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EDUKASYON ONLINE MOBILE APP, SAFE EXAM BROWSER

by Yaj Com -

DOWNLOAD OUR MOBILE APP

IF YOU WISH TO USE SAFE EXAM BROWSER DOWNLOAD THE FOLLOWING:

Requirements:

Download the 2 files

1. Choose your Operating system

SEBSetupBundle.exe for Wndows

CBT Exam Browser.APK for Andorid 

Exam Browser.APK for Andorid

 

 2. Download .seb file

LMS EDUKASYON ONLINE.SEB

Steps:

1. Install the SEBSetupBundle.exe (Internet connection needed to successfully install the application)

2. Run   LMS EDUKASYON ONLINE.SEB

3. Make a shortcut in the desktop for easier access.

4. During the test, run the Safe Exam Browser from the installed Programs

Is economic Cha-Cha really needed at this point?

by JULIUS JAY JR B. DASKEO -

How Philippine economy opened up to the world without charter change

The Philippines must keep up with the “increasingly globalized age,” reads Resolution No. 6 filed by Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri on Monday, January 15, cementing the Marcos government’s push to propose amendments to the economic provisions of the Constitution.

Past attempts at economic charter change (Cha-Cha) have always been based on the argument that the Philippines must relax its rules on foreign ownership to be able to enjoy the benefits of a globalized world.

The Constitution limits foreign ownership in industries, 60% Filipino-40% foreign as a general rule, and absolutely no foreign ownership in mass media.

But several laws and regulations have been passed in recent years that already opened up the Philippine economy to the world without having to amend the Constitution.

There remain oppositions that some of these laws and regulations are unconstitutional for circumventing the limits. Still, the fact that they were passed, and without any Supreme Court decision to the contrary, they stand to be valid.

What are these?

  1. Public Service Act (PSA) – Enacted in March 2022, Republic Act (RA) 11659 distinguished between a public service and a public utility such that a public utility no longer includes telecommunication, shipping, airline, railway, toll road, and transport network vehicle industries. Because of the PSA, these industries are no longer subjected to the 40% constitutional limit on foreign ownership. Simply put, foreigners can now fully own corporations in these industries.
  2. Foreign Investment Act – Also enacted in March 2022, RA 11647 removed several industries from the “Foreign Investment Negative List,” or those where 100% foreign-owned companies cannot invest in. Simply, more industries, such as startups, startup enablers, enterprises with advanced technology, can have 100% foreign ownership.
  3. Retail Trade Liberalization Act – In January 2022, the 2000 Retail Trade Liberalization Act was amended so that foreign retailers are required a lower paid-up capital. Under the new RA 11595, a foreign retailer shall have a minimum P25 million paid-up capital. In the old law, the requirement used to be a minimum of the peso equivalent of US$2.5 million paid-up capital (in current exchange, that’s around P139 million).
  4. Renewable energy development – The Constitution also restricts to 40% the foreign ownership of a project to develop natural resources. But in 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a legal opinion to the Department of Energy (DOE) that “natural resources” exclude kinetic energy like solar, wind, and hydro energy sources. Therefore, according to the DOJ opinion, renewable energy projects are not subjected to a 40% restriction cap, and are thus open to full foreign ownership.
  5. RCEP – RCEP is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which the Philippines joined in February 2023. It is the largest trade pact in the world, and imposes minimal restrictions on trade. The opposition to RCEP is not so much constitutional as they are ideological. Some groups claimed that ASEAN members such as the Philippines will export less, and lose tariff revenues, whereas developed countries have higher protection.
What does Zubiri’s resolution want?

Proposed amendments in Zubiri’s Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 seem to back the Public Service Act (PSA). Remember that groups opposing the PSA said a law cannot allow what the Constitution does not permit. But under the proposed amendments, Section 11 of Article XII on public utilities will insert the clause “unless otherwise provided by law.” This will then give the constitutional greenlight, saying that if a law is passed to allow it, it will be valid.

The resolution also proposes the same clauses to the provisions on basic educational institutions and the advertising industry, so that there is also an opportunity to enact laws to lift or ease the cap on the 60-40% foreign restriction on the former, and the 70-30% on the latter.

If these laws and regulations were passed without Cha-Cha, the question is: what is the need for Cha-Cha at this point?

MATATAG Curriculum: Will It resolve the Educational crisis of the Philippines.

by JULIUS JAY JR B. DASKEO -

The Ongoing Crisis of Philippine Education

The Philippine educational system has constantly been under fire for the last decade. Year after year, we hear reports of the poor performance of Filipino students in international educational assessments. The results from the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a student assessment of 15-year-old learners across 79 countries done by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), ranked the Philippines last in reading comprehension and in the low 70s for math and science. A June 2022 World Bank report stated that around 91 percent of Filipino children, aged 10 years old, suffered from learning poverty, meaning they could not read or understand simple text. Similar rankings among its neighbors, such as the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics 2019 (SEA-PLM), also show Philippine education as being near the bottom. We have been overtaken by neighboring countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Our top universities are also slipping in rankings on the international stage compared to two decades ago. It would be understandable to claim that the Philippines is having an educational crisis.

