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Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Nanyang Technological University to build mini city on campus
Source: CNA
SINGAPORE: The Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has unveiled an ambitious masterplan to transform its Yunnan Garden campus into a mini city in the next 15 years.
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SINGAPORE: The Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has unveiled an ambitious masterplan to transform its Yunnan Garden campus into a mini city in the next 15 years.
There is even a possibility of having a light rail system leading into the university.
The NTU's masterplan includes provisions for a possible light rail system, which it hopes could be up in 10 years.
Electric buses and electric bikes may also ply the campus roads. There will also be pedestrian walkways criss-crossing through a network of ponds and parks.
The heart of the campus will be a snaking structure -- called the Campus Centre -- which would feature cafes, shops, a pub and even a cinema, all located near academic and residential facilities.
By 2015, 5,000 more hostel units will also be built, creating enough space for all undergraduates to stay on campus if they wish.
Guida Moseley Brown Architects Harold Guida said: "We're suggesting that carparks can be removed and landscaping can be introduced.
"We're suggesting that certain kinds of rooms can be removed and changed very easily into residential accommodation, adding a new sense of life, activity, round-the-clock sense of purpose for these buildings, rather than turning them off at five o'clock (in the evening)".
NTU is home to about 33,000 students and 3,000 faculty and researchers, and the aim is to create more opportunities for them to interact, not just socially but also in the classroom.
Incoming president and provost Bertil Andersson said he hopes there would be more interaction in the university.
There will also be a bigger focus on inter-disciplinary collaboration, and the new Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, which will be up by 2014, is one such example.
Students will split their time between the new school at Novena and Yunnan Garden.
"They have to learn a little bit about management in the business school; they have to learn engineering, because my belief is that in the next 10 years, one of the most key areas for medicine is inter-disciplinarity between medicine and engineering," professor Andersson said.
And with a new CleanTech business park coming up nearby, NTU said it hopes it will create not just opportunities for industry collaboration, but also the critical mass for a new light rail system into the university.
The NTU's masterplan includes provisions for a possible light rail system, which it hopes could be up in 10 years.
Electric buses and electric bikes may also ply the campus roads. There will also be pedestrian walkways criss-crossing through a network of ponds and parks.
The heart of the campus will be a snaking structure -- called the Campus Centre -- which would feature cafes, shops, a pub and even a cinema, all located near academic and residential facilities.
By 2015, 5,000 more hostel units will also be built, creating enough space for all undergraduates to stay on campus if they wish.
Guida Moseley Brown Architects Harold Guida said: "We're suggesting that carparks can be removed and landscaping can be introduced.
"We're suggesting that certain kinds of rooms can be removed and changed very easily into residential accommodation, adding a new sense of life, activity, round-the-clock sense of purpose for these buildings, rather than turning them off at five o'clock (in the evening)".
NTU is home to about 33,000 students and 3,000 faculty and researchers, and the aim is to create more opportunities for them to interact, not just socially but also in the classroom.
Incoming president and provost Bertil Andersson said he hopes there would be more interaction in the university.
There will also be a bigger focus on inter-disciplinary collaboration, and the new Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, which will be up by 2014, is one such example.
Students will split their time between the new school at Novena and Yunnan Garden.
"They have to learn a little bit about management in the business school; they have to learn engineering, because my belief is that in the next 10 years, one of the most key areas for medicine is inter-disciplinarity between medicine and engineering," professor Andersson said.
And with a new CleanTech business park coming up nearby, NTU said it hopes it will create not just opportunities for industry collaboration, but also the critical mass for a new light rail system into the university.
Labels:
education
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Apple's iPad enters Singapore classrooms
Source: Reuters
SINGAPORE - If Oprah can do it, so can schools in Singapore.
Two schools in the wealthy city-state have begun handing out Apple iPads to students, relieving them of the need to carry satchels full of bulging text books and notes.
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SINGAPORE - If Oprah can do it, so can schools in Singapore.
Two schools in the wealthy city-state have begun handing out Apple iPads to students, relieving them of the need to carry satchels full of bulging text books and notes.
