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Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) and the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation (GBF) are teaming up to tackle education reform in the Philippines and give STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education a boost.
In a memo to the ADMU community on Monday, May 24, 2021, ADMU president, Fr, Roberto C. Yap, SJ, announced that Ateneo de Manila’s newest component school will be named the Gokongwei Brothers School of Education and Learning Design or GBSEALD.
The naming of GBSEALD, part of the Loyola Schools (Ateneo’s college and graduate units), recognizes the “extraordinary donation” from GBF to establish the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation Endowment for Educational Innovation.
“The arrival of the new Gokongwei Brothers School of Education and Learning Design of the Ateneo de Manila could not have come at a better time, now that we are at the threshold of an exciting period of reinvention,” said Fr. Jose Ramon T. Villarin, SJ, the former president of the university, in a press release. It was under Villarin’s leadership when the establishment of the school was formally initiated.
GBF chairman Lance Y. Gokongwei said the foundation was established to have a lasting impact in education, prioritizing the field of STEM and educators’ professional development.
“We believe that this endowment and strategic partnership with a trusted institution like Ateneo, allows us to become a meaningful contributor towards helping transform Philippine education to meet the challenges of a continuously evolving world,” Gokongwei adds.
The said endowment will help GBSEALD focus on high-quality teacher education degrees, teacher training, and leadership development, particularly in STEM education, literacy, critical thinking, and Catholic education.
ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOWAnother goal is to forge strategic partnerships with educational institutions, government, and the private sector to help advance the said areas. The endowment also supports research activities that will aid in educational policy and improve educational systems.
The endowment will also establish the Lily Gokongwei Ngochua Leadership Academy under GBSEALD. This academy will offer leadership development programs for educational leaders, such as principals, particularly those in the public education sector.
“The school promises not only to raise the quality of Philippine education by upskilling teachers and upgrading content and pedagogy in a digital world,” Villarin said. “It will also be busy working with others to upscale the lessons we have learned and remove the systemic and leadership burdens that have bedeviled us for decades.”
The endowment was made possible by GBF led by its chair, Lance Y. Gokongwei, who is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Ateneo de Manila; GBF president James L. Go, an original donor to the foundation; and the trustees of GBF who represent their parents who endowed the foundation (they are also Ateneo alumni): Patrick Henry C. Go, Johnson Robert G. Go Jr, and Lisa Y. Gokongwei-Cheng.
GBF general manager Lisa Y. Gokongwei-Cheng said strengthening the educational stakeholders’ capability to drive and deliver quality education and provide better access is one of the foundation’s mandates. She is gratified to fulfill this imperative in partnership with venerable institutions like the Ateneo.
“We are pleased and delighted to be collaborating again with Ateneo, this time through GBSEALD, as we work towards our goal of developing our teachers and educators, who are the shapers of our future citizens,” said Gokongwei-Cheng.
CONTINUE READING BELOWRecommended VideosSmart Parenting is published by Summit Media, which is under the Gokongwei group of companies.
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