DepEd, French Embassy renew partnership to strengthen French instruction as a foreign language in public schools

The observation of French classes at the newly recognized pilot school in Minglanilla District like Guindaruhan National High School, Cebu Province Division, Region VII occurred last August 1, 2012, and it was spearheaded by the Linguistic Attaché  Théry Béord of the French Embassy (Attaché de coopération pour le français et pour les ONG franco-philippines, Service de Coopération et d’Action Culturelle, Ambassade de France aux Philippines), with some attendance coming from DepEd officials (Central, Regional and Division Offices), Alliance Française de Manille and Alliance Française de Cebu officials, and other foreign language top-level officials. It was the 1st time since the arrival of the new Linguistic and Cultural Attaché this school year. Read more: The French Embassy and DepEd recognize Guindaruhan National High School as the 13^th pilot school to teach French in Region VII. 

December 6, 2012
PRESS RELEASE

The Department of Education and the Embassy of France to the Philippines, in association with Alliance Francaise in Manille, renew their partnership by signing a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to continue the instruction of French as a second foreign language and as an elective offering in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Region VII.

Based on the success of the previous agreement, DepEd and French Embassy to the Philippines have decided to further continue their cooperation in order to institutionalize the teaching of French as a foreign language in 13 secondary schools in NCR and Region VII. Currently, more than 1,500 students receive regular French courses in Filipino public learning institutions.

Education Secretary Br. Armin A. Luistro FSC said that programs like this will help the Department in its goal to produce globally competitive graduates.

“We don’t only need this program, we need to expand it as an important component of the K to 12 Basic Education Program – to give Filipino students access to a language facility that will serve as a gateway to a cultural understanding of Europe, and for French young people to look at the Philippines as a gateway to Asia” said Luistro.

In the MOA, the Embassy of France to the Philippines has set the goal to strengthen implementation of the French language program in order to respond better to opportunities for local and international employment; to train in French students who will be able to continue their education with Philippine partner universities and to eventually facilitate studies in France for select students.

“Language is a way to better understand each other.  The core of this partnership is that it is a work of friendship and understanding between our countries.  My wish is to increase our cooperation, to have more exchanges, because we can do much more” expressed French Ambassador Gilles Garachon.

The DepEd and the French Embassy had first entered into an agreement on September 28, 2009 to pilot Foreign language in select secondary schools.

In this new MOA, the National School of Digos in Davao del Sur has been chosen as a pilot school for the introduction of French classes in the region, following the Treaty of Peace in Mindanao

Schools which are currently offering French classes will be receiving increased support. Schools heads will be able to offer up to four years of teaching French in the curriculum of secondary schools. This means that participating high schools can allot two hours per week for four years (1st to 4th year) or four hours per week during 3rd and 4th year.

The French Embassy, through the Francaise de Manille, shall conduct a one-month summer training program on basic language course for the additional 12 teachers covering theory and practicum on language teaching strategies and assessment.

19 Filipino teachers have been trained for four years in both Alliance Francaise de Manille and Alliance Francaise de Cebu under the 2009 MOA. Most of them had spent one month in France where they trained intensively and have lived in complete immersion with French families.

Piloting the French language program is under DepEd’s Special Program in Foreign Language (SPFL), through the Bureau of Secondary Education.

SPFL is among the department’s initiatives in enhancing not only public school teachers’ but also students’ foreign language proficiency and global competencies. It was initiated in School Year 2009-2010 in selected public secondary schools first with Spanish, French and Japanese languages. Then German and Chinese languages were added.

It is implemented in public high schools whose students have demonstrated competence in English and are capable of learning another foreign language.

Source: http://www.deped.gov.ph/updates/updateslinks.asp?id=1393

 

The Birth of Guindaruhan Tribune

"The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought, this in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our equilibrium." ~Norbet Platt

Time is too fast and too precious. One complete revolution is equal to one year. But a year slips just like day. It is just like a wink of an eye. Every second of our day is occupied with our daily works: from waking up in the morning, doing our daily works, back to sleep and vice versa. Thanks to God, finally we have the emergence of something mind-boggling activity that needs a journalistic wink of an eye. Burning the midnight oil puts emphasis on the significance of a school paper--it is a birth of a school paper publication right here at Guindaruhan National High School. It is a novel school organ, otherwise known as Guindaruhan Tribune. It is sui generis, isn't it?

The birth of Guindaruhan Tribune gives emphasis to the importance of the articles. The articles are printed not to degrade the name of the school but to put it on a high pedestal by checking irregularities through constructive criticism. Any comment against the school is not destroying the image of the school. Thus, constructive animadversions upon the internal and external affairs of the school only serve as reminders to check irregularities from time to time--not destructive criticisms. Canons of journalism take center stage at all times. They also serve as the "moral guide," not only the journalists but also the people outside of the media industry. There's nothing to worry about, as long as our conscience is very clear. In the end, nobody can question us because we follow what we think is right for the benefits of everyone.