Nanyang Girls High School has spent S$135,000 to buy 150 iPads for 140 students and 10 teachers in a pilot project. Users connect to the Internet using the tablet, and download books and course material.
They can take notes on the iPad, and use worksheets.
"It's much more convenient," said 14-year-old Chloe Chen, sitting in a classroom with her iPad in front of her. "Teachers can just tell us to go a website, and we can immediately go and do our work."
Last year billionaire talk show host Oprah Winfrey gave staff at her magazine an iPad and a check for $10,000 each.
Seah Hui Yong, dean of curriculum at Nanyang Girls school, said the iPad was chosen because it complemented a new method of teaching under which students are given more freedom to learn themselves, instead of relying solely on the teacher in traditional classrooms.
"It's not so much about the iPad," she said, adding that if some other better device comes along, the school could switch.
"If you talk to the girls you will realize that they practically don't need training. I think if anything, the joke is the teachers are probably taking a little bit longer time in getting used to it."
Safeguards are being put in place as well.
"There will be some concerns - making sure that the girls are going to appropriate websites, also making sure that the girls don't get addicted to the device and use it too much," said Physics and Information Technology teacher Mark Shone.
Nanyang Girls is a secondary school, which means the youngest students are 12. Other schools in Singapore using the tablet include Tampines Secondary School and teachers at Nanhua Primary School. A fourth, Dunman Secondary School, will use iPads in project work in the future, a teacher said.
They can take notes on the iPad, and use worksheets.
"It's much more convenient," said 14-year-old Chloe Chen, sitting in a classroom with her iPad in front of her. "Teachers can just tell us to go a website, and we can immediately go and do our work."
Last year billionaire talk show host Oprah Winfrey gave staff at her magazine an iPad and a check for $10,000 each.
Seah Hui Yong, dean of curriculum at Nanyang Girls school, said the iPad was chosen because it complemented a new method of teaching under which students are given more freedom to learn themselves, instead of relying solely on the teacher in traditional classrooms.
"It's not so much about the iPad," she said, adding that if some other better device comes along, the school could switch.
"If you talk to the girls you will realize that they practically don't need training. I think if anything, the joke is the teachers are probably taking a little bit longer time in getting used to it."
Safeguards are being put in place as well.
"There will be some concerns - making sure that the girls are going to appropriate websites, also making sure that the girls don't get addicted to the device and use it too much," said Physics and Information Technology teacher Mark Shone.
Nanyang Girls is a secondary school, which means the youngest students are 12. Other schools in Singapore using the tablet include Tampines Secondary School and teachers at Nanhua Primary School. A fourth, Dunman Secondary School, will use iPads in project work in the future, a teacher said.
US's oldest Diocesan university president is Filipino
Source: ANN
In one of his visits home, Amado Gabriel Esteban found himself in the 'oldies' aisle to look for his favorite Filipino singer Basil Valdez's record.
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In one of his visits home, Amado Gabriel Esteban found himself in the 'oldies' aisle to look for his favorite Filipino singer Basil Valdez's record.
While such a moment is a reminder of his youth in Manila, longing for home never grows old for Esteban, the first Filipino president of an American university.
"Other than the food, I miss the sights and sounds of Manila - the packed Sunday Masses, big family gatherings and going out with the 'barkada,'" he said in an e-mail interview with the Inquirer.
"I have to admit though that the Manila of my youth only exists in my mind. You know you are getting old when I was looking for a CD of Basil, I was asked to go to the oldies section!"
Putting the Filipino brand of leadership on the international spotlight once again, 49-year-old Esteban was recently appointed president of Seton Hall University (SHU) in New Jersey.
Esteban had been serving as interim president of the oldest diocesan university in America and New Jersey's largest Catholic university with more than 10,000 students before he was named to the post last December.
Two priests in the running withdrew during the search proceedings, according to a New York Times online report.
"As a Filipino, I hope I can serve as a reminder, along with all the other kababayan (compatriot) who have been able to advance themselves, of our potential wherever we are in the world," Esteban said.
His mother, Lita Munson Esteban, and his late Tarlaque?o father, Jose Esteban, were both educators.
Building consensus
Esteban credits his upbringing for a leadership style that listens and nurtures.
