NGO pushing to bring English up to Euro norms

THE Government Academe and Industry Network (GAIN) is pushing for a nationwide language plan to bring Englishlanguage skills up to European standard.

In an interview on Feb. 8, GAIN Chairman Peter P. Laurel said that the non-government organization is proposing for a National Roadmap to improve English skills of Filipinos to comply with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

“What we are espousing is that there is a particular framework that we can use to arrest the decline of English,” he stressed.

Mr. Laurel said that the CEFR system uses a letter scale which pertains to the levels of competencies and ability within a certain language. This type of framework is absent locally which he said that it becomes all the more necessary for Philippines to have because students and schools need to know their formal standing in English.

“The CEFR framework has letters which pertain to the levels of competency. It shows that there is a clear roadmap… That’s not present (in the Philippines),” Mr. Laurel said.

In a document provided to BusinessWorld, the proposed National Roadmap showed timelines and objectives GAIN will pursue in order for colleges, government agencies, and other stakeholders to expand the use of CEFR.

By 2019, GAIN targets 100% adoption by state universities and colleges (SUCs), 50% by Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs), and 50% by other Higher Education Institutes (HEIs).

Also around this period, GAIN plans to familiarize English faculty, non-language teachers, and non-teaching administrative personnel with the framework.

By 2020, GAIN also proposes that graduates of certain courses attain between B2 to C1 levels of the CEFR framework. From 2020 to 2022, GAIN targets that all students will have taken the CEFR assessment. —