Bridge Program

I'll definitely post a commentary on this. Hopefully by tomorrow.

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THE COORDINATING Council of the Private Education Associations (Cocopea), composed of some 2,500 private schools, colleges and universities, believes the Bridge Program of the Department of Education will greatly improve the quality of education in the Philippines.

The Philippines is the only country in Asia that has a 10-year program for primary and secondary education. All the rest require students to have 11 or more years of schooling before they can enter universities and colleges. The Bridge Program will remedy this major setback at minimal cost to the government.

We need an educational system that will provide our future workforce with the competencies they need to meet the local and international challenges of globalization. The Bridge Program is a big step in that direction. It will benefit our students. Cocopea strongly approves of the major move by the DepEd to upgrade Philippine education.

The Cocopea agrees that English, Math and Science are important subjects necessary for students to excel in-in high school, college and their lives after. The Bridge Program and its use of the High School Readiness Test will definitely improve the quality of high school graduates who will move on to colleges and universities. Any change is difficult to accept in difficult times.

---DR. JUANITO M. ACANTO, chair of Cocopea and president of Central Philippine University http://www.inq7.net/opi/2004/jun/07/letter_8-1.htm

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