MATATAG Curriculum: DepEd’s New Panacea?

 

Many people, ranging from the common man on the street to the country’s top politicians, have chimed in with their opinions on the causes of the poor performance of Filipino students. One of the most common culprits is the lack of facilities. The issue of not having enough classrooms has always been raised year after year. This leads to a high student-to-classroom ratio: usually ranging from 40 students and above, being packed into one classroom. Textbooks and other learning materials are also lacking in supply in many public schools across the country, with some teachers even augmenting their classroom materials with materials sourced from their own pockets.

Another commonly cited reason is the effectiveness of the modern Filipino teacher. Apart from the lack of materials and facilities, there are other factors that affect how effective the Filipino teacher is inside the classroom. Teachers in public schools are often given non-teaching tasks in the school, such as gathering health data on learners and school demographics, during the start of the school year. Countless reports on student performance need to be submitted throughout the school year. These tasks are performed by the teacher, apart from preparing lesson plans and classroom teaching. The school’s work structure also has an impact on teachers’ effectiveness. While teaching has been considered a noble profession, sadly, not all of its practitioners are noble. The work culture in public schools has been an open secret for decades. Reports of teachers not doing their duties, of moonlighting during class hours, and of frequent absenteeism are not exactly unsubstantiated. The tolerance and prevalence of low performing teachers in schools have had a negative effect on those teachers who are earnest in their duties, and this tends to lower employee morale.

Poverty is also a major factor in the poor overall performance of Philippine education. Absenteeism is frequent among impoverished learners due to numerous reasons, among them malnutrition. Though the government has tried to alleviate this through school feeding programs, the problem persists. Some learners are also forced to work to provide additional income for their households, and many eventually drop out to focus on earning a living.

The MATATAG Curriculum

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Amidst all these problems, the DepEd recently unveiled their latest revision to the Philippine basic education curriculum, dubbed the MATATAG curriculum, as an initial step in addressing the ails of Philippine education. The DepEd claims the new curriculum streamlines the K–10 curriculum to focus more on the fundamental skills of literacy, numeracy, and socio-economic skills. The number of subjects taken by learners in specific grade levels will be lessened to reduce the educational stress on learners so that more time and effort will be given to the fundamental subjects of reading and mathematics. The government agency has stated that the new curriculum will decongest the existing curriculum by as much as 70%. The DepEd also claims that the reduction of subjects and competencies, especially on primary levels, will also reduce the workload of teachers, giving them the necessary time to concentrate on teaching. There will be a staggered implementation of the new curriculum spread out over four years, beginning in the school year 2024-2025 and ending in the school year 2027-2028.

MATATAG Curriculum: DepEd’s New Panacea?

 

Notwithstanding the non-curricular problems that ail the Philippine education system, the MATATAG curriculum aims to provide a new framework on which to shape the future of the learners of the country. It hopes to address the lacking reading comprehension skills of today’s youth and strengthen the core competencies necessary to be able to match the skills of neighboring countries. However, it raises the question, is its approach the most suitable way to achieve these goals?

From the standpoint of an educational provider, some concerns about the revealed implementation of the new curriculum are raised. One of the most significant issues is learning continuity. The decision of the DepEd to roll out the new curriculum in staggered fashion affects continuity. A third of the student population will continue using the old curriculum for around 2 years, while another third will use it for a year before being moved to the new curriculum. How would the learned competencies of these students match up with the upcoming ones, especially now that certain learning areas have been compressed or decongested? Would some of those learned materials be eschewed, or would there be a learning gap going from one level to another?

Also, looking at the proposed subjects per grade level, Filipino is noticeably absent from the Kinder and Grade 1 levels. What is the reason behind this decision? Is the national language being relegated as a second-tier subject? How can we hope to foster nationalism if we do not place high importance on our native tongue?

Another thing to note is that the Grade 1 level has both Reading and Language subjects to improve English competency and yet compress these subjects into one as English starting on Grade 2. Why is it necessary to tone down this area of learning as the student progresses through the years? The subject of English is broad in scope and having two subjects allotted for it can only help improve its mastery. Language is necessary for structure and syntax while Reading is for the nuances of the language, like vocabulary and idiomatic expressions. While teaching English may seem unnationalistic, it is necessary to learn for our learners. Most manuals and college textbooks used in schools and the industry are mostly written in English. A good command of the language will help in proper comprehension of their content. It is also one of the current advantages of our workers in the international stage in having a good grasp of the English language.

It would be helpful If the DepEd give its rationale on the formulation of the new curriculum. Providing reference to studies and academic literature supporting its decisions on reducing the number of subjects and competencies can help alleviate any concerns regarding the effectivity of the MATATAG curriculum in achieving its goals of improving the learning competencies of the Filipino learner.

Much ground, with regards to necessary skills and competencies, has been lost by the Filipino learner through the years. Couple this with the existing problems in the Philippine education setup, it is imperative that the DepEd put its best foot forward in the development and implementation of a new curriculum to shape the future of our country’s learners.

 
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