Background of the Project
EU-report on science education for responsible citizenship and the Paris declaration recommend teaching all students for our better future. In Georgia, the Philippines, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, a large number of young people do not meet basic requirements in science. In international assessments of science performance all three countries scored very low. One great challenge for science education in Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Philippines are the countries’ plurality of languages and cultures. While the education system in Georgia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, underwent major changes after the fall of the Soviet Union and the subsequent conflicts in power relations, colonialism has left its imprint on the Philippine educational system. Science education in all three countries takes place amidst political and ethnic differences divides that translate into linguistic heterogeneity and cultural diversity.
The partner institution, the Philippine Normal University (PNU) was established on September 1, 1901 as Philippine Normal School, and as the first higher institute of learning organized during the American occupation. Renamed Philippine Normal College in 1949, it became a university in 1991. In 2009, PNU was designated as the National Center for Teacher Education under Republic Act No. 9647. It has four hubs located strategically in the archipelago: The Technology and Livelihood Hub in Southern Luzon, The Multicultural Hub in Mindanao, The Indigenous Peoples Hub in Northern Luzon, and The Environment and Green Technology Hub in the Visayas.
As the NCTE (National Center for Teacher Education), ESTA propels the University to initiate a country program in teacher education curriculum to achieve teacher quality especially in the field of Sciences. A science program curriculum for pre-service and in-service Filipino teachers in all Normal Schools and government-owned Teacher Education Institutions. Furthermore, ESTA may provide significant contribution to Philippine IP (Indigenous Peoples) Education through model IP frameworks and curricula for IP teachers and to support the IP basic education (elementary and secondary) of the country.
