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In the inauguration rites in Batasan Hills, Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte said the multipurpose drug education
center, which she said was the first in the Philippines, aims to aid values formation and provide skills
training to children to prevent drug addiction at an early stage.
“Ang SDEC ay isang lugar kung saan pwede nating dalhin ang mga street children at out-of-school youth.
Kung sila man ay ‘di pa gumagamit (ng droga), pwede sila dito, gumagamit na, or hindi pa lulong, pwede
rin sila ditong dahlhin,” Belmonte said.
“Sila po ay bibigyan ng counseling, ng values formation education, skills training sa tulong ng department
of information and communication… Higit sa lahat, mabibigyan po sila ng life skills o edukasyon para sila
ay makaiwas sa masamang bisyo at magkaroon ng lakas ng loob na tumahak sa buhay at magkaroon ng
magandang kinabukasan,” she added.
Belmonte said even those children on the streets who are not using drugs and with families of their own
were welcome at the centers, which she said would provide other services like reproductive health education
and sports programs.
“Ang layunin po nito ay para mayroong lugar para sa mga street children at mga out-of-school youth na
madalas binabanggit ng ating mga punong barangay na natatagpuan sa ating mga lasangan ngunit wala
silang pagdadalhan. Kadalasan, kapag tinetest nila ang mga kabataang ito ay nagte-test positive (sa drugs).”
“Ang layunin natin ay maibalik sila sa kanilang mga tahanan, na ‘yung mga magulang din nila ay
maturuang maging mabubuting mga magulang, at ang mga batang ito ay maibalik sa paaralan. Kung may
mga pangangailangan ang bata na hindi natin matutugunan, may referral system tayo dahil maayos po ang
network natin sa iba’t ibang mga service providers bahagi ng advocacy natin for a child-friendly city,” she
added.
Three other SDECs were also inaugurated in the barangays of Lagro, Tandang Sora, and Milagrosa on
Wednesday. CBB
Youth groups and students on Tuesday held a protest in the historic steps of Palma
Hall at University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) and gates of the Commission on
Higher Education (CHED) to commemorate the death of Kristel Tejada four years
ago.
Tejada, a 16-year-old freshman taking up behavioral sciences at UP Manila, killed
herself in March 2013 after she was left with no choice but to drop out of school when
she failed to pay her tuition for the second semester.
The youth groups League of Filipino Students (LFS) and Kabataan Partylist during
the event also slammed the third and final reading of Senate Bill 1304 or the
Affordable Higher Education for All Act that the Senate passed on Monday.
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“The review will cover alignment of field trips to learning outcomes, security and
safety and responsibilities and accountabilities not only of schools but of parents and
of other relevant government agencies,” stated the DepEd.
Exempted from the moratorium are schools that have already secured permits and
where contracts have already been completed prior to the moratorium. The agency
stressed that these schools may push through with the scheduled field trips but
existing guidelines, especially on safety, should be strictly followed.
On Wednesday, the DepEd issued a reminder to school officials that educational tours
and field trips should not be made mandatory for students. It also called on schools to
check the registration and roadworthiness of vehicles that would be used for such
tours.
DepEd Order No. 52 issued in 2003 prohibits schools from imposing punitive
measures or activities related to the field trip on students who fail to join them. It also
urges teachers to refrain from giving tests based on these tours but they can give other
types of assignments, school-based activities and homework to students who decide
not to join the trips.
It also outlined the places to be visited such as cultural and historical sites or science
exhibits in museums. It strongly discouraged trips to malls and viewing of noontime
TV shows.
A day after the accident, the CHED imposed a moratorium on field trips in all
colleges and universities to give way to an investigation into the Tanay, Rizal bus
accident and a review of its own policies on field trips and educational tours.
But the commission has clarified that the moratorium does not cover student
internship programs, practical and on-the-job trainings in the country or abroad.
“These activities are governed by a separate CHED order which the higher education
institutions are aware of,” it said. SFM/rga
DepEd local chiefs can now punish school heads misusing feeding funds
Briones said these provisions were added to the existing guidelines “to ensure an
efficient and effective implementation of the SBFP for school year 2016-2017.”
Another provision introduced to the guidelines states that the hiring of a cook shall be
one per 40 beneficiaries subject to the availability of funds.
For this year, the Department of Education has earmarked over P4.1 billion for the
nationwide roll-out of the SBFP, providing P2,160 for the feeding and operational
costs of each beneficiary for a period of 120 days or P18 a day for each beneficiary.
