Calls for more school years resound at gab

CALLS to add at least two more years in the country’s basic educational echoed anew during the Commission on Filipinos Overseas sponsored conference here.

The call was based on the dire need to put up a system that allows Filipinos students the competitive skills to be at par with their counterparts across the globe.

In his keynote address during the CFO’s 9th Philippine Schools Overseas (PSO) Conference at the posh Bohol Beach Club Tuesday, CFO Secretary Dante Ang reiterate the need to uplift educational quality in the advent of sending Filipino skilled workers abroad.

While comparing the country’s educational system to leading industrialized countries, the former presidential adviser hinted that a fresh graduate in the country may not fare well in landing a competitive job when standing side by side with his foreign counterpart.

Most participants in the conference of key administrators principals and mentors form nine countries where the PSO has established schools for children of Filipino workers abroad agree that additional years in school curriculum is in order.

Many have noted that graduates in the country still needs the additional training.

Ang cited the Philippine nurses going through the National Council on the Licensure Examinations (NCLEX) for Registered Nurses before getting a job abroad, one that could be equated to the additional years in schools.

“Basic education in the United Kingdom and the US are at least 12-13 years, and now the government has realized the need to implement the 12 years basic education program, he said.

He issued the call just as the urged teachers and administrators to start convincing parents on the wisdom to change to the 12 years of school.

Moreover, the CFO big boss underline the need to launch a massive teacher training program that can be institutionalized in as much as he said “the quality of our students depend largely on the quality of our teachers.

Asked as to where the additional two years would be inserted, Department of Education Assistant Secretary Dr. Teresita Inciong pointed out that the formative years from three to six years old would be most ideal.

She cites a study that says a child that young develops 50% of his brains.

Ang however reiterates again that program, he cited that a nursing graduate in the country now still needs to go through at least a year of retraining in the US and UK to land into the nursing job abroad. (PIA-Bohol)

Source: BoholNewsDaily