Pax Et Lumen International Academy Ready to Compete within ASEAN

Pax et Lumen International Academy has been preparing itself in terms of its curriculum and in retaining teachers with good background in science and math to compete with other ASEAN countries and nationalities for 2015, the year the ASEAN Economic Community is to start the integration process.

The Philippines has been left behind in its science and math education by most ASEAN countries. As ASEAN moves into one big labor market, companies will be able to fill up positions needing higher disciplines and with higher pay from the rest of ASEAN countries. And higher disciplines require longer and deeper training in technology and science.

In this area, Pax et Lumen is right on track as it already has double sessions in science and mathematics starting from Grade 1 or the Lower School. The Middle and Upper Schools have advance topics in the sciences and mathematics as the comparative to curricular programs in US high schools and science high schools. These advance subject listings were submitted by the school to the Department of Education show for its high school recognition application in 2013. The Department of Education eventually granted Pax et Lumen recognition for its high school level just within two years of its operations.

Pax et Lumen will also modify its social sciences to cover ASEAN standard topics. This will mean more exposure to ASEAN issues, history, geography, customs and traditions at the Lower School and Middle School levels. This will entail more consultations on scholarly works and publications that the school can use to make its students more ASEAN-oriented and competitive with ASEAN students.

The school is also looking at when to move the school year to start in late August and end in June to coincide with ASEAN universities that start in these months. This will allow cross-border education. Reports indicate that the top universities of the Philippines will start moving their school calendar from late August to June, instead of from mid-June to mid-March.

Pax et Lumen therefore welcomes the changes to be brought in by the Kinder to Grade 12 curriculum and by the ASEAN economic integration that will affect jobs, industries, education, and all aspects of economic life.