Government launches peace education in public schools

To teach the principles of peace, teach the young first and teach them well.

The government yesterday launched the Peace Education Teaching Exemplars, a compendium of "peace lessons" which will be integrated with key learning areas in the country’s public school system. The teaching program is, quite possibly, the first of its kind in the world.

The project is part of this month’s celebration of National Peace Consciousness in accordance with President Arroyo’s order underscoring government efforts to attain and promote lasting peace.

"Without peace, it would be hard to progress, it would be hard to grow as a nation," said Undersecretary Rene Sarmiento, officer-in-charge of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).

"This (project) is very unique to the Philippines. This is a milestone, a landmark for us," he added.

"The Exemplars" — consisting of a set of four books or teaching modules — were published to serve as guides for teachers, the targeted end-users of the texts. Each lesson in "The Exemplars" is written in lesson plan format.

"The idea is to provide examples on how to teach students about peace (through) the teaching of their regular lessons as found in the Basic Education Curriculum of the Department of Education," the OPAPP said.

The four modules are split into Grades 1 to 3 and Grades 4 to 6; and Years 1 to 2 and Years 3 to 4 to cater to both the elementary and the secondary public education system.

"The Exemplars" provides suggested lessons, encouraging teachers to adjust or modify the exemplars or situations used in the book to fit the socio-cultural context of their communities.

According to Nanette Losaria, of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Development Division-HRDS, the "peace lessons" will be integrated with almost all learning areas — including the subjects Makabayan, Filipino and English.

She said the "peace lessons" would also be incorporated in the teaching of science, specifically on the topic of environmental protection.

Various classroom and homework exercises were included in "The Exemplars" to highlight the values and concepts related to peace.

The books’ suggested peace-related concepts include the development of positive attitudes; keeping in harmony with nature; tolerance as a universal value for unity, human dignity, and international understanding by recognizing the diverse cultural values; ecological balance; and responsible relationships.

Other concepts are human security; labor rights or social responsibility; global issues affecting global peace; religion; concern for others; and the rights of internally displaced persons, otherwise known as bakwit, which could specifically be used in areas affected by conflict or insurgency.

"We think that the current curriculum is lacking peace lessons so we have to come up with these exemplars and incorporate (them) into the existing public education system," Sarmiento said.

The launching of the "Peace Education Teaching Exemplars" took place at the Aurora Aragon-Quezon Elementary School in Quezon City, a child-friendly institution chosen as the pilot school for the implementation of the "peace lesson" textbooks.

OPAPP’s Mike Alar said the initial inventory of 6,000 books will be distributed nationwide, with priority placed on conflict-affected provinces or areas in the country, such Mindanao, that are affected by insurgency.

Specifically, Alar said the OPAPP is eyeing the distribution of "The Exemplars" to public schools in Regions 11 and 12, CARAGA and ARMM.

Nationwide training on peace education for teachers will begin today. Some 100 teachers from each region will be invited for the training.

"For now, working with the available resources that we have, a set of four books would be given per school. But ideally, it should be a set of four books per teacher," Alar said.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Australian government supported the printing of the 6,000 sets of books and the training for the teachers.

The 6,000 copies of the books cost around P1.8 million while about P10 million would be used for the training.