Literacy rate in Philippines on steady decline

MANILA—A Philippine senator has deplored the steady decline in the literacy rates as well as the quality of basic education in the country.

Sen. Edgardo J. Angara, chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, Arts, and Culture, lamented this in his message at the opening program of the 2010 National Literacy Conference and Awards held by the Department of Education (DepEd) at Teachers’ Camp in Baguio City.

He attributed the country’s deteriorating literacy condition largely to “underinvestment and low priority for literacy advancement of the youth and uneducated adults.”

This alarming situation, Angara said, calls for a massive effort to improve the nation’s education system, which he said be achieved “through the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders in education, private sector and legislation.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Salvador H. Escudero, chairperson of the House Committee on Basic Education, considered literacy as the most important basic tool of the knowledge economy in all corners of the world today.

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DepEd order caused proliferation of illegal schools, says schools association

MANILA (PNA)—The country’s largest association of private schools on Monday urged for the revocation of a decade-old order of the Department of Education (DepEd) that they blamed for the proliferation of “fly-by-night” schools, particularly in Metro Manila.

Eleazardo Kasilag, president of the Federation of Associations of Private Schools and Administrators (FAPSA), said the order issued by then Education Secretary Armand Fabella in 1992 making the National Capital Region (NCR) operation-free school zone “was the worst order that ever happened in Philippine private education.”

“Fabella’s order lifted the school zoning in establishing private schools near an existing school, claiming survival of the fittest renders quality education but it has been abused as some administrators are seamen, nurses and retired employees who put up schools but hardly in the know of its operations,” Kasilag said.

“Competition is good in business industries. This does not apply in school. The clienteles are not consumers but learners. Schools do not pedal goods but knowledge. It should not be survival of the fittest as envisioned by Fabella’s order; that’s a jungle rule. And it made a jungle out of the present proliferation. It is worse than 'lechon manok' outlets. After almost two decades, FAPSA now emphatically conclude that this DepEd ruling is ineffective,” he stressed.

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Nation of Georgia seeks English teachers

The nation of Georgia is hiring English-language teachers by the hundreds, hoping to give its students a competitive business and cultural advantage.

Learning English is so important to the former Soviet Republic that it is providing round-trip airfare, health insurance, lodging, food and a salary to teachers. No experience or college degree is required.

Georgia’s goal is to have 1,000 native English-speaking teachers in place by the end of the year, according to a news release by Footprints Recruiting, the Canadian company contracted to supply the instructors.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili met with the first 50 teachers who arrived July 30. The country’s goal is for all Georgian children aged 5-16 to learn English, the president said. English teachers are paid about $300 a month and are provided room and board with a Georgian family. Those who teach for an entire year receive round-trip tickets home for a month during either winter or summer break.

Atlanta has a growing number of connections to Georgia, a former Soviet republic, which has a population of about 4.6 million. Tbilisi, the capital, has been an Atlanta sister city since 1988.

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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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