Aussie speaker to lead Phl's first home, school collaboration congress

MANILA, Philippines - Australian speaker and Wolemi College headmaster Andrew Mullins will grace the first national congress on the valuable collaboration between home and school.

Mullins, author of "Parenting for Character," will share his expansive knowledge on forging character in school children before a crowd of teachers, parents, school administrators, education workers, and other experts.

Aptly titled "Together to Get There," the conference is a brainchild of Education Secretary Armin Luistro and organized by the Parents for Education Foundation (PAREF) in celebration of its 35th anniversary. PAREF is behind schools such as Woodrose in Alabang and Rosehill in Antipolo known for pioneering the teacher-student mentoring program.

Luistro said a congress of the sort is "to ensure that the rest of the schools in the Philippines can learn from your model...how parents can actually be fully engaged and how they can implement what is enshrined in our constitution that the parents are the primary agents of education for their children."

He also praised the foundation for introducing a model of education where parents are fully engaged in their children's schooling by engaging teachers.

"PAREF institutionalizes ... how parents and teachers can work together so they are a part of the curriculum, the community, and the environment that the school will be and what they intend their children and their graduates after they finished," Luistro said.

Together to Get There will be held on January 25, 2014 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at SMX Convention Center Taguig, SM Aura Premiere, Bonifacio Global City.

Tickets are at P1,500 per participant or P9,500 for a group of 7. Parents, teachers, school administrators and other interested parties may register online at www.paref.org, or contact PAREF Central Office at 631-4292; +639178298659  or email [email protected] for more details.