Creation of a Philippine center for teachers excellence proposed

MANILA (PNA)—The creation of a Center for Teachers Excellence has been proposed in support of the recommended adoption of a 12-year basic education cycle in the country in conformance with global standards.

The proponent, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, said the proposed center will provide a continuing program for teachers to regularly upgrade their teaching skills and competence in compliance with the criteria set forth by the Department of Education (DepEd).

He said the continuing decline in the quality of education over the years could be due to government’s failure to address the plight of local teachers.

He said that as the education department looks into the possibility of adopting a new basic education phase for Filipino students, a similar concern should be given to teachers to ensure that their teaching skills and competence are at par with international standards.

“These days, only a few of the newly graduates (teachers) would want to enter the teaching profession. The once bright and promising career of the teachers has suddenly become a job that must be evaded,” Zubiri said.

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Philippine 2010 science and technology fair launched

PASIG CITY—The Department of Education (DepEd) is launching the 2010 Science and Technology Fair in end-August to choose the most creative and best science researches that will represent the country at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) and other various international/regional science fairs.

The fair will be conducted in the school, division, regional and national levels. The school-level competition is scheduled on August 28-29; the division level, September 18-19; the regional level, October 2-3; and the regional level, October 27-30. Qualified to participate are students from both public and private secondary schools, and students from all Special Science classes are expected to join the competition.

For student researchers, prizes in each category will be P2,500, P1,500, and P1,000 for first, second, and third places, respectively. The teacher advisers or coaches of the winning student researchers will receive P1,500 in each of the categories.

According to Education Secretary Br. Armin Luistro, FSC, the event aims to promote science and technology consciousness among the youth. Science is one of the core learning programs in the basic education curriculum.

“A strong orientation on science and technology among the citizenry is the foundation of highly developed economies all over the world,” Luistro said. “This is why we open avenues such as this fair to encourage our youth to immerse themselves in scientific pursuit.”

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English proficiency campaign challenges UST studentry
By Keavy Eunice E. Vicente, Manila Bulletin

MANILA—“Language cannot be legislated.”

This was the pronouncement of Dr. Ruth Elynia Mabanglo in a seminar titled “Panayam sa Wika 2010” held at the Rizal Conference Hall of the University of Santo Tomas (UST). The seminar is deemed very relevant in light of a university-wide English proficiency campaign which will soon be implemented in UST.

UST Rector Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P. greenlighted the proposal in answer to a report about the declining competence of the Thomasian community in the use of the English language. The Rector challenged Faculty of Arts and Letters Dean Michael Anthony Vasco to lead the said campaign.

The said policy had its roots from complaints of employers about graduates of UST having problematic communication skills. Fr. De la Rosa said that most of the time, UST graduates are competent in their line of work, but are not very articulate, especially in the English language. This prevents them from getting promotion in their jobs to higher positions.

Professors from the Faculty of Arts and Letters (Artlets) had been instructed by Dean Vasco to be vigilant about the campaign and to strictly implement the use of English at a medium of instruction and communication.

The policy requires that English will not only be used in the classroom for academic purposes, but also in extracurricular activities including plays, scripts, projects and productions. The policy however will not affect Filipino and foreign language classes.

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National campus journalism fellowship set by UST from October 21-23

MANILA—To promote press excellence and foster camaraderie among campus journalists all over the country, The Varsitarian, the 81-year-old official student publication of the University of Santo Tomas, will hold “Inkblots 2009: the 11th UST National Campus Journalism Fellowship” from October 21 to 23 at its Thomas Aquinas Research Complex in the UST campus in España. The event is open to all student writers, campus press advisers, high school journalism instructors, and school officials.

The fellowship will consist of seminars on news writing, sports writing, investigative reporting, features writing, culture and lifestyle writing, opinion or column writing, and parallel sessions on writing for broadcast, cartooning and lay-outing, among others.

Among the invited resource speakers are Cesar Apolinario (news reporter, GMA Network), Conrado de Quiros (columnist, Philippine Daily Inquirer), Nestor Cuartero (entertainment editor, Tempo), and Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo (vice-president for public affairs, University of the Philippines-Diliman).

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UP students shine in Asia business concept

MANILA—A multi-discipline team of students from the University of the Philippines-Diliman won the second prize in the KT&G 2010 Asian Students’ Venture Forum competition for the best business concepts using new technology, held recently in Beijing, China.

Composed of Business Administration students Katrina Gay Cruz, Karen Gail Feble, and Michelle Ann Molas; Public Administration students Julia Chu and Ezekiel Vicente; Mass Communication student Julio Danilo Silvestre; and Interior Design student Crisette Evelyn Arcilla, the Philippine team won over teams from eight other universities in Singapore, Japan, Korea and China.

The UP team presented “Language Live,” a concept for online Mandarin language tutorials, during a program at Renmin University. First prize went to a team from Singapore and the third prize went to a Korean team.

The students’ participation in the forum made them part of the Asia Entrepreneurship Community (AEC), a network of university students of China, Korea, Singapore, Japan, and the Philippines who exchange business venture information in the field of new technology and are concerned with venture entrepreneurship.

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Arts and Letters students tapped to start speak-English campaign at UST

MANILA—Students at the Faculty of Arts and Letters at the University of Sto. Tomas are now required to speak in English during class discussions, serving as “guinea pigs” before the launch of a University-wide English proficiency campaign.

Rector Fr. Rolando De la Rosa, O.P., said that competence in English is one of the main complaints of many of the employers of UST graduates. He explained that a survey by employers in the country and abroad indicated that  although UST graduates “are very competent in their profession,” one of their setbacks ois that “they are not very articulate, especially in the English language.”

Artlets Dean Michael Anthony Vasco said the policy requires students and faculty members to use English as the medium of instruction and communication. However, the policy will not affect Filipino and foreign language subjects.

“Every liberal arts student is expected to be highly articulate. It’s about time that we create a strict language policy in the college. Our students should be able to articulate their discourse in the English language,” Vasco said.

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