PEACE EDUCATION

A peace module by Al Qalam Institute and Salaam Movement of AdDU is proposed to be integrated in NSTP in schools.

The Peace Education Module developed by Al Qalam Institute and Salaam Movement of the Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU) is proposed to be integrated in the National Service Training Program (NSTP) in private and public schools in the country.

Al Qalam Institute program facilitator Kenny Lloyd Angon said yesterday, May 20, 2019, during the SM City Kapehan media forum that the module is important because there are relevant issues in the country now that need to be tackled in schools such as violent extremism where the target are the youths.

The module will be composed of six topics; the Concept of Peace, Peace Education: Then and Now, Peace In Me, Social Justice, Peace-building and Conflict Resolution and The Contemporary Challenges to Peace.

Angon said that while it is still complicated to implement an elective subject on Peace Education, the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) recommended the integration of the module in the existing subject. Thus, the proposal to integrate the Al Qalam Institute and Salaam Movement’s Peace Education Module in NSTP 1 came about, wherein the NSTP 1 is mandatory to all students.

The module is a response to Ched’s Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 1, series of 2019 released last April 2, which mandates the integration of peace studies or education into the relevant existing tertiary curricula.

“We wanted to make it clear that this module is not exclusive for us but is free to all schools to adapt. We will provide a copy available on our website for them to consider to be integrated in their system,” Angon said in vernacular, adding that right now, it is only in the MSU education system where peace education is a subject taught to students.

The module will be launched as a highlight of the Salaam National Conference today and tomorrow, (May 23-24) at the AdDU which is expected to be attended by over a hundred school dministrators and NSTP coordinators from different Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and State Universities and Colleges (SUCs).

It will be piloted in AdDU, Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan and Ateneo de Zamboanga University (AdZU) this coming semester.