Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, an honors graduate of both Cambridge and Harvard universities, is a leading proponent of this unique policy of attracting Asia’s brightest students and talents to study and work in Singapore. His father, the legendary Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, strongly believed that education, more than money or natural resources, determines the success of individuals and nations.
Inspired by the education successes of Singapore and other advanced economies, concerned parents and top educators established PACES this year. Singapore is a regional leader in the popularity of "enrichment courses" as supplements to traditional education for kids. PACES has been holding its popular enrichment classes on reading comprehension, English creative writing, Mandarin language and other courses at the AIC Gold Tower, Emerald Avenue, Ortigas Center with two new branches soon to open at Greenhills West across Xavier School and Xanland Place Condominium, Katipunan Avenue.
PACES will soon conduct its tutorial review services late this year and its college entrance review classes for the Ateneo, UP, La Salle and others next year. PACES aims to be a leading review center assisting high school students pass college entrance exams, law school entrance exams, preschool entrance exams, TOEFL, SAT and others.
The world’s most economically successful nations such as America, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, China and others have done well in training their young people in mathematics, sciences and other fields of education. The greatest natural resource or the real source of hope of the Philippines is in the talents, energy and dreams of our young people, which PACES hope to help nurture and develop.
Herself educated in the finest schools in the Philippines, Switzerland and America, Elena Tanyu Coyiuto says, "Going into education has been my lifelong dream for many years. I studied literature and business during my college years. I have always wanted to share my love of reading books to young people. Even my four children grew up with the love of reading. As a parent, I am very aware of the importance of a strong education in a child’s formative age, especially in math, English, sciences and languages. Education is not a business, for me it’s personal fulfillment and social service."
On her hopes for PACES, she adds: "We are making long-term and priceless investments in the future of our youth. The most effective way to truly change the destiny of any nation or society is by shaping the character, the minds and the dreams of young people. Why just stand on the sidelines and allow the country to deteriorate economically vis-à-vis other Asian countries? As a parent with four children, I share the deep concern of all parents in our society about the educational standards in our country. PACES is a way for me and many of the country’s top educators to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Through PACES, we hope to contribute to making the Philippine future more optimistic and progressive. PACES is committed to shape each learner’s dreams into vivid realities through academic and non-academic excellence using modern conveniences and strategies."
As a pacesetter in educational modernization, PACES has opened six new centers of education – PACES Kinderland, Philippines Inc. (which is a franchise of Singapore’s Kinderland Pre-School set to open early next year); PACES Review and Enrichment Center Inc.; PACES Languages Internationale Inc.; Sakamoto Philippines Inc. (which is the nationwide master franchise of Japan’s powerful math method); PACES Yamaha School of Music; and PACES Personality Development Center.
The officials of PACES prefer not to criticize the country’s perceived declining quality of education, explaining that even the world’s richest nations like Singapore have numerous enrichment programs to support traditional schools. They said PACES seeks to supplement the education from traditional classrooms of 40 students each with more personalized and specialized enrichment courses such as reading comprehension, creative writing/communications, the Sakamoto Math Method and others.
Recognizing the importance of making the nation more globally-competitive through world-class math training standards, Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon welcomed the entry of Japan’s Sakamoto Math Method in the Philippines as guest of honor during its launching at the International Franchise Expo at the PICC. Among the distinguished guests at the launching was Philippine Franchise Association chairman Samie Lim.
In his speech, Secretary Gordon said the entry of Sakamoto Math Method into the country is good news, that we should have more faith in the Philippine future and be confident enough to compete with the best minds in the world.
The PACES group believes that the fastest way to propagate the powerful Japanese Sakamoto math method nationwide is through franchising, thus PACES now welcomes interested learning centers and other entrepreneurs to open their own Sakamoto training centers and to help popularize love of math among children.
What is unique about the Sakamoto method? Unlike other math training systems, which focus only on addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, the Sakamoto Method is a proven method of solving complex word problems for primary school students. Young people are taught how to analyze the vital statistics from the question and to organize them systematically, so that they can co-relate the information in the question and quickly calculate their answers.
Millions of primary school students in Japan have received training in the Sakamoto Math Method. The method has been in Singapore since 1997. Japan is one of the world powers in mathematics, sciences, industrial technology and high-tech industries due to the renowned engineering, math and scientific prowess of its young people, students and technicians. Japan’s highly respected mathematics teacher Hideo Sakamoto explains that this method is not only a math training program, it is also an analytical thinking skills program for young students. He said that the Sakamoto Math Method will provide children four time-tested advantages – help them score high and excel in mathematics, improve their skills in problem solving, cultivate logical and analytical thinking, enhance creative thinking.
Can parents and enlightened educators such as those in PACES and Sakamoto Philippines help make the country’s future brighter with the propagation of innovative world-class educational concepts? Will the national government emulate the successful examples of Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, China and other economic powers to heavily invest in better educational systems in order to ensure that the Philippine economy will become more globally competitive?