Call centers alone can’t advance the Philippine economy, says ADB
By Likha Cuevas-Miel, The Manila Times

November 17, 2010—Despite the employment and the dollars that business process outsourcing (BPO) generates, the sector may not be the answer to the country’s need to advance its economy, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said.

In a recent policy note, the Manila-based lender said that the BPO sector is helpful in boosting the service-led growth by employing a big number of Filipinos and spurring domestic consumption.

“However, it is not realistic to believe that the BPO industry can allow the economy to leapfrog the process of industrialization,” ADB added.

One reason was that the service-led growth in the Philippines did not create enough jobs for the country’s labor force, which is estimated to increase by over 14 million in the next two decades.

Despite the mushrooming of BPO call centers nationwide, the sector was only able to employ 1 percent of the total labor force and will only be able to recruit another 1 percent in the next few years.

ADB said that the impact of BPO’s job generation is limited given that only one-fourth of the total labor force is utilized, and that majority of jobless workers are unskilled and equipped with only primary or secondary education.

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New programs in 5 courses disallowed by Higher Education Commission

MANILA, November 12, 2010—Public and private universities and colleges will not be allowed to offer new programs in five fields of study starting next year under the moratorium ordered by the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) on new course offerings because of the decline in the quality of graduates in those fields.

Under CHEd’s Memorandum Order 32, no new undergraduate and graduate programs will be allowed in these more popular college courses: business administration, nursing, teacher education, hotel and restaurant management, and information technology. The moratorium applies only to schools planning on opening courses in the affected programs, and will not affect those that currently offer these courses.

“There is already a proliferation of higher education institutions offering undergraduate and graduate programs [in these fields] which, if allowed to continue unabated, would result in the deterioration of the quality of graduates of these five higher education programs,” CHEd Chair Patricia Licuanan said in the order that she signed last Sept. 30.

Licuanan said tertiary institutions that were able to submit their applications for new courses under these programs by June 30, or before the moratorium was issued, would still have their papers processed. Applications under appeal as of Sept. 30 will also still be processed.

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BPO industry to benefit from Education Department’s K+12 program

MANILA, November 3 (PNA)—The business process outsourcing (BPOs) industry will directly benefit once the planned Kindergarten Plus 12 (K+12) program of the Department of Education (DepEd) will be implemented.

“We’ll improve the quality of supply in the BPOs or the call center industry," Alfredo Ayala, president of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP), said.

“We fully support the 12-year (K+12) initiative,” Ayala added, stressing that “the world has recognized the supply of talented professionals” and that there is a need of larger supply and the industry can draw from the graduates who undergone the 12–year high school.

He stressed that at present, the BPO industry is having a hard time hiring applicants for call center agents due to inadequate communication skills. This, he said, is attributable to the applicants’ lack of educational training.  

With the adoption of the K+12, Ayala noted that while addressing the problem on age limit, the new system will give a better chance to the graduates of K+12 to land a job in the call centers.

Earlier, the BPAP, together with other representatives from other business sector, signed a memorandum of agreement with DepEd supporting the K+12 program, which will increase the basic education curriculum from 10 to 12 years. The K+12 is expected to be fully implemented on 2012.

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Education Department vows to improve textbook quality

PASIG CITY, November 6, 2010—In an effort to personally reach out to textbook crusader Mr. Antonio Calipjo-Go, Education Chief Armin Luistro went to Marian School of Quezon City today, where Go works as an academic supervisor. Luistro’s objective was to discuss concerns on error-ridden books in response to Go's call for DepEd to pay attention to the issue.

“This issue should be taken seriously especially that these textbooks are the readily available source of information our students have particularly in areas where internet connection is not available,” said Luistro.

Luistro narrated how the meeting went, saying he is quite happy with how things turned out. “I had a very cordial meeting with Mr Go. He showed me his notes on errors in the English textbook series used currently in DepEd elementary schools. We discussed ways of correcting those via supplemental notes as these textbooks were only printed in 2008. He also volunteered to continue to help DepEd in future textbook projects. I appreciate Mr. Go’s efforts to address textbook quality and I expressed my desire to work more closely with him and other independent reviewers and experts.”

DepEd welcomed this positive development on improving the quality of textbooks especially now that Go committed his support to the department.

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Ganbei! China embraces English language

11 comments by CLARISSA WARD and ENJOLI FRANCIS
November 15, 2010—In an effort to promote internationalism, China is learning English.

