Welcome message from Concordia Philippines

Welcome to NEWSFLASH! I am happy to announce for our maiden issue the EL.CD or the English Literacy for Community Development Program of Concordia Philippines. This has been inspired by   the direction set by Concordia Foundation on building global mindsets and cross-regional collaboration with mind in view to establish an increased organizational agility in responding to a dynamic educational global marketplace.

Let me walk you through the EL.CD Program.  What is EL.CD?

The EL.CD Program is a Scholarship Program that: (1) Promotes English literacy through a holistic learning (2) It focuses on teacher development by providing the knowledge and skills to effectively teach English and (3) As a result, it empowers communities thru quality education.

Why Develop English Literacy?

Promoting English literacy is at the core of EL.CD. Why is this important? One, because literacy lays the foundation for life-long learning and productive work. Second, because English is the lingua franca or the common language used by people who do not share the same mother tongue. Taken together, English Literacy therefore empowers the marginalized and makes community development sustainable as it opens the way for life-long learning and productive work that is globally competitive. It can help free people from the cycle of poverty – because the more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.

Aside from developing English Literacy, EL.CD also focuses on training our teachers. A popular Chinese proverb says “give me a fish and I eat for a day. Teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime”. EL.CD recognizes the ripple effect that teacher development will produce for community learning. One teacher can reach out to hundreds of students, changing their lives forever. But being able to speak English is not enough to successfully teach it. Teachers must have the knowledge and the practical skills to effectively teach and raise the level of their students’ English literacy.

_{VIOLETA L. JERUSALEM, Ed.D, MBA.
President
Concordia International College of Business and Development, Inc.}