"Growing up in a Filipino-Catholic environment, I learned early on the value of building consensus, learning from past mistakes and failures, and most importantly treating everyone with respect and dignity," he said.
"In leading Seton Hall University, I hope to never forget something my late father used to say, 'A great university is not made up of bricks and mortar, but people of great minds with good intentions,'" he added.
Serving a term of five and a half years, Esteban aims to pursue a strategic development plan that would entail "strengthening our Catholic identity, strengthening and increasing our investment in key academic programs, increasing our student selectivity, and developing the financial resources to fund our shared vision."
Exception to rule
Esteban's appointment broke tradition based on SHU's 25-year-old by-laws, where only Catholic priests were qualified to head the university. The university's board of trustees adopted an exception to the by-laws a week before his appointment.
Two other laymen had assumed the SHU presidency before Esteban, but his appointment was the first for a nonpriest since the university adopted its priests-only selection criteria in the 1980s.
Esteban received praise from the university for his calming presence after the tragic shooting of 19-year-old sophomore student Jessica Moore near SHU in September last year, when he was still interim head.
SHU officials called him the right fit for the job.
In a broadcast e-mail announcing Esteban's appointment, Patrick Murray, chair of the SHU board of regents, said: "Dr. Esteban has successfully navigated through many challenges during his interim presidency; we are extremely fortunate to have such a proven, compassionate leader at the helm of our University. He is ideally positioned to carry on Seton Hall's Catholic mission and its tradition of academic excellence."
Esteban finished a bachelor's degree in Mathematics and a master's degree in Business Administration at the University of the Philippines before taking up master of science in Japanese Business Studies at Chaminade University in Honolulu.
He and his wife Josephine, a UP Economics graduate, came back to the Philippines in 1986, just as the country returned to democracy after 14 years of martial rule. He landed a job at San Miguel Corp. while his wife worked for the then Center for Research and Communications (now University of Asia and the Pacific).
The couple later went back to the United States for further studies.
"We had every intention of returning to the Philippines. In fact in the late nineties, I interviewed for and was offered a couple of faculty positions in the Philippines. As we were making preliminary plans to return, the Asian financial crisis hit," Esteban said.
"Upon deliberation and reflection, we realized that over the short to medium term we had better opportunities in the United States," he added.
Connecting home
But life seems to have come full circle for Esteban, as his connection to home has become even stronger with the position he holds.
SHU's College of Arts and Sciences is studying student demand for the Filipino language, which it previously offered. At the university, Esteban has also met several Filipino seminarians and students.
"Seton Hall has a very active student group called FLASH (Filipino League at Seton Hall). We even have Simbang Gabi! (dawn masses before Christmas)" he said.
As an SHU official, Esteban has also established institutional relations with UP, De La Salle University and its College of St. Benilde and Health Sciences Institute.
"Since the establishment of relationships with sister institutions in the Philippines, I have been fortunate to be able to go to Manila almost every year for the past few years," Esteban said.
The Internet has also made touching base with the Philippines easier, he said. "Connecting to home and friends in Manila was more difficult until the widespread use of technology, including YahooGroups and more recently Facebook."
Esteban and his family came home for Christmas last year, their first since 1987. With Josephine and his daughter Ysabella, an SHU junior, he traveled to Boracay and Cagayan de Oro City and "spent almost all our time with family."
"Other than the food, I miss the sights and sounds of Manila - the packed Sunday Masses, big family gatherings and going out with the 'barkada,'" he said in an e-mail interview with the Inquirer.
"I have to admit though that the Manila of my youth only exists in my mind. You know you are getting old when I was looking for a CD of Basil, I was asked to go to the oldies section!"
Putting the Filipino brand of leadership on the international spotlight once again, 49-year-old Esteban was recently appointed president of Seton Hall University (SHU) in New Jersey.
Esteban had been serving as interim president of the oldest diocesan university in America and New Jersey's largest Catholic university with more than 10,000 students before he was named to the post last December.
Two priests in the running withdrew during the search proceedings, according to a New York Times online report.
"As a Filipino, I hope I can serve as a reminder, along with all the other kababayan (compatriot) who have been able to advance themselves, of our potential wherever we are in the world," Esteban said.
