13,000 teachers + 66,000 schoolrooms eyed

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino 3rd on Tuesday announced that the hiring of 13,000 new public teachers next year and the construction of 66,000 classrooms until 2016 are on track.

“The good news is that we already have enough funds for the building of the classrooms, with the cooperation of the Department of Education and the private sector through the public-private partnership program,” Aquino said at the groundbreaking rites of the Andres Bonifacio Integrated School in Mandaluyong City.

“The government also plans to hire 13,000 new teachers to ease the shortage of teachers in the country. We have also allocated funds to buy quality books,” he added.

The President said some P238.8 billion has been set aside by the Department of Education in 2012 for the hiring of new teachers and the start of construction of school buildings.

He said around P70 billion will be spent to procure new facilities and equipment for public schools.

The Department of Budget and Management earlier announced the allocation of P3.07 billion to the Department of Education for the construction and repair of school buildings as well as the installation and upgrading of sanitation facilities like toilets in schools throughout the country.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the budget includes the repair of 6,676 classrooms nationwide as well as the installation or repair of toilets in 3,274 school sites.

Multiple areas of literacy

Educators and scholars worldwide have acknowledged the inadequacy of traditional competencies and literacies in coping with the demands of the times, especially with the advent of information and communication technologies. According to UNESCO, literacy is a plural and dynamic concept, and there is no single notion of literacy but multiple literacies.

To develop a multi-literate society, we first need to develop multi-literate teachers. Thus, the Philippine Association for Teacher Education (PAFTE) has adopted “Leading in the Formation of the Multi-literate Teacher Educator of the 21st Century” as the theme for its 40th Annual Convention.

Dr. Florentino H. Hornedo, UNESCO Commissioner, a prolific writer, scholar and a Palanca awardee for literature, and Hon. Salvador H. Escudero III, Representative of the first district of Sorsogon and Chairman of the Committee on Basic Education and Culture of the House of Representatives, are the keynote speakers for the first two days of the convention.

The various dimensions of literacy which will be discussed by invited experts are Cyberliteracy (Cynthia Grace Diaz), Media and Information Literacy (Ramon R. Tuazon), Financial (Economic, Business and Entrepreneurial Literacy – Avelina De La Rea), Health Literacy (Carolina C. Porio), Music Literacy (Corazon P. Kabayao), and Multilingual Education (Dina S. Ocampo). How to make television more learner (child)-friendly will also be discussed by Frank G. Rivera of the National Council for Children’s Television.

Department of Education Undersecretary Yolanda S. Quijano will give an update on the K to 12 Curriculum, while Dr. Paraluman R. Giron, the Chairperson of the K to 12 Technical Working Group will discuss how multiple literacies are being integrated into the emerging new basic education curriculum.

Updates on teacher education will be discussed by Teacher Education Council (TEC) Executive Director Dr. Beatriz G. Torno, CHED Technical Panel for Education member Dr. Amor Q. De Torres, and the Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence, Dr. Purita P. Bilbao.

The 40th PAFTE National Annual Convention will be held on 17-19 October 2011 at the Diamond Hotel in Manila. –JAIME PILAPIL REPORTER wITH REPORT FROM FRANCIS EARL A. CUETO, Manila Times