More scholarships, assistance to poor Filipino students urged

MANILA (PNA)—The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is batting for the continuity of government scholarship and assistance programs, putting at 10 percent of the national college population as the ideal proportion of students to be covered by the programs.

In a recent news briefing at Malacañang, CHED Executive Director Julito Vitriolo also reiterated the call more funds for the college education sector. He said that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had already spent some P7 billion for such programs which benefited about 650,000 poor and deserving students since 2001.

This is on top of some P1.2 billion already spent on training programs to upgrade the capabilities of almost 4,000 faculty members and about P2.5 billion for laboratories, libraries, and other instructional facilities of government as well as some private partner learning institutions.

Vitriolo said there are now 72 centers of excellence and 122 centers of development identified in the country’s higher education profile which are comparable to quality learning institutions in some ASEAN neighbors.

Full story...

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.

Full story...

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.

Full story...

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.

Full story...

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.

Full story...

Pupils in smaller classes score higher in exams

Pupils who are taught in smaller classes achieve higher marks in exams, a study claims, raising questions about group sizes in British schools.

Class size, which is often taken to be an indicator of a school’s quality, has a significant impact on the results pupils achieve when they finish compulsory education aged 15 or 16, according to new research.

A study of pupils in Denmark, published in the Economic Journal, found that the smaller the class, the higher students' average scores were in their end-of-year exams.

Of the 7,000 pupils studied, those taught in a class of five or six scored on average 8 out of 13, while those in groups of 15 to 16 scored 7.8.

The benefit of being taught in a smaller group was especially pronounced with boys, whose marks increased by about 50 per cent more than those of girls in smaller classes.
Academically weak pupils also saw their marks boosted more than brighter students as the number of fellow pupils decreased.

Full story...

Thief of Shakespeare folio mutilates the most important book in English

A book collector stole a Shakespeare First Folio before trying to sell it to fund his Cuban lover, a court heard yesterday.

Raymond Scott, 53, allegedly “mutilated” the literary treasure to hide its origins before putting it on the market. He had run up huge debts during a relationship with a young woman he met on holiday in Cuba and was “infatuated” with, a jury was told.

Scott kept the folio hidden for ten years until his debts reached more than £90,000 and he decided the time had come to sell it. He had been sending Heidi Garcia Rios, whom he met at a hotel where she worked in Havana, large sums of money and provided her with a card so she could withdraw cash in Cuba, the court heard.

Scott tore off the binding, boards and some pages with identifying marks, then took the folio to the world-renowned Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., and asked for it to be verified as genuine, the court heard.

Full story...

Three American language professors selected for language program in Brazil

BATAVIA—Three Genesee Community College professors will embark on an English language collaboration program in Sao Paulo, Brazil, this summer.

The professors will travel to the South American country to teach English to students at FATEC Americana, a state-run technology-based institution. Genesee professors traveling abroad include Charley Boyd, English professor, Connie Boyd, director of the Human Services program and Susan Drexel, Sociology assistant professor.

The three professors will travel to Brazil July 8-26, for a two-week exchange of language as well as information about culture, history, and geography. The collaboration between Brazilian students and American teachers will allow for a dialogue to discuss the differences and similarities between the two cultures. Teachers will focus on topics that contrast the two cultures’ holidays, climates, history, current events, politics, job seeking as well as cultural elements such as music and cooking.

Full story...

Education ministry now has online English idiom dictionary

TAIPEI (CNA)—The Ministry of Education said Thursday it has added an English function to its online idiom dictionary and will expand the content for English users in the near future.

The MOE’s Dictionary of Chinese Idioms, which was launched online five years ago, now allows users to search for idioms by entering key words in either Chinese or English.

“However, the English search function is limited at the moment but we are planning to provide English translations for all the Chinese idioms in the dictionary,” said Chen I-mei, a member of the MOE's National Language Committee.

The ministry has been testing that function and hopes it will be ready for public use later this year, she said.

"Due to cultural and background differences, it is difficult to achieve an exact English translation of the idioms, but we will provide simple translations for English users," she said.

Full story...

Delhi University’s English course to be expanded to 25 centers

Getting through to colleges of Delhi University is a dream for most students. But for some, it soon turns to a bitter reality when they are unable to follow the classes, which are in English.

A course in English Language proficiency, designed by the Institute of Life Long Learning (ILLL) could help these students overcome this problem.

The course, which is already available in 17 colleges of the varsity, will be expanded to 25 colleges this year.
“A lot of students, who are very otherwise bright, have problems in comprehending and writing English. It has been quite popular and so, we have decided to increase the number of centers from this academic year," said AK Bakshi, director, ILLL.

The fee structure for this 100-hour course has also been revised. Others such as Hansraj, Dyal Singh, Ram Lal Anand (Evening), Satyawati (Evening) and Campus of Open Learning already offer the course. A candidate opting for this course has to pay Rs 3,000 this year as compared to Rs 2,500 till last year.

Full story...

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.

Full story...

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.

Full story...

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.

Full story...

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.

Full story...