The U.S. government, in partnership with international non-governmental organization My Community Our Earth (MyCOE), will provide training in environmental sciences for selected secondary school teachers in Mindanao May 19-23 at the Philippine Science High School in Tugbok District, Mintal, Davao City.
The specialized training will focus on empowering teachers and their students to tackle local community environmental issues through geographical mapping, and provide them resources to complement their regular classroom lesson in science and math. The training will highlight the use of geographic information systems. Participating teachers will become “master trainers” to pass information and resources to their colleagues across Mindanao.
“Classrooms offer a unique setting in which to raise awareness about the growing environmental degradation faced by the developing world and we are very pleased to support this environmental sciences teacher training program,” said U.S. Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney.
The training program aims to promote science inquiry, build curriculum content, and improve teacher training while building bridges of communication between the U.S. and regional educators, local government, and civil society. Mindanao has been selected as the host site because of the well-known commitment of the Philippine Department of Education to improving education in Mindanao.
The U.S. Government-MyCOE partnership, initiated during the Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2002, has supported more than 500 youth projects in 102 countries, provided training to hundreds of teachers in the U.S., Latin America, the Middle East, and the Pacific Rim, and facilitated linkages to schools with over 400 expert mentors in 62 countries.
