'Jejemon putting English training for teachers to waste'

MANILA, Philippines - The cultural phenomenon called “jejemon” could put to waste the P500-milllion English retraining program for public school teachers and decrease the country’s business competitiveness, Education Secretary Mona Valisno warned yesterday.

Valisno was reacting to comments from the Commission on Human Rights and some Catholic bishops for education officials to lay off “jejemons” or individuals who intentionally spell incorrectly in text messages or in web chats as such may violate their rights.

She stressed that repeatedly practicing wrong grammar could take root among the youth and adversely affect their academic standing as well as their employment and entrepreneurial opportunities in this globalized age.

“We are spending so much for English retraining programs for our public school teachers so that our youth could improve their grammar and consequently their education in the future,” Valisno told a news briefing.