His mother, Lita Munson Esteban, and his late Tarlaque?o father, Jose Esteban, were both educators.
Building consensus
Esteban credits his upbringing for a leadership style that listens and nurtures.
"Growing up in a Filipino-Catholic environment, I learned early on the value of building consensus, learning from past mistakes and failures, and most importantly treating everyone with respect and dignity," he said.
"In leading Seton Hall University, I hope to never forget something my late father used to say, 'A great university is not made up of bricks and mortar, but people of great minds with good intentions,'" he added.
Serving a term of five and a half years, Esteban aims to pursue a strategic development plan that would entail "strengthening our Catholic identity, strengthening and increasing our investment in key academic programs, increasing our student selectivity, and developing the financial resources to fund our shared vision."
Exception to rule
Esteban's appointment broke tradition based on SHU's 25-year-old by-laws, where only Catholic priests were qualified to head the university. The university's board of trustees adopted an exception to the by-laws a week before his appointment.
Two other laymen had assumed the SHU presidency before Esteban, but his appointment was the first for a nonpriest since the university adopted its priests-only selection criteria in the 1980s.
Esteban received praise from the university for his calming presence after the tragic shooting of 19-year-old sophomore student Jessica Moore near SHU in September last year, when he was still interim head.
SHU officials called him the right fit for the job.
In a broadcast e-mail announcing Esteban's appointment, Patrick Murray, chair of the SHU board of regents, said: "Dr. Esteban has successfully navigated through many challenges during his interim presidency; we are extremely fortunate to have such a proven, compassionate leader at the helm of our University. He is ideally positioned to carry on Seton Hall's Catholic mission and its tradition of academic excellence."
Esteban finished a bachelor's degree in Mathematics and a master's degree in Business Administration at the University of the Philippines before taking up master of science in Japanese Business Studies at Chaminade University in Honolulu.
He and his wife Josephine, a UP Economics graduate, came back to the Philippines in 1986, just as the country returned to democracy after 14 years of martial rule. He landed a job at San Miguel Corp. while his wife worked for the then Center for Research and Communications (now University of Asia and the Pacific).
The couple later went back to the United States for further studies.
"We had every intention of returning to the Philippines. In fact in the late nineties, I interviewed for and was offered a couple of faculty positions in the Philippines. As we were making preliminary plans to return, the Asian financial crisis hit," Esteban said.
"Upon deliberation and reflection, we realized that over the short to medium term we had better opportunities in the United States," he added.
Connecting home
But life seems to have come full circle for Esteban, as his connection to home has become even stronger with the position he holds.
SHU's College of Arts and Sciences is studying student demand for the Filipino language, which it previously offered. At the university, Esteban has also met several Filipino seminarians and students.
"Seton Hall has a very active student group called FLASH (Filipino League at Seton Hall). We even have Simbang Gabi! (dawn masses before Christmas)" he said.
As an SHU official, Esteban has also established institutional relations with UP, De La Salle University and its College of St. Benilde and Health Sciences Institute.
"Since the establishment of relationships with sister institutions in the Philippines, I have been fortunate to be able to go to Manila almost every year for the past few years," Esteban said.
The Internet has also made touching base with the Philippines easier, he said. "Connecting to home and friends in Manila was more difficult until the widespread use of technology, including YahooGroups and more recently Facebook."
Esteban and his family came home for Christmas last year, their first since 1987. With Josephine and his daughter Ysabella, an SHU junior, he traveled to Boracay and Cagayan de Oro City and "spent almost all our time with family."
Labels:
education,
Filipino,
university
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Tertiary education to cost more in S'pore
SOURCE: CNA
SINGAPORE: Tertiary education is going to cost more in Singapore. The country's three universities, five polytechnics and the Institutes of Technicial Education made the announcement on Friday.
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SINGAPORE: Tertiary education is going to cost more in Singapore. The country's three universities, five polytechnics and the Institutes of Technicial Education made the announcement on Friday.
The new intake of Singapore citizens at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU)and Singapore Management University (SMU) will be forking out more in fees.
