UNESCO, SEAMEO seek better education response to disasters · 2 innotechnewsletter...

Local university seeks to raise education services to international standards • Participant recognizes a public school’s disaster risk reduction strategies • DepEd Region 8 strives to rehabilitate after Yolanda • Chinese Officials benchmark on Philippines TVET Program • INNOTECH conducts two GURO21 activities • INNOTECH facilitates study visit programs to strengthen the capacities of Indonesia’s higher education officials • RECSAM benchmarks on INNOTECH practices

A Publication of the Southeast AsianMinisters of Education Organization

Regional Center for Educational Innovationand Technology (SEAMEO INNOTECH),

Quezon City, PhilippinesJanuary-March 2014

ISSN 0115-7469

n e w s l e t t e rinnotech

>> continued on page 2

IN THIS ISSUE:

Prof. Dr. Hubert Gijzen, director of the UNESCO Office in

Jakarta, Indonesia has likened the Philippines to a “supermarket” of disasters due to the frequency and intensity of calamities it continues to experience brought primarily by typhoons, earthquakes, and floods. Similarly, Philippine Climate Change

UNESCO, SEAMEO seek bettereducation response to disasters

Commission Secretary Anne Lucille Sering called the country a “mecca” of disasters. Both, however, agree that in all these disasters, there are opportunities to be had.

The two made the pronouncements during the international experts meeting on climate change

education for sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific, hosted by the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in collaboration with SEAMEO INNOTECH, at

2 innotechnewsletter January-March2014 January-March2014 innotechnewsletter 3

UNESCO...(from page 1)

the Edsa Shangri-la Manila in Mandaluyong City, Philippines. The meeting, held from 10 to 12 February 2014, was also graced by SEAMEO INNOTECH Center Director Dr. Ramon C. Bacani, and Philippine Department of Education Undersecretary Mario Derequito.

Close to a hundred delegates representing a multi-disciplinary and diverse group of stakeholders mostly from Asia-Pacific countries attended the meeting. Among these were national education representatives, curriculum development experts, representatives of schools and education networks, scientists and climate change experts, and representatives of multi-lateral agencies, research and training institutions, and civil society.

Prof. Dr. Gijzen said that while the Philippines may constantly

experience disasters, whatever it achieves and learn from each disaster eventually serves as learning opportunities for other countries, as well.

Citing the disaster brought by super typhoon Haiyan (local name Yolanda), which greatly devastated central Philippines in November 2013, Prof. Dr. Gijzen said the appropriate responses, particularly for the education system, include imposing higher school building standards to make these more safe and resilient; enriching the curriculum about disaster and risk reduction; ensuring that school-based practices are able to reinforce class lessons on DRR; and once these are done, the message could spill over to the communities.

Secretary Sering underscored the importance of education because,

as she said, this is what will convince people to take action. She said that no matter how annoying we become, we cannot just be disappointed and stop educating people about climate change.

The three-day meeting sought to come up with recommendations and a plan of action on how to promote education as an important means to enhance adaptation to climate change. These recommendations on the other hand will serve as inputs to the UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development to be held within the year in Nagoya, Japan.


The Cebu Normal University in Cebu, Philippines is aiming to

raise the standards of its higher education services, particularly its teacher education and research management system. In line with this, SEAMEO INNOTECH designed an off-shore capacity building and benchmarking program for two batches of the University’s officials.

The first benchmarking activities were focused solely in Australia (from 30 January to 05 February 2014) while the second had added Singapore in its itinerary (from 20 to 26 February 2014).

Part of the program were visits to universities and research institutions. The visits were expected to generate valuable inputs for CNU when it formulates its own policies and programs for the internationalization of its teaching, research, and extension services.

SEAMEO INNOTECH structured the sessions to maximize learning from each visited institution. Guide questions to be raised during learning exchanges had been prepared to gain as much information relevant to core management areas. The sessions provided an overview of (1) internationalization, open learning, transnational curriculum, and distance education; and (2) quality research management in higher education, as well as management of small and large scale research programs.

Local university seeks to raise

education servicesto international

standards

Participant recognizes a public school’s disaster

risk reduction strategies

In February 2014, SEAMEO INNOTECH partnered with

UNESCO to hold the Experts’ Meeting on Climate Change Education for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific. The meeting was attended by nearly a hundred delegates from various stakeholders in the AP region.

As part of the Meeting’s agenda, the participants were brought to an elementary school in Quezon City to learn about its disaster risk reduction program and to witness an emergency evacuation drill. Among those who came to the school was Daniel Lin, senior research and policy specialist at the Pacific Resources for Education and Learning.

Lin was so touched by his experience from the visit to Commonwealth Elementary

School that he wrote about it an online article published by the National Geographic’s Explorer Journal on 11 March 2014. In the article, he vividly recalled his astonishment to be in a school with over 9,000 student population. What added to his astonishment was the school’s impressive display of preparedness for emergencies.