In the next five years, all state employees younger than 40 will be required to master at least 1,000 English phrases, and all schools will begin teaching English in kindergarten. The government also is funding extensive teacher training programs to find new models for language learning and develop new textbooks.

Parents who can afford to, are sending their children—some as young as 2—t private language schools that are popping up all over the country. By the time they are 10, the children will be fluent.

“China is more open to the world,”said one teacher. "We [the older generation] want our kids to open their eyes to get to know the world [and] look at China not only from standing in China but from outside of China as well.”

State-run TV launched an “American Idol”-type of reality show where kids have to sell themselves in English to clinch the judges' votes.

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Foreign language high schools undergoing crisis

November 15, 2010—A staff member at Yongin Foreign Language High School in Gyeonggi Province said with a sigh of regret, “We advised students with good academic performances and English-language proficiency to apply (to Yonsei University), but most failed, which is hard to believe. Only some of them with academic records good enough for admission were admitted.”

“Only five percent of students who applied for early admission at Yonsei University were admitted,” he said. “This constitutes bashing of foreign language high schools and reverse discrimination.”

A source at Daewon Foreign Language High School in Seoul also said, “The number of students admitted through two early admission programs has declined to a third from last year. We didn’t expect the situation to be as bad as it is now.”

“Since Yonsei will seek to recruit highly talented students, we are pinning our hopes that the university will devise other measures (to recruit our students).”

Top-tier foreign language high schools are frustrated over the low number of their students getting into Yonsei. This is because the university has significantly increased the weight of academic performance in admissions review for its Global Leader Underwood International Admissions Program and decreased the importance of foreign language.

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Paper chase: Korean English language magazines booming
By Andrew Salmon, Yonhap

SEOUL, November 17, 2010—Journalists, go East.

With the Internet consuming its profits and eroding its business model, the Western hemisphere’s print media may be in terminal tailspin, but in South Korea, one sector seems to be booming: English language magazines.

Anyone staying at an international hotel in Seoul, or patronizing restaurants or bars in the city’s foreign quarter, Itaewon, will be able to pick up glossy monthlies like Groove, Seoul and Ten, all full color, professionally edited, heavy with copy and brimming with advertising.

And he or she won’t have to pay a cent: While subscribers pay, and some bookshops sell them, the magazines are widely distributed free-of-charge.

Groove includes reporting-heavy features on the exploitation of third-country workers, a first-person account of breast enhancement surgery and Asian travel pieces. Ten’s specialization is shortlists of “Top Ten” attractions nationwide, from coffee shops to mountains, theme parks to swimming spots.

Both include detailed “What’s On” listings and focus heavily on Korea’s sizzling nightlife. Both are distributed nationwide.

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English language requirements for nurses eased

November 15, 2010—A controversial requirement to test the language skills of native English-speaking nurses may be scrapped under proposed changes to national registration guidelines.

The Nursing and Midwifery Board has come under intense scrutiny since it began operation on July 1, after causing lengthy delays to registration by forcing applicants to sit English language tests.

But at a Health Ministerial Council meeting in Adelaide last week, the Board revealed new revised changes to the registration requirements, which would include dumping the controversial English language tests for many applicants.

The board, which falls under the newly created Australian Health and Practitioner Agency, said under the proposed changes applicants from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, South Africa, the UK or the US who had been taught or assessed in English during their tertiary education, would no longer have to sit an English language test.

Queensland Nurses’ Union assistant secretary Beth Mohle welcomed the proposal.

“It’s been a long process for us but if that’s the outcome, it will certainly make a big difference to our members,” she said.

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Textbooks face obsolescence due to rising computer use in classrooms

NOVEMBER 12, 2010—Nearly seven in 10 teachers claim that having state-of-the art IT equipment in classrooms is more important than investing in traditional textbooks.

A study also found that more than half of teachers believe pupils are “seriously disadvantaged” if they do not have access to the Internet at home. Thirty per cent of those polled predicted that textbooks will become obsolete in the future due to the rising use of gadgets in classrooms.

The findings, in a joint survey by the e-Learning Foundation charity and the Times Educational Supplement, follow moves by the Department for Education to slash support for IT in schools.

Michael Gove, the education secretary, has twice raided schools’ IT budgets since taking office, plundering £100 million from a grant to local authorities to pay for new computers and broadband schemes.

Valerie Thompson, chief executive of the E-Learning Foundation, said: “If we are serious about improving the life chances of the most disadvantaged, we have to tackle the digital divide, otherwise the poorest children will be left even further behind.”

