Press Release
July 16, 2009

Acknowledging the future leaders in science, mathematics and engineering
ANGARA BATS FOR A COMPETITIVE INNOVATION IN S&T
IN THE PHILIPPINES

In the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) - Science Education Institute (SEI) Annual Recognition Ceremony, Senator Edgardo J. Angara today urged local engineers and technologists to level up and be market-driven in order to fit in the new global set-up.

"In the Congressional Commission on Science and Technology and Engineering (COMSTE) which I currently chair, we are exerting great efforts to push for various initiatives aimed at achieving excellence. The Science, Math and Engineering Education or SME panel, one of the six priority panels of COMSTE, is currently evaluating curricula and teaching methods together with the UP Law Center to present laws that will be pushed to come up with more competitive students," said Angara, former UP President.

Angara lamented that the decline of science and math skills of Filipinos is part of the overall decline of education in the country. In the National Achievement Tests, for example, 97.9 % of high school students failed, and the average score for English was 50%. In the trends in the International Math and Science Study or TIMMS, our performance continues to be poor: 41st in Math and 42nd in Science, out of 42 countries, in the High School level. We are behind Tunisia and Morocco and ahead of only Ghana and Botswana.

"These statistics must be changed. If we want broad improvement in our educational system, overall quality issues must be addressed. Direct, on the ground intervention is the only thing that will create enclaves of excellence," explained Angara.

Moreover, Sen. Angara informed that COMSTE is working to extend the Engineering Research and Development for Technology or ERDT, a consortium of seven schools composed of UP Diliman, Ateneo de Manila, De La Salle Univerity, Mapua Institute of Technology, CLSU, MSU and University of San Carlos, to increase the numbers of researchers, scientists, and engineers (RSEs) in the country.

"RSEs with advanced degrees are needed to make S&T work for the country and for the Filipinos: from disaster mitigation to poverty alleviation, from agriculture to semiconductor industries; ensure a sustainable environment and affordable energy for the future; produce indigenous technologies to better the lives of Filipinos," he added.

COMSTE also supports the drive for the Philippines' International accreditation through the Washington Accord. The Washington Accord, for professional engineers, is one of the three major accords the International Engineering Meeting (IEM) oversees. The Sydney Accord on the other hand, is for technologists while the Dublin Accord is for technicians.

He declared, "Our engineers must not only be good, they must be internationally known and this we can achieve id we upgrade our engineering programs to be at par with global standards. More importantly, it means producing graduates who meet these standards to man our firms and make them globally competitive."

Meanwhile, the DOST-SEI Annual Recognition Ceremony is held to identify and recognize the country's youths with high aptitude in science and mathematics. It is a way of acknowledging the DOST-SEI Merit Scholars who have maintained their skills in science and technology that would ensure a number of competently trained S&T leaders in the future. To note, in the previous school year (SY 2008-2009), 109 scholars graduated from the program, 48 of which graduated with honors. Sixteen were magna cum laude, 29 were cum laude while 3 were awarded with honorable mentions.(

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