DepEd boosts science education

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd) has acquired some P330-million worth of science equipment, instruments and learning tools that will be distributed to public high schools in a bid to improve the quality of science education for public school children.

At the same time, the agency has also allocated a P115-million financial assistance fund for the country’s 276 recognized Special Education (SPED) Centers to enable these schools to deliver quality educational services to children with special learning needs.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro said the equipment and instruments are to be sent to 435 public high schools nationwide to improve the students’ learning and appreciation of science concepts and applications.

Luistro said that aside from the procurement, DepEd through its National Science Teaching and Instrumentation Center (NSTIC) will hold a national consultative conference on the use of science equipment in Cebu City to prepare teachers to properly handle and maintain the equipment.

He said the NSTIC, together with regional science supervisors and Bureau of Secondary Education (BSE) representatives, will review and finalize the experiment and repair and maintenance manuals which will be used for the subsequent regional training workshops in October that would cover the country’s 17 regions.

NSTIC and its regional trainors will train one teacher per science subject area in Integrated Science, Biology, Chemistry and Physics in each recipient school.

Luistro said a stronger science and technology curriculum in basic education was part of the 10-point education agenda of President Aquino aimed at producing graduates who are geared towards a science and technology-driven economy.

DepEd had earlier boasted that it has added 100 new special science elementary schools this year, bringing to 200 the total number of elementary schools offering a specialized curriculum focused on the sciences.

“The marching order is for us to continue to find ways to develop a new generation of science and technology-savvy graduates who will bring us to new levels of economic progress,” explained Luistro.

SPED is on top of priority list

Luistro also clarified that the allocation of the P115 million for the SPED Centers this year marks the agency’s continuing support for the SPED Centers, which started in 2009.

“The amount we are providing to each SPED Center is proportionate to the number of enrollees and the exceptionalities being served in a particular center,” he said.

The DepEd chief added that they have set a specific allocation on the kind of intervention/activity where the subsidy will be used.

Thirty percent will be set aside for pupil development activities, training, educational visits, camp activities, sports and pupil participation in SPED-related activities.

Twenty-five percent was earmarked for the procurement of assistive technology devices, while another 25 percent is for the procurement of instructional and reference materials, psychological tests, early intervention materials and science manipulative materials.

The remaining 20 percent is for the professional upgrading of teachers and school heads and travel expenses relative to their participation and attendance in activities relevant to the implementation of the program, training of classroom parent aides, availment of services of allied personnel such as psychologists, occupational, physical, speech and behavioral therapists.

“These efforts are geared towards creating an environment for inclusive education. It also aims to open all the avenues of learning to all kinds of learners,” Luistro explained.

The Philippines, through DepEd, is a signatory to the United Nations-initiated Millennium Development Goals of having universal education by 2015 as one of the goals. –Rainier Allan Ronda (The Philippine Star)