DepEd cautioned by good-textbooks crusader vs. publishing textbooks by itself
By Philip Tubeza, Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA—A self-styled crusader against “sick books” Monday assailed as “dangerous” a proposal by the Department of Education (DepEd) that it be allowed again to commission and publish textbooks for public schools.

Antonio Calipjo-Go, academic supervisor of Marian School of Quezon City, said that the DepEd should instead increase the textbook price to get more publishers interested in bidding out a textbook project and then “haggle” with them for the best manuscript.

“It would be dangerous for the DepEd to publish and commission its own books because there would be no involvement or input from outside. There would be no check and balance there,” Go said in an interview. “That is a very self-serving proposal and it is also not true that the DepEd books before contained no error.”

Assistant Education Secretary Jonathan Malaya had blamed “cost-cutting” by publishers for the error-riddled textbooks and the 1995 law that scrapped DepEd’s authority to commission and publish its own teaching materials. He said that the DepEd had asked Congress to revisit or amend Republic Act No. 8047, or the Book Publishing Industry Development Act.

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UP opens health sciences campus in South Cotabato

KORONADAL CITY (PNA)—The University of the Philippines (UP) formally opened its second Mindanao campus in this emerging regional center as it moved ahead with its plans to establish a premiere state-run medical school in the island within the next decade.

UP President Emerlinda Roman personally led the opening of the UP Manila School of Health Sciences-South Cotabato extension campus here, which is envisioned to become the next lead research and academic hub in Mindanao in the field of medicine and health sciences.

“We’re laying the ground work for an advanced institution that will carry the university’s zeal for excellence in the medical sciences field in this part of the country,” she said.

The new UP extension campus here is the third health sciences unit established by UP Manila, which banners the university system's health sciences program.

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Japan providing 7,750 computers for Philippine public schools

MANILA (PNA)—Japan’s State Secretary for Foreign Affairs (parliamentary vice minister) Osamu Fujimura called on newly-inaugurated President Benigno Simeon Aquino III at Malacanang last July 1 with information that Japan will provide public schools in Luzon and the Visayas regions with personal computers, the Japanese embassy in Manila said.

Fujimura also transmitted congratulatory messages on Aquino’s inauguration on Wednesday from the Emperor of Japan and the new government headed by Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

Fujimura was Japan’s special envoy and headed the Japanese delegation to Aquino’s inaugurals on June 30.

According to the embassy, a total of 7,750 desktop computers for 775 public high schools in Luzon and the Visayas will be provided under Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA), benefiting 170,000 students and 775 teachers who will train themselves in the use of the computers.

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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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Swedish “free schools” fail to improve results
By Graeme Paton, Education Editor, Telegraph.co.uk

Plans for a generation of Swedish-style “free schools” were questioned today as research suggested they failed to boost education standards.

A report said the schools—set up and run by parents, teachers, charities and voluntary groups—benefited children from highly-educated families more than those from the poorest backgrounds.

The study said any advantages gained by pupils attending free schools in Sweden failed to translate into “greater educational success” beyond the age of 16.

The conclusions, published in the latest education of Research in Public Policy, comes just days after Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, invited groups to apply to run their own primary and secondary schools in England.

Under plans, schools would be funded by the taxpayer but independent of local council control, giving operators more power over the curriculum, admissions and teachers’ pay.

Researchers admitted that the latest study was specific to Sweden and was of “limited” use when predicting the impact of similar reforms in England.

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Brightest pupils need more support in school, says leading head teacher

Bright children could be missing out in the classroom as education policies focus on “overcoming social disadvantage,” according to a leading head teacher.

Shaun Fenton, chairman of the Grammar School Heads Association, said reforms in recent years had been driven by “raising standards to a minimum threshold” instead of boosting results among the most able pupils.

He said bright teenagers from comprehensives could benefit from expert tuition by state grammar schools.

England’s remaining academically-selective schools should be given more funding to stage master classes in key subjects and create teaching materials aimed at “exceptionally able children,” he said.

The comments were made before the association’s annual conference in London.

Mr. Fenton said: “All children deserve their needs to be met and, quite rightly, lots of policy development has been motivated by concerns about underachievement, overcoming social disadvantage and raising standards to a minimum threshold for everyone…”

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Minister criticizes media over stance on Irish language issue

Minister for the Gaeltacht Pat Carey has criticised some of the English language media for not recognizing the Irish language question as one of national importance.

In a discussion paper prepared as part of work on the Government’s 20-year strategy for the Irish language, Mr. Carey said the native language is sometimes not treated with the seriousness it deserves. The general attitude to the language was very positive at present because of the influence of TG4, the burgeoning of the Gaelscoil movement and other positive developments. But he said this is not reflected in media coverage, which either ignores the issue or downplays it.

“All evidence suggests that the vast majority of the Irish people place a huge importance on the language. However, this is not always reflected in the coverage given to language issues in much, if not all, of the English language media.”

Mr Carey said he was not suggesting newspapers fill their pages with “puff pieces and good news stories” about the Irish language.

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British Council: Beacon of English teaching

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, visited the Men’s Teaching Center at the British Council, Riyadh, earlier this month and joined an English language lesson.

It was a rare privilege for the students to have a royal visitor in their class talking to them about the English Premiership but Prince Andrew had an excellent time too. “It is good to see the Council doing what it does best,” he said.

There is no doubt that teaching English is what the Council is best known for. Most of our offices around the world have teaching centers where we teach English to members of the public and private corporations. We also work with governments and ministries of education training English teachers. Last year 10,000 Saudis studied English at one of the British Council’s teaching centers in Jeddah, Riyadh and Alkhobar and that number is set to rise to 15,000 once the extension to the Riyadh center is completed.

One of British Council’s global projects, “English for the Future,” seeks to raise the standard of English teaching and ultimately help young people’s career and employment prospects. “English for the Future” also uses the British Council’s world authority in English and Education. The program works with governments and partners to provide training materials and support mechanisms for ministries of education in the Middle East to improve the standards of teaching English in the region.

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Old students launch program to improve language use
 
KUMASI—Old students of the State Experimental Basic School in Kumasi have launched a quiz competition for children in the school to improve the use of the English language. It has been dubbed “Read-wide project 2010.” Children from the lower and upper primary and those in the Junior High School (JHS) have been competing in writing skills, summary, essay, spelling and reading.

Mr. Andy Mensah-Bonsu, President of the Old Students, said the goal was to address incorrect grammar and English expressions in order for the children to obtain good grades in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). He also spoke of plans to support brilliant but needy pupils in the school to go through their education. Additionally, trees and flowers in the school would be labeled with their scientific and English names, he said.

Mrs Lucy Osei Twumasi, the Headmistress of the Basic One unit of the school, said they had formed science, mathematics, debating and environmental clubs to help raise academic performance. She appealed to the government, individuals and other organizations to assist improve the infrastructure and academic facilities in the school.

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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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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 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 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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