This year’s SBFP aims to nourish and inculcate positive health values and habits on
533,425 severely wasted and 1.39 million wasted kindergarten to Grade 6 students in
all public schools nationwide. It also aims to increase school attendance by 85
percent.
The World Health Organization has described wasting as low weight-for-height,
which is often linked with acute starvation or severe disease.
The DepEd has noted that the Southern Tagalog region, which includes the provinces
of Cavite, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon and Laguna, has registered the highest number of
severely wasted and wasted public school students at more than 352,000, followed by
Western Visayas with over 193,000 and Central Luzon with over 169,000.
Metro Manila has 48,742 severely wasted and 105,678 wasted school children. SFM
CHED halts field trips, educational
tours after Tanay bus crash
In pushing for a moratorium, De Vera also noted the need to rethink guidelines and
policies covering educational tours and field trips and to check whether prevailing
policies provide adequate protection to students.
Under CHED Memorandum No. 17, s. 2012, HEIs are required to report to the
respective CHED regional office on the nature of the education tour or field trips,
including the purpose, schedule, destinations and cost at least a month before the
opening of classes for every academic year.
The memo also stipulates that the destination of educational tours or field trips, as
much as practicable, should be near the concerned school to minimize cost.
For the safety and convenience of students and school personnel, there must be
advanced and proper coordination with the local government unit and appropriate
clearance from the concerned government and non-government offices must be
secured prior to the scheduled dates of the field trip.
The memorandum also states that HEIs that do not comply with the guidelines and
regulations on educational tours and field trips will be sanctioned depending on the
nature and seriousness of the violations.
In a statement on Tuesday (Feb. 21), De Vera said the commission must determine if
public and private colleges and universities have been complying with safety
requirements.
“The Tanay tragedy is a reminder that we must be very strict in regulating the use of
public transportation for school-sponsored trips,” he said.
He added, “While it is true that field trips are essential to give students the opportunity
to see and explore new things, enhance their learning experience in a natural setting,
and provide for interest-driven and hands-on training, the safety of the students on
field trips must be ensured at all times by school authorities.”
A tourist bus—one of the nine hired by Bestlink College of the Philippines to ferry
students to a resort in Tanay for a camping trip—rammed an electric post after it lost
its brakes and sped downhill Monday morning. The accident left 15 people killed,
including the driver.
Following the accident, CHED announced it would send a fact-finding team to
investigate the bus accident and look into the possible sanctions that could be meted
out against the school should it be found guilty of violating the guidelines on field
trips.
CHED-National Capital Region Director Leonida Calagui has also issued a letter to
the school, instructing its officials to immediately submit an incident report to the
commission. SFM/rga
MANILA, Philippines – Colleges and universities can no longer enforce “no permit,
no exam” policy.
The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) has ordered all 1,800 higher education
institutions (HEIs) in the country to make sure low-income students get access to
financial aid if they can not meet the deadline for paying tuition.
The order came with new policy guidelines that CHEd issued last April 19, requiring
HEIs to provide holistic student affairs and services programs, including scholarship
and financial assistance.
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The Department of Education (DepEd) on Thursday said it does not consent to any
form of corporal punishment or humiliation inflicted on a learner even as it called
attention to two incidents last week in Iriga City, where two students were hit by their
teachers over minor offenses.
“While the DepEd is one with the belief that education should also instill and
reinforce the values of respect, responsibility, and discipline—it does not, without
reservations, condone any act of violence or abuse in the conduct thereof,” Education
Secretary Leonor Briones said in a statement.
Briones urged all teachers and school officials to uphold the rights and the welfare of
the students, citing the department’s policy and guidelines for the protection of
children in school from abuse, violence, exploitation, discrimination, bullying and
other forms of abuse.
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She said Republic Act No. 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Child
Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act also guarantees that learners’ rights are
protected.
“Let it be remembered that children learn best by doing and that during the years they
spend in school, they are most heavily influenced by authority figures,” Briones said.
The Department of Education (DepEd) on Thursday said it does not consent to any
form of corporal punishment or humiliation inflicted on a learner even as it called
attention to two incidents last week in Iriga City, where two students were hit by their
teachers over minor offenses.
“While the DepEd is one with the belief that education should also instill and
reinforce the values of respect, responsibility, and discipline—it does not, without
reservations, condone any act of violence or abuse in the conduct thereof,” Education
Secretary Leonor Briones said in a statement.
Briones urged all teachers and school officials to uphold the rights and the welfare of
the students, citing the department’s policy and guidelines for the protection of
children in school from abuse, violence, exploitation, discrimination, bullying and
other forms of abuse.