However, the fee hike will be higher for foreigners and permanent residents, in line with government policy to make a differentiation.
The incoming cohort of Singapore citizens taking undergraduate courses at the NUS and NTU will pay either four per cent or six per cent more, depending on the course they take.
At SMU, fees will go up by three per cent.
The annual tuition fees to be paid for most undergraduate courses at NUS by the incoming Singapore Citizen undergrads will increase by four per cent.
Fees for Architecture, Business, Law, Music, Nursing and Pharmacy will increase by six per cent.
This means that undergrads will pay between S$280 and S$540 more and their annual fees will now cost between S$7,170 and S$20,150.
The new fees will apply throughout their course duration.
Fees for the incoming intake of post-graduate students will be adjusted upwards by six per cent, with the exception of Nursing, which remains unchanged.
In subsequent years, the fees will be increased by three per cent each year for the remainder of their course duration.
Existing post-graduate students from earlier intakes will also be subject to a yearly three per cent increase for the remaining course duration.
The incoming cohort of permanent resident (PR) students will pay between S$480 and S$2,180 more than the existing fee rates.
And for incoming international students, they will pay between S$970 and S$3,720 more.
Over at NTU, the tuition fees for the incoming cohort of Singapore citizen undergraduates taking non-business programmes will go up by about four per cent or S$280 to S$7,170.
The incoming batch of students pursuing business programmes will pay six per cent or S$450 more at S$7,940.
The new fees will apply to the AY2011 cohort throughout their course duration.
Fees for the incoming intake of post-graduate students will go up by six per cent.
In subsequent years, their fees will go up by three per cent each year for the remaining duration of their course.
PR students will pay between S$700 and S$1,320 more and international students between S$1,140 and S$2,180 more.
Singapore's five polytechnics also said their fees will go up by 2.3 per cent to S$2,220 a year for the incoming cohort of students.
Degree courses offered by three of the polys - Singapore Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Nanyang Polytechnic - in collaboration with foreign institutions will cost three per cent more in the new academic year for both new and existing students.
The polys said the fees for foreign and PR students will increase by between S$480 and S$1,580. Existing PR and foreign students will also pay higher fees.
The polys say their fees for PR and foreign students remain competitive when compared with those charged by international and private schools.
Salman Zaheer, a foreign student, said: "I think it is quite unreasonable that they are increasing our fees. I mean we are already paying much higher than locals here. I think it may initiate my thought to go overseas to study as well."
Local student Praveen Raj said: "For the moment if they do it, it's OK. But if they do this continuously, then I think it's a big problem, major issue. For me, 50 dollars might be a small amount, but 50 dollars might be (another) student's one month pocket money."
The tertiary institutions say they will ensure that there are sufficient financial assistance schemes in place so that no student admitted will be denied the opportunity of an education because of financial difficulties.
A family that Channel NewsAsia spoke to had planned way ahead.
For 19-year-old Xavier Ong and his family, the fee hikes are not their main concern.
Xavier said: "To me, receiving a good education, it's the priority. So getting into a university is the main (thing) ... so a slight increase to me is all right."
As he is the only child in the family, Xavier's parents have been saving for his education since he was one year old.
Mr Ong said: "Of course if we have problems, we can still get a bank loan or use CPF. We also hope that our universities can compete globally... so foreign students will want to study here."
Xavier's mother is a full-time housewife, and his father works in food distribution.
However, the fee hike will be higher for foreigners and permanent residents, in line with government policy to make a differentiation.
The incoming cohort of Singapore citizens taking undergraduate courses at the NUS and NTU will pay either four per cent or six per cent more, depending on the course they take.
At SMU, fees will go up by three per cent.
The annual tuition fees to be paid for most undergraduate courses at NUS by the incoming Singapore Citizen undergrads will increase by four per cent.
Fees for Architecture, Business, Law, Music, Nursing and Pharmacy will increase by six per cent.
This means that undergrads will pay between S$280 and S$540 more and their annual fees will now cost between S$7,170 and S$20,150.
The new fees will apply throughout their course duration.
Fees for the incoming intake of post-graduate students will be adjusted upwards by six per cent, with the exception of Nursing, which remains unchanged.
