Teachers face severe challenges in different parts of the world and are still under pressure to produce results. As the profession marks World Teachers Day, two teachers working thousands of miles apart tell their stories.

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines — The Philippines is among the countries with the fastest growing populations that are extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, according to the latest release of Maplecroft’s Climate Change and Environment Risk Atlas.

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, Oct 4 (PIA) — Information communication technology (ICT) workers fear possible setbacks in the country’s global ICT sector when the school system adopted the use of the “mother tongue” in education.

MANILA, Philippines – Around 272 more Filipinos tested positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in August, Department of Health data showed. The DOH’s National Epidemiology Center said this marked a 39 percent increase from the 196 detected in the same month in 2011.

Ambassador Harry K. Thomas has urged Congress to do its bit to work on Philippine laws that restrict foreign ownership of land and pave the way for the inflow of investments into the country. He said the restriction is one of the several reasons American investors shy away from doing business in the Philippines.

BUDAPEST – The world economic crisis could take 10 years to run its course, the IMF’s chief economist Olivier Blanchard told Hungarian business news site Portfolio.hu in an interview published on Wednesday.

The Asian Development Bank made an upward revision in its 2012 economic growth forecast for the Philippines, to 5.5 percent from its earlier projection of 4.8 percent due to the economy’s strong first half performance.

The ILO Director-General calls for urgent action to make teaching an attractive career once again. GENEVA (ILO News) – The economic crisis has strongly affected working conditions and salaries for many teachers, said ILO Director-General Guy Ryder in a statement issued ahead of World Teachers Day.

Data presented at a G20 meeting in Geneva shows that youth unemployment rates remain alarming, ranging from about 8 per cent to over 50 per cent in 17 of the 20 member countries. The G20 Task Force on Employment agreed to promote quality apprenticeships.

In an interview with The Times newspaper, the head of ILO warned that austerity measures in southern European countries risk having “quite harmful consequences”. He was more positive about the outlook in Britain.

Looking back at the past 50 years, how do we assess the status of women in this country, particularly in light of recent debates on the reproductive health (RH) bill? While women make up over half of the population and their contribution to society has clearly been incalculable, a disparity remains between the fulfillment of…

The Philippine economy is in a sound position today in part because of the steady growth and size of remittances of OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) to the country. The volume of these remittances has continually grown over time as more and more Filipino workers have found jobs abroad.

TAX BREAKS granted to the remittance industry are worth the loss in government revenues since they encourage savings and investments among migrant workers, the National Tax Research Center (NTRC) said.

MULTINATIONAL financial services firm Citi sees the Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP) growing by 5 percent to 5.3 percent, which is as at the low end of the government’s target, this year.

Jobs in developing countries such as the Philippines is a cornerstone of development and critical for reducing poverty, making cities work, and providing youth with alternatives to violence, a new World Bank report said on Tuesday.

OCTOBER BEING National Statistics Month, it is particularly timely to give credit where it is due: to the Philippine Statistical System (PSS) in general, and the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) in particular, for doing a great job — and I use the word “great” advisedly — in spite of the tremendous financial and personnel…

THE PROPONENTS of higher tax on sin products, especially on cigarettes, argue that earmarking of incremental revenues is one way of ensuring the adequacy of government spending for basic health care. While I agree that the government is perhaps not spending enough for health care, I doubt that earmarking of government revenue would be a…

MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III is squaring off against his country’s powerful Catholic church in a bid to give people free access to the means to limit the size of their families. The predominately Catholic country has one of Asia’s fastest-growing populations together with significant levels of chronic poverty. While neighbors have accelerated…

MANILA – The number of employed Filipinos still looking for extra income hit a 6-year high this year, the Asian Development Bank said on Wednesday. Citing the most recent labor force data of the National Statistics Office, Norio Usui, ADB senior country economist, said the 22.7 percent underemployment rate in July is the worst since…

MANILA, Philippines – Even if the government achieves its programmed deficit spending, it will not exceed its growth assumption this year, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said. The ADB now projects the Philippine economy to grow 5.5% in 2012, higher than its initial estimate of 4.8%. This is lower than the government’s official growth target…

LUCENA CITY, Quezon, Oct 3 (PIA) — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has announced that President Aquino instructed several national line agencies to intensify the campaign on child labor-free barangay.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION ITUC OnLine ITUC’s reaction to the World Bank’s report on jobs Brussels, 02 October 2012 (ITUC OnLine): Responding to the launch today of the World Bank’s World Development Report 2013, devoted to the theme of “Jobs”, ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow welcomed the publication as recognition by the world’s largest development…

The global economy will need to have created 600 million new jobs between 2005 and 2020 to absorb young people entering the work force, spur development, empower women and prevent unrest, the World Bank said.

QUEZON CITY, Oct 2 (PIA) — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) yesterday unveiled the Community-Based Employment Program (CBEP) Website and Online Monitoring System that houses the name, demographic profile, occupation, employment duration, and income of every CBEP beneficiary throughout the Philippines, in line with the celebration of the National Statistics Month.

MANILA, Philippines – The head of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in the country said the Philippines still lags behind neighbors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in labor productivity as he urged for stronger social protection for displaced workers and transparency in governance to attract investments.

RIYADH – Saudi Arabia will begin accepting applications for domestic workers from the Philippines on Monday after the two governments resolved a row over minimum pay that had prompted a ban, state media said.

Latin America will grow at a slower pace than last year, primarily due to weaker growth in Argentina and Brazil, a United Nations report has suggested. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) forecast the whole area would slow to 3.2% in 2012, down from 4.3% last year.

Cancer-related medical costs are expected to soar in the coming decade, making it more important than ever for mesothelioma victims to seek compensation for their asbestos-related disease.

In his first interview as Director-General of the International Labour Organization, Guy Ryder gives an overview of the major challenges facing the world of work and the ILO. GENEVA (ILO News) – International labour standards must be preserved and promoted if the world is to recover from the economic and employment crisis, ILO Director-General Guy…

Global youth unemployment has become a reservoir of wasted talent and a tinderbox of frustration. With 75 million young people jobless around the world, tackling this crisis must be a key priority.