Germany's 'Schools: Partners for the Future' helping advance Philippine education

MANILA, Philippines - The country’s education system is undergoing continuous development and improvement to be able to bring our system at par with that of the more developed countries. As the Philippine education gears up to step forward, the German community in the Philippines is also making a significant contribution in our education system through the “Schools: Partners for the Future” program.

The “Schools: Partners for the Future” is an initiative of the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany aimed at establishing a worldwide network of at least 1,500 partner schools, and as a result awakening young people’s interest and enthusiasm for modern Germany and its society. The program is locally implemented through the Goethe- Institut Philippinen, in partnership with the Department of Education. Since the signing of the memorandum of agreement with DepEd in 2011, DepEd has implemented the Special Program for Foreign Languages (SPFL) Curricula to implement German as a foreign language school subject.

 “We want to develop an active and lasting connections with Germany and inspire the schools, their teaching staff and students to engage in an open exchange of ideas and cooperate with one another. To achieve this end, the initiative supports an exclusive network of “excellent schools” worldwide with its broad range of services ranging from excellent teaching of German to well-equipped teaching and learning space, through summer courses for youngsters in Germany, up to full German Academic Exchange Service scholarships to study at a German university,” said Flak Schleicher, head of Language Program, Goethe-Institut Philippinen.

Those who speak German cannot only communicate with 119 million people worldwide in their mother tongue, but it ensures them the basis for studies in Germany followed by an international career.

To date, the program has 11 partner schools offering German Language as a school subject, which include Ateneo de Manila High School, Bangkal High School, German European School Manila, Jose Abad Santos High School, New Era High School, Novaliches High School, Paranaque High School, Pasay City High School, Rizal High School Main, San Francisco High School and San Juan National High School.

It has also reached a number of milestones that include 800 students currently taking German language classes since the start of the program, 24 high school students from the Philippines participated in the summer youth course in Germany, 36 DepEd teachers attended the teacher training workshops at the Goethe-Institut to become German language teachers, eight DepEd teachers have been sent to Germany for a six-month full immersion program, and 17 principals of Philippine high schools and officials of the DepEd and CHED participated in the 4th Principals Conference for Partner Schools in South Asia.

This Goethe Institut further reaches out to the public at the Mabuhay Germany Celebrations in Oct. 12-14, 2012 at the Bonifacio High Street grounds, Bonifacio Global City through an expert talk entitled “Step Forward! Learn German! Land a Job!” The talk will present ideas on how German language can help open opportunities for local and international careers.

Carrying the theme “Step Forward + Have Fun,” this year’s event gives an opportunity for the German community to showcase their businesses, products, and community building initiatives through a weekend celebration that features activities for the whole family. More information on Mabuhay Germany is available at www.gpcci.org.