In subsequent years, the fees will be increased by three per cent each year for the remainder of their course duration.
Existing post-graduate students from earlier intakes will also be subject to a yearly three per cent increase for the remaining course duration.
The incoming cohort of permanent resident (PR) students will pay between S$480 and S$2,180 more than the existing fee rates.
And for incoming international students, they will pay between S$970 and S$3,720 more.
Over at NTU, the tuition fees for the incoming cohort of Singapore citizen undergraduates taking non-business programmes will go up by about four per cent or S$280 to S$7,170.
The incoming batch of students pursuing business programmes will pay six per cent or S$450 more at S$7,940.
The new fees will apply to the AY2011 cohort throughout their course duration.
Fees for the incoming intake of post-graduate students will go up by six per cent.
In subsequent years, their fees will go up by three per cent each year for the remaining duration of their course.
PR students will pay between S$700 and S$1,320 more and international students between S$1,140 and S$2,180 more.
Singapore's five polytechnics also said their fees will go up by 2.3 per cent to S$2,220 a year for the incoming cohort of students.
Degree courses offered by three of the polys - Singapore Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Nanyang Polytechnic - in collaboration with foreign institutions will cost three per cent more in the new academic year for both new and existing students.
The polys said the fees for foreign and PR students will increase by between S$480 and S$1,580. Existing PR and foreign students will also pay higher fees.
The polys say their fees for PR and foreign students remain competitive when compared with those charged by international and private schools.
Salman Zaheer, a foreign student, said: "I think it is quite unreasonable that they are increasing our fees. I mean we are already paying much higher than locals here. I think it may initiate my thought to go overseas to study as well."
Local student Praveen Raj said: "For the moment if they do it, it's OK. But if they do this continuously, then I think it's a big problem, major issue. For me, 50 dollars might be a small amount, but 50 dollars might be (another) student's one month pocket money."
The tertiary institutions say they will ensure that there are sufficient financial assistance schemes in place so that no student admitted will be denied the opportunity of an education because of financial difficulties.
A family that Channel NewsAsia spoke to had planned way ahead.
For 19-year-old Xavier Ong and his family, the fee hikes are not their main concern.
Xavier said: "To me, receiving a good education, it's the priority. So getting into a university is the main (thing) ... so a slight increase to me is all right."
As he is the only child in the family, Xavier's parents have been saving for his education since he was one year old.
Mr Ong said: "Of course if we have problems, we can still get a bank loan or use CPF. We also hope that our universities can compete globally... so foreign students will want to study here."
Xavier's mother is a full-time housewife, and his father works in food distribution.
Labels:
education,
SINGAPORE,
tertiary education
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
14,000 more classrooms for the coming year
Philippine gov't to build 14,000 more classrooms
SOURCE: ANN
Some 14,000 new classrooms will be built and about 300,000 hectares of farmlands distributed to small farmers in the Philippines next year under the P1.6-trillion (US$36 billion) national budget signed by President Aquino on Monday.
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SOURCE: ANN
Some 14,000 new classrooms will be built and about 300,000 hectares of farmlands distributed to small farmers in the Philippines next year under the P1.6-trillion (US$36 billion) national budget signed by President Aquino on Monday.
The new classrooms to be built by the Department of Education (DepEd) represent roughly 11 percent of the current shortage in public schools nationwide.
DepEd chief engineer Oliver Hernandez said the department had been given a P12.04-billion fund for the construction of schools in the coming year, four times the P3-billion allocation this year.
The fund, approved by Mr. Aquino along with the P207-billion DepEd budget, will enable the DepEd to address a backlog of classrooms across the country that now stands at 153,000, said Hernandez, chief of DepEd's Physical Facilities and Schools Engineering.
This figure is pegged in the ideal classroom-to-student ratio of 1:45. A standard classroom costs P650,000 to build. It does not include furniture, including desks and other room implements.
"This is important because now we can concentrate on building new classrooms for the red and black schools," Hernandez said, referring to DepEd's color code for schools with severe shortages.
Among regions with the worst classroom shortage are Metro Manila, Calabarzon and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, where many schools are forced to hold classes in several shifts a day to accommodate the volume of students.
