Pinoy students in downsized UAE schools given new option

Some 800 Filipino students in the United Arab Emirates who may be affected by the downsizing of villa schools there have been offered an alternative. The students are being advised to transfer to the 21st Century Private Academy or other schools with different curricula to avoid disruption in their education. Both the Philippine National School (PNS) and Pisco Private School have endorsed their "excess" students to be accommodated at the 21st Century, a purpose-built government school building that follows the US-Philippine curricula. Vice-principal for Administration at the 21st Century Evangeline Procalla said her school received an endorsement letter in July from both schools undergoing downsizing, news site Khaleej Times reported Wednesday. The letter asked her school to accept 500 students from the PNS and 323 from Pisco “as mandated by the ADEC." “Enrollment is still going on and everyday we have students coming in for enrollment from the two schools. Whoever comes, we will accommodate, up until a week before the classes start on September 11," said Procalla. Earlier, the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) ordered the PNS to reduce the number of its students from 1,200 to 650; and Pisco from 845 to 529. However, both schools told parents of the downsizing only in July, when they started accepting students on a “first-come, first-served" basis. “The option for them is to go to the 21st Century or they have to go to other facilities. The parents have to find a space in other schools or different curricula. It is up to the parents, it’s their choice," suggested Brian Fox, manager for Licensing and Accreditation at the ADEC. To accommodate the transferees, the school has modified 12 classrooms and put to use five vacant rooms. Fox said the 21st Century has already received a one-year accreditation from the Department of Education. “The (Philippine) Embassy has been helpful in getting a one-year accreditation for the 21st Century, which means the school meets the requirement of the government," he said. “We were awarded the license by the DepEd on Monday," Procalla added. Other options But some parents opted to send their children back home while others continue to hang on in hopes of re-admittance. Others are still concerned that the new school is not accredited by the Philippine Department of Education (DepEd). Rainer Badillo, father of a high school student, said he preferred to let his daughter stay on at the PNS primarily because she is on her third year. “My daughter is already on her third year so I don’t want her to transfer. But if she was on the waiting list, I would have no choice but to transfer her rather than she stops school," he said. At a meeting on Monday between the ADEC, parents and representatives of the two villa schools, the council stood firm in the number of students it set for each school. During the meeting, PNS principal Dr Ofelia Padilla proposed to have a secondary school in Mussafah to house their high school students. She said the PNS will lease a 5,000-square-meter vacant school building. “We will rectify the building to be ready before the end of August. We hope to bring our 300 high school students here as the school annex," said Padilla. “We have given them a couple of days to get it sorted out as we don’t want a false start. The ADEC will work closely with them, and as long as they meet the ADEC requirements, we will fast-track their application," Fox added. — LBG, GMA News