Peace education in public school curriculum soon

MANILA, Philippines – Peace education will soon be included in the curriculum of public elementary and secondary schools all over the country.

In a simple ceremony at the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process in Ortigas, OPAPP Secretary Hermogenes Esperon Jr., Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Jesli Lapus and Commission on Higher Education (CHED) commissioner Nona Ricafort signed Thursday the implementing guidelines of Executive Order 570 “institutionalizing peace education in basic education and teacher education.”

Esperon said EO 570’s primary objective is to eradicate the biases, prejudices and discrimination usually encountered not only by Muslims but by all tribes and other cultural groups.

“We are happy to sign the implementing guidelines for peace education in the basic schools and secondary schools, as well as in college. We are trying to build a culture of peace and we believe that the culture of peace should be started at a young age,” Esperon said.

“When certain biases set in, it is hard to go for peace building or peace making or even peacekeeping. So, we are partnering with the DepEd so that we can start with the elementary and high school level as well as with the CHED to bring this to the tertiary level,” he said.

Esperon said teaching “peace education” to elementary and high school students is a better approach to institutionalize a “culture of peace” among the next generation in the country.

Esperon did not reveal how much the government will spend on the program.

CHED, meanwhile, has committed to introduce and institutionalize peace education among teachers through pre-service and in-service training.

Instructional materials will be developed, produced and disseminated as additional tools while the adaptation and adoption of video peace modules through a series of workshops will also be strengthened. – With Rainier Allan Ronda