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The Department of Education on
Thursday said peace education will now be part of public school
curriculum as well as teacher education.
This developed as
the Education department joined other agencies and civil society
representatives in the signing of the implementing rules and
regulation for Executive Order (EO) 570, entitled
“Institutionalizing Peace Education in Basic Education and Teacher
Education.”
“I would like
to assure you that the department will continue to review the basic
education curriculum which includes the elementary, secondary and
alternative learning system to incorporate peace education where it
matters,” said Lapus.
Lapus said the
instructional materials will also be developed, produced, and
disseminated as additional tools.
“There is also
a need to strengthen the adaptation or adoption of video peace
modules through a series of workshops. Training on the utilization
of these materials will also be prioritized,” Lapus added.
The inter-agency
technical working group composed of the Office of the Presidential
Adviser on the Peace Process, the Education department, Commission
on Higher Education, National Economic and Development Authority and
civil society representatives helped draft the guidelines for EO
570.
The department
and the presidential peace body earlier developed elementary and
high school peace education exemplars, as a way of mainstreaming
peace education in the basic formal and non-formal education
curriculum.
The Higher
education body, shall introduce and institutionalize peace education
among teachers through pre-service and in-service training.
“We believe in
the power of education to change the mindset of people towards
peace,” Lapus said.
The technical
working body refined the guidelines after conducting the
Mindanao-wide Consultation on Peace Education, organized by the
Mindanao Peace Education Forum, and the National Consultation
Workshop on EO 570, also organized by the presidential peace body.
According to the
executive order, the Education department will be the co-chair of
the coordinating structure. It will spearhead the mainstreaming of
peace education concepts, skills and values in the learning content
of the basic education and alternative learning systems.
It is tasked to
encourage and nurture local peace initiatives in schools and
communities, and to organize peace education learning circles and
teams at the regional, division and school level of the public
school system.
“Everyone can
do something in his or her little way to bring us a step closer to
the attainment of peace,” Lapus stressed.
---James Konstantin Galvez
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