Commonwealth Elementary school, in fact, was recognized in 2013 for having the best “innovative calamity preparedness program.”

In his article, Lin detailed how the drill was done in a timely and orderly manner despite the big student population. He matched his account of the evacuation drill with interesting photos taken during the visit.


DepEd Region 8 strives to rehabilitate after YolandaThree months after super

typhoon Yolanda hit the Philippines, SEAMEO INNOTECH and the Department of Education Region 8 Office held a meeting to discuss possible ways the Center can assist the schools divisions in the region towards recovery and rehabilitation.

DepEd Region 8 director Dr. Luisa Bautista-Yu shared the situation in Region 8 where five schools divisions were among the hardest hit by the storm surge brought by Yolanda in November 2013. She revealed that a total of 6,018 schools were partially damaged while 1,567 were totally destroyed in the schools divisions of Leyte, Ormoc City, Eastern Samar, Samar, and Tacloban City. Even the DepEd regional office

was not spared. Among the fatalities were students, teachers, non-teaching personnel, a school head, and an education program specialist.

Recognizing the importance of resuming classes to provide a sense of normalcy among the people, schools divisions were informed to start holding classes as early as 02 December 2013, although it was about a month later that this became official. Several non-government organizations and foundations had shown support by providing temporary learning spaces and basic school materials to the kids.

For the hardest hit schools divisions, the IMPACT learning system developed by SEAMEO INNOTECH was applied, while

others made use of a mixture of contextualized curriculum and K to 12.

Psychosocial interventions were also initiated, not just for the students, but also for the teachers and other school personnel. In Eastern Samar, a number of schools are benefitting from the emergency feeding programs sponsored by civic organizations. Apart from WASH facilities and temporary learning spaces, UNICEF distributed basic hygiene kits to schools.

Dr. Yu said there are still gaps that need to be addressed. Many are willing to help but relevant data must be provided to guide them on what to give. The needs of affected students with disabilities (SPED) and


out-of-school youths and adults must also be given focus. DepEd Region 8 intends to accomplish these as part of its move towards recovery and rehabilitation. It also hopes to complete the provision of temporary learning spaces, where nearly half are yet to be provided, and conduct repair of classrooms by May 2014.

SEAMEO INNOTECH, for its part, has committed to visit Tacloban City to assess the situation there and determine other interventions to offer. The Center is also looking at conducting a case study on how schools in the devastated areas are coping with the tragedy brought by Yolanda. The case study will be a good input for the Center’s disaster management program, LEADeXCELS, which, while intended to be offered online, may be done through face-to-face training for teachers in Region 8.

“Dr. Yu said there are still gaps

that need to be addressed. The

needs of affected students with

disabilities (SPED) and out-of-school youths and adults must also be given

focus.”


A small delegation from China were in the Philippines last

February to benchmark on the Philippines technical-vocational education and training programs. SEAMEO INNOTECH, through its Knowledge Management and Networking Office, facilitated the visit on 11 to 12 February 2014 for representatives of the ASEAN-China Centre, the Guizhou Provincial Department of Education, and the China Education Association for International Exchange.

The delegation visited the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority for a dialogue with its officials to gain insights on how the Philippine

government runs its TVET program. They also went to the MFI Technological Institute—one of two operating centers of the MFI Foundation, which is recognized as a “Model Center of Excellence” by the Asean Economic Ministers-Japan Economic and Industrial Cooperation Committee for its industrial, technical and vocational education.

In addition, the delegation observed classes at two secondary schools offering tech-voc education—the Don Alejandro Roces Sr. Science and Technology High School (DARSSTHS) in Quezon City, and the ERDA Technical and Vocational Secondary School. DARSSTHS is

Chinese Officials benchmark on Philippines TVET Programthe only science and technology school in the National Capital Region that offers a strengthened tech-voc education curriculum. ERDA Tech, on the other hand, offers a free five-year high school education with training on a special technical course to poor but deserving students.

Apart from providing a glimpse of the country’s TVET program implementation, the two-day benchmarking visit likewise provided opportunities for possible collaboration on TVET projects with local public and private organizations.


INNOTECH conducts two GURO21 activitiesSEAMEO INNOTECH,

through its Flexible Learning Solutions Unit, conducted two activities under the flexible learning program Gearing Up Responsible and Outstanding Teachers in Southeast for the 21st Century (GURO21) in January 2014. The first activity

was a revalida cum graduation for DepEd Region IV-A on 24 January 2014 while the second activity was an orientation in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte last 30 January 2014.