Throughout 2010, DepEd invested P2 billion to build some 5,000 additional classrooms and set aside P1 billion for schools damaged by typhoons, floods and fires, Hernandez said.
Highest in recent years
The DepEd also intends to repair schools in the Ilocos region and Cagayan Valley damaged by Supertyphoon "Juan" in October, the engineer said. Repairs for typhoon-damaged schools in Cagayan, Isabela and Benguet were estimated to cost about P460 million, Hernandez said.
DepEd's 2011 budget is the highest in recent years, with almost 80 percent allocated for salaries. The department intends to boost the public kindergarten system at the start of the new school year, among other priority programs.
Land acquisition
The national budget, also known as the General Appropriations Act of 2011, contains P10.179 billion for the land acquisition and distribution program of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).
"The government intends to acquire some 300,000 ha of private and public estates next year for redistribution to agrarian reform beneficiaries," Cebu Representative Eduardo Gullas said in a statement.
"The fresh funding will enable the DAR to take over some 200,000 ha of private land and 100,000 ha of public land, and then parcel the estates out to small landless farmers," Gullas said.
The P10.179 billion is 15.4 percent, or P1.363 billion, higher than this year's P8.816-billion allocation for the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
Peace talks
Gullas' statement came on the heels of the government's announcement of the formal resumption of peace talks with the National Democratic Front (NDF), which is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2011.
"The confiscatory land reform--the seizure of estates owned by 'big landlords' and the subsequent redistribution of the holdings to 'landless peasants'--formed part of the NDF's original 10-point program put forth in the 1980s," the lawmaker said.
Gullas said the 300,000 ha targeted for acquisition and distribution next year would cover around 20 percent of the residual undistributed lands.
The government has so far awarded a total of 7,558,777 ha of land to some 5 million agrarian reform beneficiaries nationwide, leaving only 1,485,295 ha still undistributed, according to the DAR.
Five-year extension
In August 2009, Congress passed Republic Act No. 9700, which extended by another five years the land acquisition and distribution schedule under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program of 1988.
Under the law, the DAR has up to June 30, 2014, to complete its land procurement and dispersal plan and expand the economic opportunities of small farmers who currently do not own the land they are cultivating.
Once the land acquisition and distribution plan is completed, Mr. Aquino is expected to streamline the overlapping functions of the DAR, Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
DepEd chief engineer Oliver Hernandez said the department had been given a P12.04-billion fund for the construction of schools in the coming year, four times the P3-billion allocation this year.
The fund, approved by Mr. Aquino along with the P207-billion DepEd budget, will enable the DepEd to address a backlog of classrooms across the country that now stands at 153,000, said Hernandez, chief of DepEd's Physical Facilities and Schools Engineering.
This figure is pegged in the ideal classroom-to-student ratio of 1:45. A standard classroom costs P650,000 to build. It does not include furniture, including desks and other room implements.
"This is important because now we can concentrate on building new classrooms for the red and black schools," Hernandez said, referring to DepEd's color code for schools with severe shortages.
Among regions with the worst classroom shortage are Metro Manila, Calabarzon and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, where many schools are forced to hold classes in several shifts a day to accommodate the volume of students.
Throughout 2010, DepEd invested P2 billion to build some 5,000 additional classrooms and set aside P1 billion for schools damaged by typhoons, floods and fires, Hernandez said.
Highest in recent years
The DepEd also intends to repair schools in the Ilocos region and Cagayan Valley damaged by Supertyphoon "Juan" in October, the engineer said. Repairs for typhoon-damaged schools in Cagayan, Isabela and Benguet were estimated to cost about P460 million, Hernandez said.
DepEd's 2011 budget is the highest in recent years, with almost 80 percent allocated for salaries. The department intends to boost the public kindergarten system at the start of the new school year, among other priority programs.
Land acquisition
The national budget, also known as the General Appropriations Act of 2011, contains P10.179 billion for the land acquisition and distribution program of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).
"The government intends to acquire some 300,000 ha of private and public estates next year for redistribution to agrarian reform beneficiaries," Cebu Representative Eduardo Gullas said in a statement.
