The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) already released the systematic procedures for those who will need to renew their Professional Identification Card (PIC). According to the commission, it is very important for all professional renewing their IDs to follow the steps and check the guidelines ahead of time to avoid any delay or inconvenience during the process.
To know more about the process, check out the provided steps by the PRC:
Chart taken from: prc.gov.ph
Students who are taking college already will get the opportunity to complete as well as file their applications for federal aid using their mobile phones soon.
There will be an available mobile app, which they can use for processing.
From the latest published news report online through edscoop.com, Betsy DeVos revealed that the upcoming mobile app would enable college students to process their applications for the federal aid by just using their mobile phone devices already.
DeVos is the current United States Education Secretary and stated that the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) mobile app provides the students with great ease to complete the process of their applications, while enjoying a modern and simplified processing.
The good secretary likewise said a college student only need to tap a mobile phone and make few swipes to complete the filing and submission of the application through the latest FAFSA mobile app.
DeVos address this great news in front of the audience (financial aid experts) when she attended the Federal Student Aid Training Conference held in Orlando, Florida.
“Why can’t it be that way for students?” DeVos said during the conference last Tuesday as quoted by the news online. “The answer is, it can,” she added.
“Think of the FAFSA: there is no reason completing it can’t be simpler and more consumer-friendly. Unfortunately, it’s anything but,” said the Education Secretary while talking to the attendees in Orlando. “How do you think this looks to an 18 year old? And does this even remotely look like it belongs in the 21st century?”
There had been issues about the strenuous and lengthy procedure when applying for a federal student aid. With the latest developed mobile app, it will definitely eliminate the stress of many students and parents.
According from the reported news also, there had been changes in the operations of the Education Department to improve its functions and assuring quality services.
From the latest shared news information only regarding the Department of Education (DepEd) in the Philippines, the agency has plan to strengthen and expand the current Alternative Learning System (ALS) in the country.
It aims to give better access for many Filipinos who need basic education.
According to Leonor Briones as detailed on the news online, the DepEd has greater plans to strengthen as well as expand the current ALS program in the Philippines for the benefit of those who qualify and need basic education.
“One can get educated, even without proper schooling and catch up with those in the formal education system,” said Briones in her statement as quoted by Inquirer.net.
Leonor Briones is the current Secretary of the Department of Education.
Besides the proposed plans for the ALS, the good secretary likewise added that the education agency in the country is making all efforts to provide the needs of the indigenous people who need to continue their studies, various welfare programs, School-based Feeding Program (SBEP) as well as the Special Education (SPED).
Based on the explanation of Secretary Briones, under the DepEd Order No. 62 (series of 2011), they already adopted the National Indigenous Peoples Education Policy Framework. On this particular, the agency had successfully provided basic education to almost 2,929,456 indigenous Filipinos across the Philippines under the 2016-2017 school year periods.
As for the program under the SPED, DepEd is continuously helping those qualified students to pursue their studies, despite having disability problems such as hearing impairment, visual issue, spectrum disorder, physical disability, intellectual issue and even handicapped people, among other related disabilities.
Based on the recorded data, DepEd already helped almost 182,997 SPED students from both elementary and high school levels for the school year 2016-2017.
Another important role of the education agency is to extend its assistance to those millions students who need foods in preventing malnourishment. There already schools that had been providing free meals to these students as part of the continuing programs of the department.
The government of Japan is willing to improve the quality of education and elderly care in the country. It now plans to subsidize almost $17.93 billion (2 Trillion Yen) for this plan soon.
This latest program is part of the economic package on December this year.
According from the published information through Asahi newspaper, the government of Japan revealed on Saturday about its plan to improve the quality of education and the elderly care program by setting aside almost $17.93 billion as a subsidy fund.
Based on the information also, the Japanese government is going to allocate 800 billion Yen to provide kids from 3-5 years old their free daycare education. In addition, the upcoming program will help those low-earning family units by giving them free childcare, particularly those family units with kids up to 2-year old beginning in 2019 (April).
As for the education needs, it will spend another 800 billion Yen to provide free tuition to universities and giving more scholarships to family units that only receive low monthly earnings.
This specific plan however will begin in the fiscal year of 2020.
The Asahi newspaper likewise published that the government is allocating over 100 billion Yen in an effort to increase the salaries of those who are working in daycare centers and elderly homes. The government is expecting the approval of this particular program next month (December 8, 2017).
In an effort to support the funding of the new plans, the government of Japan is willing to utilize almost 1.7 trillion Yen from the increased revenue on the sales tax within the country.
The published information through the newspaper likewise said that the decision of Shinzo Abe to subsidize the planned amount became possible when it get the approval of the lower house after the elections on October.
Abe is the current Prime Minister of Japan.
As promised by the current Duterte administration, they are now urging those listed universities and colleges to accept the qualified students in order to study without spending anything.
The Republic Act 10931 (also recognized as Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act) is now in effect.
