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“We give
recognition to our eligible educators and communicators,
who work patiently and selflessly to devote themselves
to teach quality and cognitive works that will uplift
the status of our educational system,” Science Secretary
Dr. Estrella Alabastro said.
Secretary Alabastro gave the statement on Friday at the
Manila Hotel at the awarding of 10 educators and
communicators who are part of the 50 Men and Women of
Science Awardees of the Department of Science and
Technology (DOST). The awarding was part of the 50th
anniversary celebration of the DOST.
Alabastro said despite the limitations in the
educational system, there are quality schools that
nurture and produce achievers in science and
mathematics.
THE best science educators
and communicators who are among the 50 Men and Women of
Science were awarded by the Department of Science and
Technology in ceremonies held at the Manila Hotel on
Friday. Science Secretary Estrella Alabastro (left,
above photo) and Science Undersecretary Fortunato de la
Peña (ninth from left) gave trophies to the awardees.
Photo at left shows educator awardees Dr. Reynaldo Vea,
Dr. Dolores Ibe, Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, Dr. Josette Biyo,
Dr. Dolores Hernandez represented by Evelyn Concepcion
and the representative of Dr. Paulino Tan . Also in the
photo is Dr. Ester Ogena (below) of the Science
Education Institute. Photo at right shows the
communicator awardees Angelo Palmones, Queena Lee-Chua,
Jose Burgos Jr. represented by his wife, Dr. Edith
Burgos, and Juan Mercado. Also in photo is Maria Isabel
Dario, officer in charge of the Science and Technology
Information Institute. -- ROY
DOMINGO
Philippine Science High School (PSHS) student Gian Karlo
Dapul said in his keynote speech: “I would like to give
back all the things that they [teachers] did to me by
saying that teachers are heroes for the 21st century.”
The
fourth-year PSHS student was the grand winner in the
2008 English-Speaking Union International Public
Speaking Competition in June.
He said
he owes it to the unconditional, untiring teachers,
faculty and administration members of PSHS who guided,
nurtured and encouraged him and his classmates to excel.
“I
believe that teachers are people who are selfless
because they keep on sharing their knowledge and give
their time and effort to teach us, students,” said Dapul,
who decided to shift his career path from becoming an
English teacher to a science teacher.
Dr.
Josette Biyo, a PSHS-Iloilo science teacher and one of
the awardees, told reporters at the sidelines of the
event: “I dedicate this award to the hundreds of
teachers out there, especially to the educators from
far-flung areas who were passionately teaching despite
the low salary they are receiving. They are most
deserving of this recognition. They are the heroes of
this generation.”
Besides
Dr. Biyo, from whom a planet was named and was a
recipient of an Intel International Science and
Engineering Fair Award for teachers, the other five
educator-awardees who each received a sculpture by Juan
Sajid Imao were:
• Dr.
Milagros Ibe is described as “a gifted icon” as she
found a way to simplify complex concepts, demystifying
mathematics in the process.
• Fr.
Bienvenido Nebres, SJ, reconciled the fields of science
and religion, especially in development of mathematics
and science in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. He
founded the Mathematics Society of the Philippines and
pioneered the consortium of leading universities in
Manila to develop PhD programs in mathematics, physics
and chemistry that led to the development of a critical
mass of scientists in these areas.
• Dr.
Paulino Tan pioneered in improving the
information-technology education in the country.
• Dr.
Reynaldo Vea, president of Mapua Institute of
Technology, devoted his life as an engineering educator
and in working toward a vision of engineering education
at the highest international standards.
• Dr.
Dolores Hernandez (posthumous) was the founding director
of University of the Philippines National Institute for
Science and Mathematics Education Development.
The
communicator-awardees are:
• Jose
G. Burgos Jr. (posthumous): The martial-law years
brought him at the forefront of press and other freedom
movements as founder, publisher and editor of such
notable alternative press icons as We Forum, Malaya,
Midday and Ang Masa. He was known for his multiawarded
stories on science and agriculture, and wrote several
articles about agriculture and environment in the
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Today and Business Star.
• Queena
Lee-Chua is convinced that communication can
significantly help in developing a science culture in
the country. She best describes her passion to share and
spread the value of understanding science both inside
and outside the lecture hall. She wrote numerous books,
articles, lectures, columns and other communication
tools.
• Juan
Mercado is a columnist of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
and its sister publication, the Cebu Daily News, and
writes syndicated columns for Sun-Star Cebu, Bohol
Chronicle and other community papers. He was awarded as
the Journalist of the Year by the Manila Rotary Club in
1968 and Opinion Writer of the Year in 2004. His columns
show that understanding science means understanding
ourselves.
• Angelo
B. Palmones is an AM radio broadcaster who brings
science and technology to a broad spectrum of listeners
as refreshing information. He brought sense and reason
to AM listeners through Bago Yan Ah!, a science-oriented
program in one of the top AM stations in the country.
Dapul
urged all educators to have more passion in what they
are doing and more effort in honing the intelligence and
talents of their students, arguing that from the
educators’ hands will grow the “teacher of tomorrow.”
“Teachers should be unconventional, especially with the
crisis we are facing. They should be excited educators,
who will teach us beyond the blackboard and PowerPoint
presentations and who will go further beyond the
classrooms,” he stressed.
Since
science is difficult to learn, he said teachers should
look at science from another perspective, something that
will encourage the students to understand its complex
processes.
Biyo
said science education in the Philippines has a long way
to go in terms of quality.
She said
there are lots of areas that should be improved in
science education in the country. There is a need to
change the textbooks that are very traditional and lack
critical analysis, and improve infrastructure and
laboratory facilities.
“In the
other countries, they have enough laboratory equipment
and chemicals to apply all of what you have learned in
the discussion,” she said.
She,
however, said that teachers could adapt alternative
methods to make students understand science in a more
fun way, not just through the traditional board-talk
method.
“I think
there is really a need to train the teachers on how to
teach science in an interesting and fun way so that kids
would really love science. Science is
really a very exciting subject. This should [help]
stimulate students in their interest in study nature,
phenomena and the natural world.”
Biyo
added that teachers should shift 360 degrees away from
the traditional board-talk method of teaching and
instead use nature as a laboratory or go beyond the
classroom.
She
related: “The teachers should be innovative and know
exactly what they are doing. When I started teaching
science in rural campus in Iloilo, in the absence of the
laboratory facilities, what I did was I used nature as
laboratory. Because with its beauty, you will learn lots
of things in nature even without sophisticated
equipment,” she said.
“When
they teach science correctly, you also teach the
students to think critically, on how to analyze and,
most especially, teach them on how to make good
decisions,” she said. (S. Fabunan) |
