Filipino senior students voice opinion on education DUBAI: If they could only reach out to Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, two Filipino students from Dubai want his administration to prioritise the continuous improvement of the Philippine basic education. “With high respect, Mr President, I am no one to ask this from you. But, as a Filipino student in a Filipino school here in Dubai, the Department of Education (DepEd) in the Philippines must give attention to Filipino schools and Filipino teachers abroad, especially with the new curriculum being implemented,” wrote United International Private School grade 10 student Bethel Vito. The Philippine School grade 10 student Glenn Rigor Parcia wrote: “My message to President Aquino is to pay more attention to the education of the poor and continue to seek advancement so that the Philippines will not be left behind.” They shared their views with The Gulf Today on the Aquino administration’s implementation of the “K-12 Initiative,” among other things. Twenty First Century Private Academy Grade 9 student Francis Pascua claimed his enrolment with the Philippine school in Abu Dhabi for the past two years has been helping him develop a well-rounded personality through the academic and extracurricular challenges he is exposed to. Pascua wrote: “I learn how to stay strong when under peer pressure, work well with others and how to adapt to new situations outside of my comfort zone.” All three have spent most of their young lives in the UAE with their fathers as engineers and their mothers, pursuing their respective careers in the education and administration fields. Looking forward to their university studies next year, Vito and Parcia understand fully the need for the implementation of the “K-12 Initiative” that adds one more year to the Philippine basic education in order that the Filipino youth like them, would receive the necessary knowledge and technological know-how and be on par with their counterparts around the world, particularly those in the first world.Their positive reaction was a total contrast to some of the parents who had deplored even the concept of the initiative, claiming it would be a waste of their money, the reason why it also became tedious for the DepEd to implement it, until academic year 2011-2012 in the Philippines. A reliable source said that implementing rules and regulations of the K-12 for the 40 Philippine Schools Overseas had been signed last week and so these are already expected to have their first batch of K-12 graduates by 2016. “I think it is about time for the Philippines to step up and be more competitive. We will gain more knowledge and we will be more prepared for our future, our chosen professions,” said Parcia. Vito echoed Parcia’s opinion and hailed the determination of the Aquino administration in pushing through with the initiative and enhance the Philippine basic education curriculum. Saying that Dubai is the model city for aspiring architects, Vito, an only child who would be pursuing Architecture studies in the UAE, said: “I still need to take up the two more years left in high school. I will be graduating from an international university with international credits here.” “K-12 will give an edge and meet the standards required for professionals and for those who want to work overseas,” she added. Both see themselves as future overseas Filipino workers. Parcia will take up Civil Engineering degree in the Philippines to further his studies and fulfil his dream of becoming a pilot.
Posted on: Sun, 22 Sep 2013 15:42:39 +0000
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