Kuwait: The Philippines education department and the Ministry of Education in Kuwait is scheduled to meet next week to end the ban on Kuwaiti students taking academic courses, diplomas and degrees from the Philippines and some other countries. The controversial decision in 2009 to ban Kuwaitis to study or take academic courses in some countries including the Philippines by Kuwait’s Ministry of Education under former minister Nouriah Al-Subaih was due to fake diplomas allegedly acquired by some Kuwaiti students by paying large amounts. Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Lamberto Monsanto said the education issue is one of his priorities as he assumed the ambassadorship of the Philippines in Kuwait recently. “We have a meeting set this week or early next week with the Ministry of Education here along with our representatives from the Department of Education and us (Embassy) to discuss issues of concern, especially regarding the issue of education,” the envoy noted. “We are in particular meeting the education ministry to advise them on the education reforms we’ve done in the Philippines. For the past years, K-12 has been implemented by Philippines schools and it is being implemented now in Philippine schools abroad including Kuwait.
This reform has been in place but the ministry of education here is yet unaware of the changes. So we hope to meet them and end some issues related to this; plus, we will be discussing some university and colleges and professional accreditation issues too,” he added. The envoy was at the ‘Kapihan sa Pasuguan’, a talk show organized in the premises of the embassy hosted by Philippine Consul General Raul Dado, Economic Attache Remy Alcazar and Cultural Attache Maria Althea Nabo. Their guests included four prominent Filipino media representatives – Pastor Gil Bantugan, CPA (Advocate of Everyone Can Save), Ben Garcia (Kuwait Times Reporter-Panorama Editor) and Michelle Santiago (ABS-CBN-Middle East Bureau Chief) in addition to Al-Watan reporter and Morning Talk show host Ricky Laxa. ‘Kapihan sa Pasuguan’ was organized in conjunction with the celebration of 150th birthday of their county’s hero Andres Bonifacio who was highly regarded and compared to national hero Dr Jose Rizal. The talk show tackles issues of their long-standing relationship with Kuwait in the areas of political, economic, labor and education sectors.
The talk show also discussed current issues back in the Philippines including their efforts to solicit funds for the victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan that killed 5,632 people according to the Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). The embassy also reiterated its continuing effort to rescue distressed Filipinas from the hands of abusive employers and their continuing cooperation for the benefit of Filipinos here. “Rest assured that everything including issues of Filipinos here, their welfare and their rights, will be protected. We’ll continue to cooperate with local authorities here to be able to serve the community fairly so that our relationship with the host government will be strengthened,” assured Dado. The meeting was also attended by a representative from Manila’s Department of Foreign Affairs Dyan Kristine Miranda Pastrana including Philippine Labor Attache to Kuwait Atty Cesar Chavez and Welfare Officer Norlita Lugto.
© Kuwait Times 2013
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