GURO21 is designed to enhance the capabilities of Southeast

Asian teachers in addressing the teaching-learning requirements of the 21st century. It offers two foundation courses that focuses on (1) facilitating the development of 21st century skills and (2) developing higher order thinking skills.


SNAPSHOTS


SNAPSHOTS

SEAMEO INNOTECH’s 44th Anniversary Celebration14 February 2014


INNOTECH facilitates study visit programs to strengthen the capacities of Indonesia’s higher education officials

SEAMEO INNOTECH facilitated the third of a series of study

visit programs in January 2014 for Indonesian university officials. The officials were beneficiaries of the USAID-funded project on Higher Education Leadership and Management (HELM). The study visit programs, on the other hand,were part of the second phase of HELM to showcase exemplar HEI programs of Indonesia’s neighbouring countries like the Philippines.

The first study visit, conducted from 05 to 11 January 2014, focused on collaboration for entrepreneurship and research. The participants of this batch visited the Technological

University of the Philippines (TUP) to learn about the “Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program.” TUP has been commended by the Philippine Commission on Higher Education for its implementation of the ETEAAP, which accredits individuals’ actual achievements towards the conferment of an academic degree.

Aside from TUP, the first batch of Indonesian participants also visited the following: (1) the University of the Philippines campus in Los Baños, Laguna to learn about its collaborative research and entrepreneurship projects; (2) the University of Makati to learn about

its partnership with local industry players for the creation of a “job-fit” academic program; and (3) the Central Luzon State University (CLSU), which is a center of excellence in agriculture education.

The second study visit, conducted from 13 to 17 January 2014, focused on providing access to underserved students. The participants in this batch visited and interacted with officials of the following schools: (1) University of the Philippines campus in Diliman, Quezon City, where they learned about its socialized tuition fee scheme; and both (2) CLSU, and (3) University of the East for their student support services. A learning


session was also held to discuss an innovative education program for indigenous people.

The third study visit program, concluded on 24 January 2014 and focused on quality assurance and accreditation. The participants of this batch visited and met with officials of the following schools: (1) Technological Institute of the Philippines, where they learned about its journey towards becoming a center of excellence in information technology education; (2) De La Salle University main campus in Manila, where they learned about its systematic pursuit of institutional recognition and accreditation; (3) Philippine Normal University main campus in Manila, where they learned how it reinvented teacher education for relevance and quality; and (4) Mapua Institute of Technology (MIT), where they learned about its system for continuing quality improvement.

SEAMEO INNOTECH designed the study visits to give participants opportunities to learn about specific higher education programs and interventions in the Philippines. All the programs were expected to demonstrate sound management practices, particularly in the areas of general administration and leadership, financial management, quality assurance, and collaboration with external stakeholders.

The inputs from the benchmarking visits were vital in enabling targeted HEIs in Indonesia to carry out reforms in its higher education sector.

12 innotechnewsletter January-March2014 January-March2014 innotechnewsletter PB

n e w s l e t t e r

Re-entered as second class mail matter,February 7, 1983 at U.P. Post Office,Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

SEAMEO Regional INNOTECH CenterUPPO Box 207, U.P. Diliman, Quezon City, 1101, Philippines

Published quarterly by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Regional Center for Educational Innovation and Technology (INNOTECH). Tel: 9247681; Fax: (632) 9210224. For your feedback, e-mail us at: [email protected]

Editorial Office at the Information Management Unit, SEAMEO INNOTECH, UPPO Box 207, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City 1101, Philippines .

Editor: Jesse M. TuasonEditorial Assistants: Aury Anne A. Santos, Gillian Marie M. CruzPhotos: Jesse M. Tuason; Guillermo Cruz; Mark John AntidoLayout: Gillian Marie M. CruzAdvisers: Ramon C. Bacani, Director; Benito E. Benoza, Manager, Knowledge Management and

Networking Office; Carolyn S. Rodriguez, Manager, Quality and Systems Management Office

Bylined articles reflect the opinions of the author and not necessarily of SEAMEO INNOTECH.

innotech n

Two staff of SEAMEO Regional Center for Science and

Mathematics (RECSAM) based in Malaysia were at the Center for a benchmarking visit from 20 to 24 January 2014.

Miss Ong Mei Yean, Research Of-ficer of the R&D Division and Miss

Deng Mee Cheng, Administrative Assistant of the Training Program Division were both given a detailed orientation on the programs and projects of SEAMEO INNOTECH's various offices.

The two RECSAM staff also provided insights on the quality

management system that the Center maintains (ISO 9001:2008), as well as an overview of the learning services management system (ISO 29990), which it hopes to get certified.

RECSAM benchmarks on INNOTECH practices

UNESCO, SEAMEO seek better education response to disasters · 2 innotechnewsletter...

Documents

Transcript of UNESCO, SEAMEO seek better education response to disasters · 2 innotechnewsletter...