenure rules

DENVER—Colorado is changing the rules for how teachers earn and keep the sweeping job protections known as tenure, linking student performance to job security despite outcry from teacher unions that have steadfastly defended the system for decades.

Many education reform advocates consider tenure to be one of the biggest obstacles to improving America’s schools because it makes removing mediocre or even incompetent teachers difficult.

Colorado’s legislature changed tenure rules despite opposition from the state’s largest teacher’s union, a longtime ally of majority Democrats. Gov. Bill Ritter, also a Democrat, signed the bill into law last month.

It requires teachers to be evaluated annually, with at least half of their rating based on whether their students progressed during the school year. Beginning teachers will have to show they've boosted student achievement for three straight years to earn tenure.

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United Kingdom:

Campus call for flexibility

Gone are the days when students were met with a pre-sessional English language course, and nothing else. Today British universities are developing new ways to support students who need to improve their English skills. In doing so they make life more challenging and rewarding for the teaching staff

For many international students, and many teachers, improving English language skills at British universities means one thing: the summer pre-sessional English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course. For students this may be their one chance to prove that they can meet university entry requirements in the English language. For English language teachers it can be an opportunity to earn decent money in between teaching contracts abroad, and to flesh out the teaching experience section of their CVs.

But when September draws to a close, university ELT operations do not shut up shop. As well as providing year-round study skills and EAP support to international students on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, many institutions offer master's programmes in Tesol, supervise PhD students in applied linguistics, and carry out research into second language acquisition.

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Parliament asks government to scrap new student visa rules

London British MPs have asked the government to scrap the new immigration rules that make it mandatory for students from India and other non-EU countries to have an intermediate level of English before coming to the UK to study the language.

The rules, put in place by the previous Labour government, raised the entry level criteria for international students keen to study English in Britain.

The rules were mainly drawn up to deter bogus students who used the student visas to enter the UK and stay on.

In an Early Day Motion, the MPs, led by Stephen Lloyd (Liberal Democrats), said the rules were “rushed and flawed” and added that the rules would discourage an estimated 100,000 high fee-paying international students from coming to the UK.

The motion says that the rules threaten an important sector of the UK economy and are damaging the country's standing as a world leader in education.

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Japan:

Japan urged to keep program to invite foreign language instructors

WASHINGTON (Kyodo News International)—A Japan-U.S. panel drawn from government, business and academia called Friday for sustaining a program to invite English and other foreign language instructors to Japan, challenging a Japanese government view, expressed earlier this year, questioning the necessity of the project as part of a review of unnecessary public projects.

The U.S.-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange, which is known as CULCON, said in a joint statement issued after its two-day gathering in Washington that investment should be made in education for the Japan-U.S. alliance in the future.

“'The investment should range from improving English language education in Japan to stimulating interest in each other's country...sustaining the JET program and fostering public intellectuals through graduate and post-doctoral studies,” the statement said. JET stands for the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program.

Minoru Makihara, senior corporate adviser and former chairman of Mitsubishi Corp. and chair of the Japan panel, told a news conference that participants noted the importance of fostering Americans familiar with Japan amid growing interest in China among Americans.

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Malaysia:

Never a dull moment
By Kang Soon Chen, TheStar.com.my

The teaching of the English language can be challenging but it does not mean there should be no fun.

This is what was discussed at the 19th Malaysian English Language Teaching Association (Melta) International Conference 2010.

Themed “Transformations in English Language Education: Vision, Innovation, Implementation,” the conference drew academics and teachers alike to a roundtable on ways to bring English Language Teaching (ELT) to a whole new level.

The conference brought together around 300 educators from around the world.
Officiated by Raja Zarith Sofiah Almarhum Sultan Idris Shah, the conference was set to the right precedent with the Johor Ruler’s consort putting her faith in teachers to increase students’ proficiency in the language.

“When I studied English at pre-school and primary school, my English teachers were all Malaysians. “They taught me well, because even before I went to secondary school in England, I could speak, read and write in English quite fluently,” said Raja Zarith, who is also the patron of Melta, in her royal lecture.

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Pakistan:

Pakistan struggles to reverse falling university language skills

As Pakistan renews a teacher training project to restore dwindling English language ability among students, some fear that the linguistic key to global academia is already lost

A project launched in 2004 to halt declining English language skills among students at Pakistan’s public universities has entered a second three-year phase amid concern that low language proficiency continues to hamper higher-education reforms and is putting the latest international research out of reach for academics.

To date, the English Language Teaching Reforms (ELTR) project has provided English language teaching training to 1,540 staff and updated teaching resources at 64 state-funded campuses at a cost of $600,000. In May the government body responsible for tertiary-level reform, the Higher Education Commission (HEC), launched the second phase of the program, with a budget of $650,000 and a target to train a further 1,400 teachers by 2013.

But the size of the problem and slow pace of improvement have left some observers questioning the ELTR strategy.

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Uruguay:

Uruguay pioneers mobile phone English language teaching

Uruguay may not be the most obvious source of English language tuition, but one entrepreneur is convinced that it will be the location of his new venture to teach English via mobile phone to the rest of the continent and beyond

Uruguay can already claim to have one of South America’s most highly active English-language learning populations and now it is set to pioneer the latest mobile-phone technology in its pursuit of communication skills. Soloingles is an English language teaching website that already offers online courses, a translation service and an education social networking site. Its most recent product is an English learning service via mobile phone.

"Everything is possible thanks to the technology," says Rodolfo Llanos, cofounder of Soloingles, and an entrepreneur who began his involvement with English language teaching because of the Argentinian financial crisis of 2002.

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Rwanda:

English language will attract investors
 
This week, we reported that the Ministry of Public Service and Labour has embarked on a three-year intense programme to teach more than 5,000 civil servants the English language.

The project, funded by the Belgian government will start with 560 beneficiaries, who will enroll at the Rwanda Institute of Administration and Management (RIAM), to begin courses conducted by tutors from the British Council.

By mastering the English language, Rwandans will benefit economically, considering that the country is part of the Commonwealth and the East African Community.

Business negotiations and transactions with other Commonwealth and EAC countries will be made much simpler, once most of the people from the member states can communicate in one language.

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Russia:

Demand for MBAs in the Russian language

The world’s third most-spoken first language and, more importantly, its most popular second language, English, is often, somewhat ironically, labeled the lingua franca of the business world.

But not all Russia’s businesspeople are English speakers, and learning a language to study for a master of business administration degree can be time-consuming. “When I was looking at studying, I had a choice: either study language or an Executive MBA,” said Vladimir Verbitsky, first deputy director of the Russian Institute of Directors.

As a result, Verbitsky, an independent director at several Russian firms, opted to look for a Russian-language program. Having originally decided on a course at a Russian institution, he changed his decision on finding a Western business school offering EMBA courses in Russian.

Lecturers at Western business schools have a deep understanding of business practices, Verbitsky said. Although Russian lecturers have a great grasp of the subject, they were brought up in a completely different environment “World outlook is very important in business education,” he said.

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Page last modified: 19 June, 2010, 2:25 a.m.