DepEd to reskill, upskill teachers on stem course

SOLUTION: Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan says Stem education is one of the vital solutions to address real world problems like natural calamities and food security. The agency wants to upskill and re-skill teachers for them to remain relevant in today’s technological advancement. (SunStar Photo/Allan Cuizon)
SOLUTION: Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan says Stem education is one of the vital solutions to address real world problems like natural calamities and food security. The agency wants to upskill and re-skill teachers for them to remain relevant in today’s technological advancement. (SunStar Photo/Allan Cuizon)

THE Department of Education (DepEd) has called for the reskilling and upskilling of teachers for them to remain relevant in today’s technology and innovation economy.

DepEd Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan said efforts to update the curriculum as well as arm educators with skills on integrated science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) are ongoing.

“The present time, this development context, is a world of intelligent production and intelligent products. The Philippines is touched mainly by this present time and development as a consumer. As a country we want to engage this development context not just as consumers but we want to be part of intelligent production, creation and innovation,” said Malaluan, during the First Integrated Stem Leadership Summit in Asia held in Shangri-La Mactan Resort and Spa.

Malaluan said the agency is working on its reform programs but it seeks national support on four areas.

“First, is the review and updating of our curriculum; second is the continuous improvement of the learning environment for our students; third is the multi-stakeholders support and cooperation and; lastly the upskilling and reskilling of our teachers to keep up with the developments of our times,” he said.

Citing the real world problems that the country is facing, like the issue on food security because of aging farmers and calamities, like earthquakes that destroy classrooms, Malaluan said Stem education is one of the vital solutions to address these.

“Where do we get solutions to problems that we face year after year? We need to get our students Stem knowledge and thinking like problem solving and critical thinking to address these real world problems,” he said.

To capacitate the students, educators should also have deeper engagement to inspire and motivate their students to delve into Stem.

“What is important is for teachers to combine mathematics, science and technology and make it interesting and exciting for students,” he said.

With this, the agency is working on a transformed National Educators Academy of the Philippines to integrate the professional development program of the teachers.

“Before, it was fragmented where the trainings of the teachers were not being recorded. Now, all training programs beginning in 2020 that will be implemented to the teachers will undergo recognition process for it to be assessed in terms of quality and to avoid duplication,” he said.

He said they have to make sure that the training programs will be translated to classroom changes.

The First Integrated Stem Leadership Summit in Asia, which was attended by 200 international delegates, aims to involve representatives from government, industry and education sectors to scale up Stem education in the country.

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