Association of Fil-Am Teachers in America Holds NY Int’l Conference

From left: Consul Kerwin Tate, USEC Lorna Dig Dino, Labor Attaché Saul De Vries

21 November 2017 NEW YORK – The Association of Fil-Am Teachers in America, Inc. (AFTA) held its International Educator’s Convention at the Philippine Center in New York last November 11 to 13.

The convention, themed “Celebrate.Inspire.Lead” was attended by dozens of educators from across the United States. Convention delegates had the chance to attend multiple modules designed to enhance their capabilities as teachers and educators. These modules included Classroom Strategies, Math Skills Development, Using Information and Technology for Literary Skills, and even Educator’s Brand Building among others.

The first day’s highlights included a presentation on the status of the Philippine educational system delivered by Undersecretary Lorna Dig Dino of the Philippine Department of Education, as well as a report on the status of Overseas Worker deployment policies by Philippine Labor Attaché Saul De Vries. Deputy Consul General Kerwin Tate represented the Consulate and with the Consulate’s Cultural – Community Section, assisted during the morning program.

The spirited discussion that followed the reports led to the proposal to formalize the “Balik-turo” program of the AFTA and the Department of Education, to enable US-based Filipino teachers to share with their Philippine counterparts the best practices of the American educational system, to see what could be applied to the Philippine learning context.

The educators expressed their excitement and pleasure at being afforded the opportunity to expand their skill sets, and at the same time interact with teaching colleagues coming from the Philippines.

The United States has been recruiting teachers from the Philippines for many years, with many of the teachers gaining recognition and awards for their excellence and dedication to education. AFTA has been a valued partner of the Philippine Consulate General in New York, and has been a major collaborator with the Paaralan sa Konsulado, one of the Consulate’s flagship programs. END

For more information, visit  www.newyorkpcg.org  andww.facebook.com/PHConsulateNY

Teachers and Educators listen intently to the presentations and reports during the plenary