"The fresh funding will enable the DAR to take over some 200,000 ha of private land and 100,000 ha of public land, and then parcel the estates out to small landless farmers," Gullas said.
The P10.179 billion is 15.4 percent, or P1.363 billion, higher than this year's P8.816-billion allocation for the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
Peace talks
Gullas' statement came on the heels of the government's announcement of the formal resumption of peace talks with the National Democratic Front (NDF), which is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2011.
"The confiscatory land reform--the seizure of estates owned by 'big landlords' and the subsequent redistribution of the holdings to 'landless peasants'--formed part of the NDF's original 10-point program put forth in the 1980s," the lawmaker said.
Gullas said the 300,000 ha targeted for acquisition and distribution next year would cover around 20 percent of the residual undistributed lands.
The government has so far awarded a total of 7,558,777 ha of land to some 5 million agrarian reform beneficiaries nationwide, leaving only 1,485,295 ha still undistributed, according to the DAR.
Five-year extension
In August 2009, Congress passed Republic Act No. 9700, which extended by another five years the land acquisition and distribution schedule under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program of 1988.
Under the law, the DAR has up to June 30, 2014, to complete its land procurement and dispersal plan and expand the economic opportunities of small farmers who currently do not own the land they are cultivating.
Once the land acquisition and distribution plan is completed, Mr. Aquino is expected to streamline the overlapping functions of the DAR, Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
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GOVERNMENT
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
UP Manila graduates conquer tops list in dentistry
UP Manila grad tops list of 251 new dentists
SOURCE: GMA NEWS
A graduate from the University of the Philippines (UP) campus in Manila topped the list of 251 new dentists released by the Professional Regulation Commission on Wednesday. [Click here for complete list]
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SOURCE: GMA NEWS
A graduate from the University of the Philippines (UP) campus in Manila topped the list of 251 new dentists released by the Professional Regulation Commission on Wednesday. [Click here for complete list]
Pia Briones of UP Manila spearheaded the 251 passers out of 787 graduates who took the Dentist Licensure exam given by the PRC’s Board of Dentistry in Manila last week, with a score of 85.12 percent.
Jefalyn Mendoza of the University of Baguio and Leonida Garcia, also from UP Manila, were meanwhile tied in second place, both with scores of 84.04 percent.
Other examinees who made it to the “Top 10" include:
3. Dindo Rabino of UP Manila – 83.67 percent
4. Ariane Sadiang-Abay of UP Manila – 83.33 percent
5. Ma. Fatima Dolor of UP Manila – 83.24 percent
6. Andrianne Gomez of UP Manila and Joanna Bless Yap of Cebu Doctors University – 83.18 percent
7. Katrina Lo of UP Manila – 83.17 percent
8. Roxanne Donato of UP Manila – 83.10 percent
9. Ulysses Patalinghug of UP Manila – 82.84 percent
10. Reuel Beatriz of Adventist University of the Philippines – 82.65 percent
Registration for the issuance of professional identification cards and certificates of registration will start on January 3, while oath-taking ceremonies of successful examinees will be held at the Manila Hotel in January 26, according to the PRC.
Jefalyn Mendoza of the University of Baguio and Leonida Garcia, also from UP Manila, were meanwhile tied in second place, both with scores of 84.04 percent.
Other examinees who made it to the “Top 10" include:
3. Dindo Rabino of UP Manila – 83.67 percent
4. Ariane Sadiang-Abay of UP Manila – 83.33 percent
5. Ma. Fatima Dolor of UP Manila – 83.24 percent
6. Andrianne Gomez of UP Manila and Joanna Bless Yap of Cebu Doctors University – 83.18 percent
7. Katrina Lo of UP Manila – 83.17 percent
8. Roxanne Donato of UP Manila – 83.10 percent
9. Ulysses Patalinghug of UP Manila – 82.84 percent
10. Reuel Beatriz of Adventist University of the Philippines – 82.65 percent
Registration for the issuance of professional identification cards and certificates of registration will start on January 3, while oath-taking ceremonies of successful examinees will be held at the Manila Hotel in January 26, according to the PRC.
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