PGMA cites relevance of technical and vocational education to national growth

MANILA, Feb. 6 — President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo has underscored the relevance of technical and vocational education in the development of an empowered society amidst rapid changes in science and technology.

“Ang edukasyon ay susi sa mas magandang buhay. At sa mga panahong ito, ang malakas na edukasyon ay dapat kasama ng malakas na backbone ng teknolohiya (Education is the key to a better life. And in these times, strong education should be accompanied by a strong backbone of technology),” the President said in a speech during Friday’s inauguration of the Honorio Lopez Technical Institute in Tondo, Manila.

The school offers vocational courses, including computer science and technology.

President Arroyo stressed that education and technology should be strengthened “because we have to build the mind (of the youth) and we have to connect to the world.”

Towards this end, the Chief Executive said the government has doubled its investments in education and skills training from P90 billion at the beginning of her term to P180 billion at present. This gave rise to the construction of some 100,000 classrooms nationwide, along with the hiring of about 60,000 more teachers at higher salaries.

The President also disclosed that the government supports more than 600,000 scholars taking up Science and Engineering courses in private schools.

“We also allocated P1.5 billion for teacher training, especially for English teachers,” President Arroyo said. “We increased the use of English (language) as a medium of instruction from 40 percent to 55 percent in high school because we have to regain our competitiveness and advantage in English,” she added.

To encourage more parents to send their children to school, the Department of Education liberalized school regulations, resulting in the removal of miscellaneous fees and making the wearing of school uniforms an optional requirement. In addition, more than one million impoverished households were given allowances through the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) on the condition that they send their children to public schools.

The President noted that much remains to be done in the area of education. “That is why we remain dedicated in our last months in office to promoting, advancing, pushing for more and better education and better technological infrastructure.”

“We have come far in both, but we still have far to go and we must not rest,” the President said.

She identified three areas of major concern for the government. These are bringing more power and growth to each region to decongest Metro Manila; continue promoting the importance of education, the economy and the environment in line with government efforts to attain sustainable and equitable development; and continuous focus on the youth as the foundation for a better future.

“While I am proud of what our government has achieved, past achievement is only as good as the ability of the nation to grow and prosper. I fervently desire that the progress we have made will not stop; that what remains to be done will be picked up by the next generation of leadership,” President Arroyo said. (PNA)

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