Australian Ambassador celebrates National Teachers Month in Navotas
AUSTRALIAN Ambassador Steven Robinson AO took a day off his usual diplomatic duties to teach Grade 10 students at Navotas National High School on September 19.
The Ambassador volunteered to teach for a day to highlight the importance of access to quality education for all Filipino children.
“I trained as a high school history teacher earlier in my career and my mother devoted her career to teaching so I understand in a very personal way the importance of a quality education,” the Ambassador said.
“Australia is one of the Philippines’ largest development partners in education and we have a long history of strong cooperation with DepEd,” he added.
The activity is part of the the National Teachers’ Month celebration which is observed from September to October 5.
Ambassador Robinson gave a history lesson to the students which included discussion on the shared history between Australia and the Philippines.
“The relationship between our two countries began well before our alliance in WW2 and the formal commencement of our diplomatic relations in 1946. In fact, the first migrant Filipinos, known as ‘the Manila Men’ arrived in Australia in the late 1800s to work in the pearling industry,” Ambassador Robinson told the students.
“To this day, our relationship continues to flourish across a wide range of areas — political and security, trade and economic, development cooperation, cultural and people-to-people links,” the Ambassador shared.
“Teach for a Day” is an annual, nationwide activity organised by Embassy partner, Teach for the Philippines ( TFP). It engages prominent personalities to share their knowledge and experience with public school students. Previous guest teachers include Senators Joel Villanueva and Sonny Angara, Vice President Leni Robredo, as well as CEOs of private corporations.
“We greatly value Australia’s contributions to improving Philippine education and we are grateful for Ambassador Robinson’s participation in our Teach for a Day initiative. He is the first ambassador to join,” Teach for the Philippines (TFP) said.