Danding Cojuangco: 'Economic success begins in the classroom'

MANILA, Philippines - San Miguel Corporation chairman and CEO Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. has taken up many a cause throughout his lifetime. Whether as a businessman, philanthropist, politician, or patron of the arts and sports, he has made powerful gestures that speak of the positive changes he wants to bring about.

At 77 and armed with a lifetime of experiences and valuable life lessons, the doting grandfather of 12 has taken on a cause that he says is for the country’s next generation of leaders: improving the skills of teachers so they can provide children quality education.

“Improving the education we give our kids begins with improving the education of each individual teacher,” he says. “As a parent and a grandparent, I see how important a good education and good teachers are in inspiring children and giving them the foundation they need to lead rich and productive lives.”

Together with wife Gretchen Oppen-Cojuangco and Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro, Cojuangco recently handed out diplomas to a total of 784 elementary and secondary level public school teachers who comprise the first batch of graduates of the Eduardo Cojuangco Foundation’s (ECF) “Project FREE”(Flagships for Reaching Educational Excellence).

Through a P45 million grant, with the cooperation of the University of St. La Salle, the Tarlac State University, and the DepEd, the teachers were able to complete a two-year training course that earned them Master of Arts degrees in Teaching.

Cojuangco’s vision is simple but transformative. It is to have the most academically qualified and best-performing public school teachers. After only two years, his vision is starting to become a reality in his home province of Tarlac, where the program has gone a long way to establishing provincial academic standards in critical subjects like reading, math, science and social studies.

“Every child who aspires to improve his or her family’s life should have the same opportunities that a solid education provides — a solid education that can only come from well-trained and well-informed teachers,” he says.

While educational attainment in the Philippines has increased dramatically over the past two decades, in reality, completion rates for basic education remain very low, particularly among the poor.

A recent World Bank study estimates that less than half of children in the lowest expenditure groups graduate from elementary schools and that gaps in access to basic education persist, contributing to even greater inequality.

Needless to say, schoolchildren from poor families need all the help they can get. And even as the government continues to address the issue of access to education, a big part of the responsibility for a student’s success still rests on the shoulders of the teachers.

This correlation between teachers’ competence and students’ academic performance is backed by hard data from the DepEd itself. When Cojuangco first kicked off Project FREE in Bacolod in 1999, national achievement test results for students in the two cities and four municipalities where it was implemented showed a 12-percent improvement.

“We can’t fix the school system in this country if the teachers don’t come to the classroom prepared and armed with the best knowledge that we can make available to them. There is so much about teaching that is really hard. Connecting with the kids, planning your lesson before you go into the classroom. The truth is we need to give our teachers all the support.”

This is the reason why Project FREE today is being implemented on a much larger scale. Already, a second batch of public school teachers is set to graduate this November with Master of Arts in Education and Master in Educational Management degrees. A third batch will graduate next year with doctorate degrees.

Established nearly three decades ago, the ECF promotes education as a means to uplift the lives of those who have less. For its patron, it also instills a spirit of patriotism, civic consciousness and a commitment to serve the family and society.

For citizen Cojuangco, economic success begins in the classroom. In championing education, he says he speaks from several vantage points. “I look at education as a businessman, and I see the importance of a skilled and highly-trained workforce. As a sometime-politician, I look at education and see it as a means to promote economic and social equity.”

“Education has a ripple effect. It creates a pool of talent and a subset of people who are better equipped to make their way in life,” he adds.

He also stresses the importance of a winning mindset that an education, provided by well-trained teachers, will help give children.

“In our globalized world, we desperately need all our young people to have the best start in life. Apart from us parents, our teachers are key in sparking among our children a love for learning, an inquisitive spirit, and a lifelong desire to be the best they can possible be.”