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She said Republic Act No. 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Child
Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act also guarantees that learners’ rights are
protected.
“Let it be remembered that children learn best by doing and that during the years they
spend in school, they are most heavily influenced by authority figures,” Briones said.
The local educational landscape did not quite meet what they thought their children
needed. “There was a need for a global perspective, for critical and creative thinking.
We would like them to be able to ask questions and learn to answer them themselves,”
founding trustee Dina Lomongo Paterno said.
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Filipino schools, even the exclusive ones, were too Filipino, too focused on “home”.
International schools, on the other hand, were really just getting children ready for the
next country they would be moving to or for their eventual return to their homelands.
The parents, a handful of whom were educators, wanted to combine the best qualities
of both—a school that would give the children a firm grounding on “Filipinohood”
while providing them an international perspective to qualify them for any school of
their choice, local or foreign, and to live in an increasingly globalized society.
Paterno said they wanted their kids to be “international but rooted in Philippine
culture.”
In wanting the children to develop fully their potential, the parents looked for more
individualized instruction so the children would not get lost among the scores of
learners in the large classrooms even at exclusive schools.
Chance to blossom
Paterno said the sheer number of students in most classes restricted the help a child
could receive. “Each child is different and should be given the opportunity to develop
and blossom,” she said.
The founders did not really want to open a school, she said, but it ended up that way.
They saw an opportunity to offer something different, if only to their own children.
After checking out all the educational systems and programs available, judging them
by their goals of giving their children an international education deeply rooted in
Philippine culture, the Beacon International School Foundation Inc. decided to adapt
the Department of Education’s basic education curriculum to the International
Baccalaureate (IB) program, becoming the first to be accredited by the Switzerland-
based nonprofit educational foundation.
The Beacon School, “an independent, nonprofit, coeducational K to 8” academic
institution, formally opened in 2000.
Paterno and her cofounders found that IB provided the framework to bring all those
things they wanted for their children’s education, as well as the credibility to make
entry to any school around the world easy.
Mary Catherine Chua, deputy headmaster, said the key IB concepts were consistent
with the objectives of the founders—communication, holistic learning and
intercultural awareness.
Both Beacon’s Primary Years Program (PYP), K to grade 5, and Middle Years
Program (MYP), Grades 6-8, are IB accredited. The school now prides itself in being
the “first and only fully IBO authorized educational institution” in the country for
every level of its academic programs.
Small classes
Starting with only 47 children, mainly the founders’ and their friends’, Beacon
initially offered kindergarten to fourth grade. The school currently has 272 students
from kindergarten to Grade 8. Up to Grade 5, each class has only 15 students. The
number rises to 20 for Grades 6-8. With only two sections per grade, the school
maintains an enviable ratio of one teacher per five students.
Currently leasing space at the Philippine Center for Population and Development
(PCPD) building in Taguig City, Chua said expansion would be modest, with 300 the
comfortable ceiling.
Paterno said even if they eventually moved to their own campus, there would not be a
major surge in enrollment.
“We really want to be a small school,” she said, so opening branches was out of the
question. She said they were more interested in documenting their experiences and
sharing them with those who were interested.
Beacon has a trimester calendar, allowing for the fluid movement of transient
students. Average fee per year is $10,000.
Since Beacon opened, Paterno said, many parents, who worried their kids were “so
burdened” in other institutions, had transferred their children to the school. She said
parents would later tell her, “My kids love to go to school.”
While many institutions claim they want to make learning fun for students, Paterno
said they wanted to make the pursuit of knowledge fun but not purposeless. Fun was
to help children better absorb the lessons taught them.
Chua said their students were taught skills for research, analysis, critical thinking and
creativity so they could continue to learn.
Paterno said they did not want to simply give students content but also understanding
and the ability to assess the validity and credibility of information they received and
its source. “Rather than just memorize lessons, we want them to appreciate
knowledge,” she said.
Paterno said Beacon hoped to make parents understand IB better so they could be
more active partners in their children’s education. Even field trips—to China,
Thailand and several local destinations—were designed to advance learning, she said,
and make students inquiring, curious and motivated.
She added that another major goal was to educate kids to be responsible citizens. “We
want to prepare them for the why and how of responsible citizenship. We want them
to be change agents, to know they have roles to play even just at the community
level,” Paterno said.
She said this was one reason the school was not gated. “We do not want to feel
separated from the neighboring communities,” she explained. Regular interactions
with local tenement schools are conducted.
Paterno said students were so aware of the reality outside their school that after
Typhoon “Ondoy,” the kids themselves initiated a donation drive to help affected
neighboring communities