Teachers’ group welcomes 10,000 new hires, but says need is much bigger

MANILA—The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC), composed of public school teachers associations nationwide, said that while the proposed allocation of P1.6 billion for the hiring of 10,000 new teachers next year was welcome, they said this was not enough to reduce teacher shortage in public schools all over the country.

Benjo Basas, TDC national chairperson, pointed out that the Department of Education needs to hire more than 120,000 new teachers if it wanted to hit the ideal classroom to student ratio of one classroom to 40 students in all public schools. “The 10, 000 new teachers is just a small piece of the bulk,” Basas said.

Basas cited data from DepEd itself wherein it requested for 120,230 new teachers and 54,362 new classrooms for school year 2011-2012.

The proposed 2011 budget also sets aside P12.4 billion for construction of some 20,000 new classrooms.

The group, stressed that the allocations given to DepEd will resolve a very minimal amount of the shortage problems in public school system, which lacks not only teachers and classrooms but also other facilities, instructional materials, books and training for teachers, among others.

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Education Department’s Region XI launches Teachers’ Month

DAVAO CITY—Often unrecognized for their versatility in doing various kind of functions in public service, teachers now get month-long recognition as the Philippines participates in the World Teachers’ Day on October 5.

Today, the Department of Education XI launches the Teachers’ Month Campaign, which will culminate on October 5 in time for the celebration of World Teachers’ Day.

“It’s time that we recognize our unsung heroes, the most maligned group but the most obedient and devoted workers of the government,” said regional director Susana Estigoy.

The campaign is aimed to celebrate the unique role and service of teachers in guiding families, strengthening communities and building the nation. It also hopes to revitalize the image of teaching as vocation by increasing public awareness.

On October 5 at 10:05 am, all nationwide will take a break from their classroom or school programs. School bells will be sounded as signal for the synchronized World Teachers’ Day celebration.

Estigoy urged students, parents, and the community to be the ones honoring the teachers on their special day. Previously, teachers were the ones who prepared the program and intermission numbers to entertain themselves on their special day.

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4th graders do mathematics better in Filipino, says UP professor

MANILA—In Valenzuela City early this year, fourth graders were given a Math quiz in Filipino while sixth graders took the same quiz in English.

Who fared better? Surprise, surprise: The fourth graders who had taken the quiz in Filipino scored higher marks.

Two years ago, first graders in Lubuagan, Kalinga, wowed observers when they composed two paragraphs of prose in their native Lilubuagan.

In a country where intellect is often equated with one’s facility for the English language, linguistics experts welcome the revival of the use of the local language—all 170 of them—as the medium of instruction in schools.

In his 10-point basic education agenda, President Benigno Aquino III has included the use of local language in teaching entry-level students under a multi-lingual education system

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State-run English test may replace CSAT

The English language section of the College Scholastic Ability Test may be replaced by a state-run English test from 2016. It is also to be recognized as reference material in the rolling admission to universities from 2013.

The Education Ministry held a briefing session Saturday for some 180 high school teachers on the introduction of the National English Ability Assessment Test, widely called the Korean TOEIC or TOEFL, officials said.

The ministry will make a final decision in 2012 on whether the test will substitute the English language section of the CSAT, after implementing it over the next two years. Around 60,000 students are expected to take the test this year and some 100,000 next year, said officials.

Should the state-run test be confirmed as an adequate alternative, its introduction will be put on a three-year notice until 2016.

The English language section in the 2014-2015 CSAT will then be divided into two levels, so that students may grow accustomed to the renewed English testing system.

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Teachers may be fuelling gender gap by stereotyping boys as badly behaved

Teachers may be fuelling the gender gap in education by stereotyping boys as badly behaved, research suggests.

The use of phrases such as “silly boys” and “schoolboy pranks” can reinforce the view that boys are more likely to misbehave than girls, it was claimed.

The study said children’s beliefs could become a “self-fulfilling prophecy” and influence their achievement in the classroom.

Teachers were warned against employing stereotypical language or separating classes into “boys vs. girls” to avoid adding to children’s preconceived ideas about the gender divide.

The disclosure follows the publication of figures last week showing that boys are falling behind girls at the age of seven.

Data published by the Department for Education showed that 24 per cent of boys in England failed to reach the standard expected of their age group in writing compared with just 13 per cent of girls.

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Taxi drivers told to brush up on English

Taxi drivers in Cardiff will be required to present proof they have a strong understanding of English, Cardiff Council agreed today.

The requirement, discussed at the public protection committee this morning, means any existing licence holders who are brought before the committee may be asked to take a Skills for Life entry level three qualification to improve their English.

New taxi drivers are already required to hold a BTEC level qualification, which proves a good understanding in English—a requirement brought in January 2010.

The decision follows a meeting of the committee in July, in which members expressed concerns that the level of English language understanding by some city taxi drivers was still not up to scratch despite the required qualifications – and a report into possible options was launched.

Officers who met with BTEC training providers were satisfied that while the BTEC course does not test English specifically – it is conducted in English to such a standard a good understanding of the language is required to sit the examination.

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Battle to preserve Asian languages in schools
By Perminder Khatkar
BBC Asian Network

Some Asian families are struggling to retain their mother tongue as their children and grandchildren attend English-speaking schools. But complementary schools that teach children the language of their forefathers could be redressing the balance.

“My mother tongue and that of my children’s is English and I’m proud to say that,”
says Zee, a second-generation British Asian and a mother-of-three from Birmingham.

Her children, nieces and nephews now only speak English, despite being brought up in an Asian family.

“You have to accept that we're British and our mother tongue is English, and it’s unfortunate that our Asian language will perish one or two generations down the line,” she says.

In the past Bangladeshi children were considered to fall behind in educational achievements. But speaking both Bengali and English now appears to be improving academic development.

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South Africa gets new Zulu dictionary, first in 40 years

JOHANNESBURG (AFP)—Oxford press said recently it has published a new Zulu-English dictionary, four decades after the last such reference book was released for one of South Africa's most widely spoken languages.

“In a country with a linguistic diversity spanning 11 official languages, it is essential that learners are able to access languages other than their mother tongue—at home, school and later on, in their careers,” said Oxford University Press Southern Africa managing director Lieze Kotz.

Zulus are South Africa’s largest ethnic group, accounting for 24 percent of the population, and their language is the most commonly spoken home language in the country, although English is generally used in business and politics.

More than 2.8 million pupils take Zulu as a language subject at school, according to Oxford.

Oxford’s publishing manager for dictionaries, Megan Hall said the dictionary would help pupils and teachers keep up with the changes in the language.

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Mumbai’s dabbawalas learn English, use of computers

MUMBAI (ANI)—Mumbai’s famed dabbawalas, or tiffin [light midday meal] suppliers are now getting special training in the English language as well as in the use of computers to enable them to understand the requirements of modern customers.

The President of the Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers, Raghunath D. Medge, explained the need for learning computers and English.

“Our customers give the address of their destination, office or residence in English, so it is difficult for us to understand. So, we have to ask people walking on the streets for that address. But everybody is so busy, that they don’t help us out. So, if we will learn English then it will be easy for us to read the address of our customers and will help us in delivering the tiffin easily,” he said.

Medge also said many signboards and nameplates in Mumbai are also in English, causing difficulties for the dabbawalas.

The special programme of English and computer training was jointly launched by the Mumbai Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU) and the Agrawal Institute of Management and Technology for the 5,000 dabbawalas of the city.

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