UK trade mission urged to look into education

MANILA, Philippines - The government is seeking a dialog with the British trade mission in line with improving the country’s educational system, an official of the National Economic and Development Authority said.

In a forum organized by the British Embassy Manila yesterday, NEDA director Jonathan Uy said there are still gaps in the country’s education sector, particularly in the K-12 curriculum which was implemented a few years back.

“We would like’d like to engage in discussion particularly with the [British] trade mission as to how we can further our K-12 program,” Uy said.

This week, UK Trade Envoy to the Philippines Richard Graham, along with a 30-member delegation, visited the Philippines to reaffirm the strong trade and investment relations between the UK and the Philippines.

“UK universities have much to offer in terms of curriculum development, provision of internal qualifications, and capacity building for teachers,” Graham said in a statement.

“We have more triple-accredited business schools than any other country, and the most popular K-12 curriculum in the world,” he added.

One particular concern Uy emphasized is the need to develop the skills of teachers involved in the K-12 program.

“We also have a lot of concerns on the capacity of our education experts, particularly the teachers,” Uy said.

The NEDA director noted this issue is more felt on the public school sector

“There are a lot of gaps that need to be addressed. We are working with the our development partners in trying to come up with very clear interventions,”

Earlier this month, the Department of Education said it will hire over 40,000 new teachers this year, in order to strengthen the relatively new K-12 curriculum.

Apart from the K-12 curriculum, Uy also talked about the importance of social infrastructure in regards to education.

“The problem in the Philippines is building resillient school facilities,” Uy said.

The NEDA official said there is a need to build more resillient school buildings, since these developments are also used as shelters during times of calamities.

“The remoteness of some areas do not lead to very cost-effective type of relation. So we need technology in regard to maximizing availability of local resources in adapting school building programs,” Uy said.