Metrobank Foundation presents at UNESCO's World Teachers' Day celebration

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has invited Metrobank Foundation president and National Teachers’ Month (NTM) Coordinating Council Co-Chairperson Aniceto M. Sobrepeña to present in a panel discussion at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris, France as part of the official ceremony for the World Teachers’ Day on October 5. The official ceremony and panel discussions will serve as a forum on innovations to attract and retain top graduates to teacher training and on policies to improve the status of teachers. Mr. Sobrepeña will speak before country delegates, representatives of various United Nations agencies, teacher experts, civil society stakeholders and representatives from the private sector to discuss how Metrobank Foundation’s education programs and the NTM have upgraded the status of the teaching profession in the Philippines. In his invitation, Mr. Qian Tang, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, wrote that Mr. Sobrepeña’s experience with the National Teachers’ Month campaign will “surely enrich the proceedings” and “help evolve a common vision and accelerate the process of shared, collaborative progress on our collective mission…to promote the importance of teachers’ key role in reaching the Education for all goals”. Addressing the Philippine Permanent Delegation to UNESCO, Mr. Tang remarked that the Philippine “teacher campaigns are indeed exemplary and worthy of emulation. Not only do they give teachers the due recognition and encouragement to provide quality education in the Philippines, but also provide visibility to UNESCO in general and the Education Sector in particular, where teachers are actually our ‘priority of priorities.’” UNESCO and its partners the International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and Education International (EI), has adopted the slogan “Take a stand for teachers!” for the 2012 celebration of World Teachers’ Day. As a response to the UNESCO proclamation of October 5 as World Teachers’ Day, a Teachers’ Month Campaign (TMC) was conceived as a contribution to the growth and development of the teaching profession in the Philippines, as well as a public expression of appreciation for mentors who inspire and nurture their students and communities. The campaign was started in July 2008 by Metrobank Foundation, Inc. (MBFI) and the De La Salle University (DLSU), with the special participation of the Department of Education and the support of key business institutions and major media partners in the Philippines. The Teachers’ Month Campaign was an opportunity for Metrobank Foundation and its partners to pay tribute and affirm more teachers in the Philippines for their role in shaping the minds and character of the youth. With the adoption of the new theme “My Teacher, My Hero”, more government education institutions, private companies, and major organizations have joined. The Campaign reached a milestone with the issuance of Presidential Proclamation 242 by President Benigno S. Aquino III “declaring the period from September 5 to October 5 of every year as ‘National Teachers’ Month.’” For 28 years now, Metrobank Foundation has recognized excellence among outstanding Filipino educators in the elementary, secondary, technical-vocational, and tertiary levels through its Search for Outstanding Teachers (SOT). SOT represents the Foundation's commitment to promote a culture of excellence in education by recognizing the best mentors in the Philippines who can be upheld as models not only for educators but for other community members as well. Since SOT’s launch in 1984, more than 300 exemplary elementary, high school, technical-vocational, and college teachers from all over the Philippines have been awarded. To know more about Metrobank Foundation and its programs, visit www.mbfoundation.org.ph or visit our official Facebook page, www.facebook.com/MetrobankFoundationOfficial. Press release from Metrobank Foundation