DepEd principals learn upgraded school management online

MANILA, Aug. 21 (PNA) — Some 1,000 public school principals will be trained by an institution of Southeast Asian education ministers in a continuing program of the Department of Education (DepEd) to upgrade their competence at school management, Secretary Jesli Lapus said Wednesday.

The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Center for Educational Innovation and Technology (SEAMEO-INNOTECH), based at the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman, will handle the educators under DepEd’s EXCELS (Excellence in School Learning in Southeast Asia) program. Previously, 1,200 teachers trained for EXCELS four weeks.

"We believe that the school principals are critical players in delivering quality basic education," Lapus said.

"By upgrading their competencies, we optimize the principal's leadership and management capabilities while updating them on the latest trends in curriculum and instruction,” he added.

The training is a combination online classes, and individual coaching, group inter-action with flexible tutoring hours.

On their own time, the principals read, download and study resource materials, and answer exercises and case studies from such sources as the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) and the Harvard Education Review.

At the end of the course, trainee-principals are required to put together a school improvement plan for their region and will earn three academic credits leading to a graduate degree in education.

According to SEAMEO INNOTECH director Erlinda Pefianco, the program has proven successful not only in the Philippines, but also in Vietnam and Indonesia.