PSHS Teacher Endowment Fund

MEDIA RELEASE (12/4/07)

PSHS Alumni, Foundation, and Administration Join Hands to Launch Natatanging Guro Teacher Endowment Fund

The Philippine Science High School Alumni Association and the PSHS Foundation will formally launch the Natatanging Guro Endowment Fund (NG Fund) in a simple dedication ceremony on December 7, 2007, at 4 pm, at the school's main campus in Diliman, Quezon City. Various government officials and administrators connected with PSHS are expected to grace the event. They include Dr. Filma G Brawner, PSHS System Executive Director and Dr. Jessamyn Marie O. Yazon, OIC, Office of the Director, PSHS Main Campus.

PSHS is the Philippines' only government-funded high school with the mandate to prepare high school students for future careers in science and technology. Created in 1963 during Pres. Diosdado Macapagal, and subsequently expanded under the terms of Presidents Fidel Ramos and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the school now has 8 campuses in different regions of the Philippines in addition to the main campus in Quezon City, with close to 3,000 students enrolled at any given time. Since 1969, the PSHS system has produced more than 11,000 graduates that have gone on to become leading lights in their professions in medicine, engineering, math and science, education, as well as in business and in the arts.

Over the decades, the PSHS AA and PSHS Foundation have delivered many projects in that complemented the resources that the government provides to run the country's science high school. The NG Fund marks the first time that the two organizations are working together on a project of this nature, and could thus act as the catalyst for future collaborative endeavors that will positively impact the PSHS.

The NG Fund will assist in the further development of the PSHS system, by helping it achieve world-class levels of faculty excellence. Over a period of time, through various fund-raising activities, as well as by tapping government and private donors, both locally and abroad, the target is to set up a P100 million fund. Income from the fund will support initiatives such as:

· Cash awards for teaching excellence

· Study grants for PSHS faculty members who would like to pursue advanced degrees in their fields, or in pedagogy

· Grants to conduct research, write scientific papers for publication, and to attend scientific conferences

· Faculty exchange programs with peer academic institutions globally, which would hone teaching talent and foster the transfer of leading-edge teaching methods to the country

These programs, and those that will be developed in the future, will help the PSHS system attract, develop, and retain the best teaching talent available in the country, to ensure that the school continues to build the critical mass of science and technology leaders, thus contributing to the Philippine nation-building