From the latest published news through philstar.com, the beginning of the Students of State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) will take effect this coming semester. With this new passed law, qualified applicants can enjoy free studies without paying for their tuition as well as miscellaneous fees.
Republic Act 10931 means free tuition in college without collecting the students.
From the statement of Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, he said that the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) confirmed that the SUCs are going to accept qualified students for the upcoming semester without requiring them to pay for tuition as well as miscellaneous fees.
“Yesterday I was able to confirm that this will already be implemented for this second semester. So everyone who will enroll this second semester will no longer have to pay tuition and miscellaneous expenses,” said Senator Aquino as quoted by philstar.com.
On the other hand, CHED made a clarification that this new law became effective than its initial plan because they were suppose to implement the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act by the 2018-2019 school year.
Sen. Aquino is the principal sponsor and co-author of this imposed law.
The RA 10931 is a part of the 2018 national budget proposal amounting to 40 billion pesos and this is a huge allocation to ensure better education in the Philippines.
The good senator likewise revealed that even dropout college students could verify the guidelines of the new law and apply for scholarship if they qualify from the listed SUCs in the country.
The members of the staff of Sen. Aquino and the designated partners are set to visit the SUCs to determine if these universities and colleges adhere to the guidelines of RA 10931.
Credit images: Photo Owners
In the recently concluded ASEAN Summit held in the Philippines, the Filipinos will have good news about the bilateral talks of New Zealand and the Philippines.
Both countries agreed to a memorandum of cooperation for quality education.
According from the latest news reports through philstar.com, both the Philippines and New Zealand agreed to a memorandum of cooperation, wherein they want to provide quality education for the Filipino people.
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte agreed to the memorandum on Tuesday afternoon at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).
Both leaders had bilateral talks and later on confirmed the agreement.
From the published information about the signed memorandum, it aims to deal with the “comparative analysis of bachelor degrees between the two nations,” which involved the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) of the Philippines and New Zealand Qualification Authority.
The signing of the agreement happened after the talks that involve David Strachan (New Zealand Ambassador to the Philippines) and Patricia Licuanan (chairperson of CHED).
According to the statement of President Duterte, the memorandum is significant for the Filipinos to help them 
learned about education equality in New Zealand. He considered it as a good development for the country.
Based on the recorded data at present, there are over 50,000 Filipinos in New Zealand and about 4,000 are students there.
In line with this, the 37-year-old Prime Minister appreciated the time she spend in attending the ASEAN Summit and the Philippines.
“I see it as a real positive that my first personal visit outside New Zealand is to Southeast Asia. New Zealand has recognized the importance of this region for more than 40 years, but we have never been closer than we are today,” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stated during the signing of the agreements on November 14 as quoted by Rappler.
As for the data of the tourism department of the country, it recorded almost 29,800 tourists from New Zealand from 2016 until this year. In the other hand, almost 23,120 Filipinos went to New Zealand and this definitely showed great improvement for the past few years.
Besides the agreement to improve the quality of education and tourism, both nations likewise inked to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to improve their ties in airline transportation.
Credit image: newshub.co.nz
In an effort to improve the capacities of the Islamic teachers who are teaching in Singapore, the Religious Council of Singapore or Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS) launched its latest program or course to help this people.
The organization wants to improve the education and research field.
From the shared news report online through The Straight Times, the Religious Council of Singapore or Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS) had launched its latest offered course to help the Islamic teachers in improving their skills and having the opportunity to read religious texts through the perspective of the multi-religious society of the country.
Those involved teachers will have the chance to take the course this November and under the supervision of Muis Academy, according to the shared news.
Presently, the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) is offering the Islamic Thought in Contemporary Plural Societies. Because they want to help many Islamic teachers, Dr. Yaacob Ibrahim revealed that they are going to offer the latest course already.
Dr. Ibrahim is the current Muslim Affairs’ Minister-in-charge and made the announcement last Sunday while in Cairo, Egypt. He attended the graduation of the students from Singapore at the Al Azhar University.
According to Dr. Yaacob on his speech as quoted online and released on Monday, he said that, “We want our graduates to be kept abreast of current and emerging socio-religious trends and to equip them with tools to contextualize the knowledge acquired.”
The university is a popular school when it comes to Islamic studies.
The newly graduates can attend the offered programs to become more knowledgeable religious teachers. The course is good for one month and an important procedure before obtaining the Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS) accreditation.
Dr, Ibrahim likewise pointed out that nowadays, many unwanted issues are affecting Singapore such as Islamophobia, extremist ideology and segregationist beliefs and practices. This is the exact reason why there is a need for religious leaders who have strong personalities to oppose these issues courageously.
Credit images: gov.sg
From the latest reported news through Philippine Daily Inquirer, a nursing group revealed their disappointment about the latest requirements that the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) has imposed for the renewal of their professional licenses.
The new Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Act covers such guideline.
According for the published news report online, the nursing group decided to express their voice over their disappointment when renewing their licenses as professional nurses in the Philippines.