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Celebrity bemoans poor use of English language
By Roya Nikkhah, Telegraph.co.uk

November 14, 2010—Penelope Keith, the star of The Good Life, has expressed her exasperation about the poor use of the English language in modern Britain.

The actress believes our lives are diminished by poor elocution and grammar; real conversation has been replaced by text messages and social networking websites; and television pampers to our thirst for public humiliation.

Keith—who became a household name in the 1970s sitcom playing Margot Leadbetter, the suburban social climber with the plummy accent—worries that, with the decline of “old-fashioned” things such as grammar and elocution, good manners are disappearing, too.

The misunderstanding of everyday words, the creeping Americanisation of our “wonderful” language, which she says has now affected the once-impervious BBC, and the popularity of social networking websites such as Twitter has, she concludes, contributed to the growing “misuse” of English.

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Evolving English: One language, many voices illuminate British Library
By Ben Miller, Culture24.org

November 16, 2010—Above the British Library’s central exhibition space, words and phrases including “sex up,” “chav,” and “wags” glow in the darkness.

Part of a chronological list of new additions to the English language from the beginning of the 20th century onwards, they end with “vuvuzela,” the blaring plastic horn used to drown out the World Cup in South Africa earlier this year.

Below, there’s a fire-ravaged, 1,000-year-old version of Anglo-Saxon war poem “Beowulf,” maps of the first English settlements in the world, early 18th century newspapers reporting the lottery results, and first editions of the works of Shakespeare.

The vast majority of the items are taken from the institution’s vaults, but it’s the interpretation given to them which brings the show to life.

Exploring the pros and cons of text messaging within minutes of examining the script of Richard III can feel disconcerting, but it’s also tremendous fun in a diverse display of staggeringly impressive exhibits.

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900 English tutors to train local teachers

November 16, 2010—The govenment, through the Teacher’s Service Commission, has selected 949 English tutors to train local primary and secondary school teachers how to appropriately conduct lessons in English.

Among the trainers, 341 were selected from Uganda and 616 are from within the country.

The selection follows the Ministry of Education advertisement seeking 1,000 teachers from neighboring countries, after the country’s switch from French to English as the language of instruction in schools.

Meeting the tutors who are supposed to undergo a one-week induction course at EFOTEC in Kanombe, Emmanuel Muvunyi, executive director of the Teachers Service Commission, said yesterday that over 1,400 teachers had applied and had to go through vigorous process of screening.

“We were very keen on the selection process because we wanted competent well-qualified teachers who will be able to deliver the right material and the new techniques that our local teachers need," said Muvunyi.

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English required for more than half of advertised jobs

November 8, 2010—A decade ago, applicants who—in addition to their mother tongue—were fluent in English or German enjoyed a competitive advantage in the labour market. Yet two decades after Russian was scratched from the list of mandatory classes at elementary and high schools, it seems that speaking English is no longer a competitive advantage but in many cases a basic requirement for getting certain jobs.

In the first half of this year, employers required knowledge of at least one foreign language for 62 percent of jobs offered. The most sought-after was definitely English, followed by German, according to data provided by the online jobs portal run by Profesia.

Employers required English in 56 percent of job offers, while German followed in 16 percent of offers. The third most sought-after foreign language was Hungarian, in 2 percent of offers, followed by world languages such as French, Italian and Russian, Profesia.sk reported.

Employers have much stricter expectations in terms of foreign-language skills when hiring people for higher managerial and specialised positions than they did in the past, Martin Krekáč, chairman of the Jenewein Group told The Slovak Spectator.

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Students discover the play’s the thing for learning English

October 28, 2010—Some high school students are attempting something most adults wouldn’t even consider. They are studying the language, learning their lines and performing Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” onstage at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

The 25 students are not from elite high schools but from some of the most at-risk Chicago public schools. They are not diehard drama students; many are discovering Shakespeare for the first time. And four students from Gage Park High School are ESL students—that’s English as a Second Language, which makes tackling Shakespeare a special challenge.

Maria Rivera is their energetic ESL teacher who never takes no for an answer. She inaugurated the ESL/Shakespeare program a year ago at Gage Park with full support from the school and mild trepidation on the part of her students.

“Teaching from a textbook was not so interesting to me,” said Rivera, whose lifelong love of Shakespeare began as a teen. “So I quickly began looking for ways to adapt Shakespeare into my classes.”

Rivera found inspiration at CST, where, like many other area teachers, she took part in Team Shakespeare’s Bard Core program, a professional development seminar offered annually to CPS teachers that helps them formulate practical reading strategies and exercises for their students.

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