The birth of Guindaruhan Tribune paves the way to information taken from different sources of newspaper, magazine or tabloid which gives emphasis to the so-called press freedom on the campus. It bolsters up the proposition of smooth journalism without any drawback to encounter and to agitate the mind of a campus writer. If it is not properly disseminated and well-presented, the tendency is that it becomes complicated and confusing because of its complexity and difficult journalistic lingo and other linguistic diversities. It also helps in augmenting vocabularies and learning how to utter English properly using the window of journalism as the other side of communicative approach. Most often, journalism book gives us much information without really dishing out its key role to society, as well as its practicality of learning.

The birth of Guindaruhan Tribune is therefore imperative that journalism, in order to obtain most out of it, should be practised at all times as pragmatic writing and not as a theory alone; neither should its objective be the main acquisition of the fundamentals of the language. The writer can do what he wants to reel off according to the limitation of his journalistic genre as long as it favors the majority. Freedom of the press on the campus is the right of every writer to turf out menace and intimidation apropos his sense of responsibility and journalistic sanctity due it.

The birth of Guindaruhan Tribune is in line with one's creativity and comes from the writer's mental infallibleness, based on what he observes inside the classroom, is not an impasse to his judgment to conduct such a journalistic propagation for the students in particular and for the learning institutions in general.

The birth of Guindaruhan Tribune has the right to inform the public and apprise the current news, so that the people will be aware of the controversial issue which needs further perusal and solution in order for the community to pan out.

Commencing an organization from scratch, it needs a deep search in order to find out. Following a leadership full of uncertainty and malpractices for personal gains, nothing can be expected but simple angst of nothingness. Blindly we come, now we see the light. After nearly 29 years of searching, we are but fortunate to hold the bound-compiled works we proudly called GUINDARUHAN TRIBUNE. After the adventurous trek of the staff to the oblivion of the school library, pieces by pieces of the missing link were found, but still insufficient to connect the dots to complete the publication's history. Perhaps a blessing in disguise, the 'gods' made call.

Through our supportive class advisers we learned that the Guindaruhanon gods will meet and we are invited. Armed with pens, we interviewed them as slowly untangled puzzle the pieces of the publication's jigsaw as it unfolds. Making it emerge just for the common good for everyone concerned, the school paper will serve as a conduit for information inside and outside of the school activities.

Now only a small number of pieces are to be found, and later we will see what they will unfold. We thank our external predecessors for sharing with us the expertise and savvy to be prolific in journalism. We thank our mentors for giving us a rich history by example. And we are proud to list here to acknowledge them one by one. According to Atty. Pachico Seares' statement, "The student publication's role is to be an active medium of information and change." And, we reaffirm to that, from here on, the GUINDARUHAN TRIBUNE may have the birth paving the way to its success, later it may revolve and evolve but still the same spirit shall stay in a struggling, independent and committed high school student publication--we truly exist to inform!

The birth of a publication may be considered abrupt but exciting in the eyes of the reading public. Many have grumbled about the school paper for the reason that it adds burden to the school paper adviser and the students themselves, particularly their time, effort and money. Regardless of financial constraints, the GNHS administration stands firm in its decision to have the school paper this school year in order to train the students with a journalistic world of a pen and a paper through journalism competitions, both local and national levels. The school administrator is Dr. Ermetes F. Adolfo Jr., the campus paper founder of Guindaruhan National High School. The birth of a campus paper will bring more benefits not only the students in particular but also the school in general.

On the other hand, to defy a culture of apathy and passivity, the birth of a school paper brings together young campus journalists from Guindaruhan National High School to compete for accolades in print and broadcast media. It also has competitions in online journalism. Besides, Schools Press Conference is the most prestigious competition for campus journalists and school paper advisers in the Philippines. It gives recognition in terms of participation and winning entries. The conference aims to promote a balance between freedom of expression and responsible journalism among participants. Specifically, the conference shall serve as a venue for student-journalists to:

·        a.) demonstrate understanding of the importance of journalism by expressing it through different journalistic endeavors and approaches.

·        b.) demonstrate commitment to support practitioners in the field of journalism by advocating and integrating them in related school and community initiatives; and

·        c.) enhance journalistic competence through healthy and friendly competitions such as individual, group, radio broadcasting and scriptwriting contests as well as online writing and desktop publishing.

Lastly, the birth of a school organ at Guindaruhan National High School is pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act No. 7079.

Read more:

 http://newsflavor.com/world/reason-4-the-birth-of-guindaruhan-tribune/

 http://newsflavor.com/world/reason-5-the-birth-of-guindaruhan-tribune/

 http://lhmet.blogspot.com/2012/05/oh-my-guindaruhan-tribune.html

http://voices.yahoo.com/the-birth-guindaruhan-tribune-8833579.html?cat=48

 http://newsflavor.com/world/reason-2-the-birth-of-guindaruhan-tribune/

 http://ermetes.blogspot.com/2012/04/reason-1-for-birth-of-guindaruhan.html

Guindaruhan National High School: The Brigada Eskwela Plus–Part I

Preparation of the Final Accomplishment Report: All the needed documents like the attendance sheets, photographs taken, receipts of purchases made and the computation for the estimated cost of volunteer services were done by the members of the Steering Committee.

http://trifter.com/usa-canada/washington/guindaruhan-national-high-school-the-brigada-eskwela-plus-part-i/