“Given that the laws like RA (Republic Act No.) 9173 — or the Nursing Law of 2002 — and the Magna Carta for Public Health Workers, which uphold the best interests of nurses, are little implemented and generally disregarded and violated, now comes another law that will further burden the already weighed down nurses,” said the Filipino Nurses United (FNU) in their statement as quoted by the PDI.
The group added that this would be an addition burden for them, especially for those underpaid professional nurses already.
Based on the new guideline, a professional or a nurse can only renew the license after earning at least 45CPD units. The CPD Act is one of the bills authorized by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and approved by the PRC.
The commission however already the latest guidelines about the implementation of the law, which the professionals need to read and understand.
FNU added that, “This mandatory CPD is also an unnecessary burden for nurses who are unemployed or in nonnursing jobs or stationed in far-flung areas. [They] should not be barred from renewing his/her professional ID that has already been rightfully earned.”
The group likewise believed that although the new law is aiming to improve the performance of the nurses in their field of job, it appears that the focus of the CPD Act of 2016 is to meet the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) integration fundamentals.
From the point of view of Junven Lavapie, the integration permits citizens of other members of the ASEAN to enter the Philippines and practice their professions in the country. Unfortunately, professional Filipinos cannot do the same thing if they go to other Asian countries.
The 23-year-old Civil Engineer Lavapie likewise stated that, “We’d have to take exams or study for another few years again in their country to do so. The CPD law allows us to ‘fix’ this issue.”
In line with this issue, the Optometric Association of the Philippines (OAP) shared the same point of view with the FNU and asking for the review of the new implemented law.
Many affected professionals are certainly waiting for the action and decision of the PRC, on whether it makes changes or not.
Credit image: GMA Network
In Ecuador, the authorities made a decision to detain a reported teacher whom they suspected abusing at least 84 young kids sexually. A prosecutor revealed the arrest of the teacher last Wednesday to file the necessary charges.
According from the news reported by the AFP, the authorities decided to detain a teacher in Ecuador after learning about a possible suspicion that the involved person is abusing almost 84 young children, as detailed by Mariana Huilcapi who is the prosecutor handling the case.
Based on the statement of Huilcapi, the detained teacher is from Quito and the investigation shows that the sexual abuse started back in July. The prosecutor described the case as “alleged sexual offenses in the field of education,” as quoted by the reported news.
Prosecutor Mariana stated that, “Preliminary information was reported on 10 alleged cases of sexual abuse. However, as a result of the investigation, it was possible to determine 84 minors were allegedly involved.”
From the recorded age bracket of the children, they are from 12-14 years old.
The office of the prosecutor likewise detained three teachers who are suspiciously involved in child abuse. These detailed teachers are from southern port of Guayaquil and teaching from a school here. They will have to face the consequences as with the recent detained teacher with the same lawsuit.
The AFP news report added that the Ecuadorian authorities have ongoing investigations of dozens of child abuse cases in Guayaquil. To speed up the capture of another suspected teacher with the similar case, there is already a reward amounting to $10,000 for this person.
From the statement of Prosecutor Huilcapi, the sexual abuse happened during the breaks of the children inside the bathrooms of the school, as detailed by the 7-8 years old students during their interview.
The teachers utilized “deception, threats and intimidation,” the statement added.
In line with this issue, the President of Ecuador Lenin Moreno immediately instructed the authorities to take the necessary actions to prevent such crime that usually involved young children.
He posted through his social media account on Twitter saying that they will never permit any exemption from these particular criminal liabilities.
The Ecuadorian leader is also getting the opinion of his people if they want to delete the statute of limitations in terms of sexual abuse crimes affecting the children through his recent national referendum.
These limitations are currently part of the existing constitution.
Credit images: Photo Owners
The government of Australian just recently made an important announcement about its plan to tighten the requirement for English language when accepting students from our nations.
Australia is serious about improving its standards for its international education market amounting to $28 billion Australian dollars.
From the latest report of Agence France-Press (AFP), the Australian government revealed its latest plan about the requirements for English language when accepting students from other countries. According to the recent announcement last Thursday, Australia will tighten the requirements in an effort to improve its current standards for worldwide education market without the country.
Based on the recorded data at present, it has over 550,000 overseas students.
The government of Australia stated that before they accept students from other nations, they must pass an intensive English course. This prepared course is important if these students do not have other that prove their capacity to learn English language.
In addition to that, interesting foreign students need to pass the latest official examination of their language skills. This is a necessary step before they will allow them to find vocational courses or universities to make sure that they meet the requirement, as stated by Simon Birmingham.
“The vast majority of language courses are providing high quality outcomes… but some slip through the cracks and it’s unacceptable for that to occur,” said Birmingham when interviewed by the reporters as quoted online.
The national education regulator will enforce the examination details.
According to Birmingham, this new guidelines in Australia will not affect the numbers of foreign students who want to study here. Instead, it improves the education system of the country and can even attract potential students from the different parts of the world.
Simon Birmingham is the current Australia’s Education Minister.
Majority of the students from overseas are taking up pre-studies language courses and mostly are coming from China, Brazil and Colombia.
