'RP should continue improving English proficiency'

MANILA, Philippines - Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Augusto Santos reiterated yesterday that the Philippines should continue efforts to improve English proficiency as other Asian nations, including China, have increased their standing as the region’s most competitive nations.

Santos said China is catching up with India in terms of English proficiency and this development would have an impact on the competitiveness of the Philippines in sectors requiring English language fluency.

He reported the situation to President Arroyo during yesterday’s Cabinet meeting at Malacañang and in response, she told the concerned government agencies to work harder to improve English proficiency in the country.

One of the sectors that would most likely be affected by this development is business process outsourcing (BPO), which operates call centers and is one of the fastest growing sectors in the country.

Santos said the Philippines still has an edge in English proficiency over most Asian countries at this time, “but if we don’t watch out, we may be overtaken, they may catch up with us.”

China has a large population and cheap labor that can make the Chinese the most competitive workers in Asia in the BPO sector, just like it is now in the manufacturing sector.

“As of now, their labor cost is very, very low, that’s why they’re very competitive. As of now, we still have the edge but indications are pointing to China’s catching up,” Santos said.

“We are reporting such because it is a world of competition. We are part of the global community and there is economic competition among countries in the world. Let’s face it, English is still the number one language in the entire world,” he added.

Andrew King, country director of IDP Education Philippines, a group accredited by the Australian government to administer the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam to Filipinos who seek to enter Australia as workers, migrants or students in its universities, had earlier reported a decline in the English proficiency of Filipinos based on the results of IELTS examinations taken by Filipinos in 2008.

In the group’s review of IELTS results they had administered all over the world for 2008, King said that the Philippines’ average overall score was 6.69, which was below the 7 passing score of the Australian government.

In their analysis of the results and the Philippines’ system of English instruction in schools, King said that the deteriorating level of English proficiency could be attributed to the deficiencies in the proficiency of the teachers teaching English as well as the poor quality of resources or textbooks being used in schools.

Santos said that the government should continue beefing up the country’s English proficiency skills in order to remain competitive.