Monday, August 25, 2008 Peace education now on television
TO BOLSTER the mainstreaming of peace education in the basic learning curriculum, another three Salam peace video episodes were turned over to the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Opapp) and the Department of Education (DepEd) recently.
These three peace education modules were produced through a partnership between the Knowledge Channel Foundation Inc. (KCFI) and the GoP-UN ACT for Peace Programme with technical support from Opapp, DepEd and the Mindanao Economic Development Council.
"Peace will most surely last and be durable and sustainable if it starts with the values of the young," said Press Secretary Jesus Dureza who also serves as the ACT for Peace national programme director.
"The young will have better chance of starting at the right stage. That's why education is very important," he added.
At least 10 episodes were earlier aired over Knowledge Channel through the assistance of the United State Agency for International Development, beaming to at least 1,800 schools across the country.
Like in the first 10 episodes of Salam (Arabic term that means peace), the three educational episodes are based on the Peace Education Exemplars directed at Grade 5 and 6 pupils that were developed by Opapp and DepEd through the support of the United Nations Children's Fund in 2005.
The series revolves around the lives of four young professionals in the peace-building sector who reminisce about their childhood in conflict-affected areas of Mindanao and how and why they chose to build peace as a career path.
The new three episodes feature Bakwit (internally displaced persons) that shows the condition of children in the evacuation centers; Karapatan, which highlights children's rights (particularly access to health services); and Kanduri that essays a cultural celebration that can also be a venue for resolving conflicts.
Kanduri is a festive celebration with prayers done for thanksgiving (i.e. bountiful harvest, any milestones or important events in one's life), asking for blessings or guidance.
The production and airing of Salam episodes during the Knowledge Channel's Makabayan slot is in support to the implementation of Executive Order 570, "Institutionalizing Peace Education in Basic Education and Teacher Education" that was signed in September 2006.
During the turnover ceremony, the implementing guidelines of EO 570 were also signed by Opapp Secretary Hermogenes Esperon Jr., DepEd Secretary Jesli Lapus, and Commissioner Nona Ricafort of the Commission on Higher Education (Ched).
"For as long as the state of education in areas of conflict is not good enough, I'm not optimistic of the peace process. Education, being an instrument of peace, is a key indicator of peace," Lapus said.
Esperon said that when people get old enough, things might not change or the change might not be easy. "We'll try a better approach to building peace by approaching it through the minds of the children," he added.
The new peace video modules will be shown on the Knowledge Channel for three years while the ACT for Peace Programme as well as the latter's implementing agency, the Mindanao Economic Development Council, will assist in disseminating the video modules in other venues like workshops, forums and other peace advocacy activities in Mindanao.
Rina Lopez-Bautisa, KCFI president, said the Salam episodes are developed "to have students develop attitudes and skills conduce to peace at the individual, interpersonal, national and global levels."
"Second is to understand the process that leads to harmony or conflict and be aware of the various approaches to constructive conflict resolution," she added.
