Press Release
January 7, 2010

ANGARA CALLS FOR SUSTAINED UPGRADING
OF RP EDUC SYSTEM, MORE REFORMS

Following the passage of the 2010 national budget last month, Sen. Edgardo J. Angara reminded government agencies to constantly upgrade the country's education system.

"The economics of domestic and international labor is strongly linked to their capacities as professionals, which can only be traced to the education they are getting. It is vital that we start with developing the right skills for our children while acquiring basic education," explained Angara, Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance.

In a recent meeting with experts on education and sociology, Angara put forward some ideas to incorporate in possible legislative reforms for the country's education system. He cited the family voucher-system of Brazil and the point-system of France as possible motivational strategies for families to encourage their children to stay in school.

"The Brazilian government offers an allowance system to families, especially the poor ones, so they keep their children in school rather than get them to work at an early age. As incentive, when the child excels in subjects like Math, English and Science, an additional amount is provided. Similarly, many French schools implement a point-base for students both as penalty for slow performance and as incentive for excellence. When a student performs well, his points increase; when he yields poor results or misbehave, the points decline. At year-end, the points determine the special awards," cited Angara.

He also proposed for more aggressive and consistent parent-teacher relations, sustained assessment meetings among teachers, highly-interactive classes and extra-curricular activities and a more hands-on approach among teachers in doing their lessons.

"So far, much of these practices are noticed only in private institutions but less visible in public schools. We must take these as measures to crisis-proof our domestic market and as recovery is fast-tracked, our manpower must keep up with ever-evolving challenges and demand especially in technical-intensive sectors. This only points back to our education system and the way we train our professionals in their formative years," concluded Angara, staunch advocate and legislator of the country's education sector.

News Latest News Feed