The Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines held the Luzon session of the consultation with local government units on education needs and initiatives on August 2, 2013.
The event was organized with Bicol University (led by University President Dr. Fay Lauraya, through the support of AusAID and The Asia Foundation - Coalitions for Change (represented by Senior Program Officer Henry Grageda). The consultations are meant to map the needs and initiatives of LGUs on education in order for ULAP to better facilitate LGU partnerships with private and civil society organizations' education programs, and to gather inputs to national and local policy development for education.
In attendance in the consultation are the cities of Legazpi Albay (led by Mayor Noel Rosal), Navotas, and Tayabas (led by Mayor Dondi Silang); the municipalities of Daet Camarines Norte, and Ligao Albay; and the provinces of La Union (led by Board Member Nancy Bacurnay), Masbate, and Tarlac.

ULAP joins the upscaling writeshop organized by the International Fund for Agricultural Development, July 25-26, Crowne Plaza Hotel. Private, public and civil society organizations come together to upscale successful migration and development interventions for Filipino migrants and their families left behind.

Workshop session on Diaspora Investment in Agriculture for Rural Philippines, International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) upscaling workshop. 25 July 2013, Crowne Plaza Hotel.
With PinoyWISE partners such as Atikha, Department of Agriculture, NEDA, OWWA, CFO, SIDCI, among others, and the country Ambassador to Italy H.E. Virgilio Reyes, Jr, the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines seeks to upscale the successes of the PinoyWISE project and other migration and development interventions to more areas in the Philippines.

The Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, through the support of Australian Agency for International Development, The Asia Foundation – Coalitions for Change, and in partnership with Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan held the Mindanao Local Government Consultation on Education Program and Needs in the Audio-Visual Room of the Annex Library Building within the Xavier University Main Campus in Cagayan de Oro City, 18 July 2013.
The event is a part of a series of consultations being conducted in selected areas of the county to probe on current initiatives and needs of localities on education. For this Mindanao session, participants were from LGUs and local Department of Education offices of Tangub City Misamis Occidental and Dumingag Zamboanga del Sur, and the provinces of Sarangani, North Cotabato and South Cotabato. Fr. Eric Velandria, SJ, Dean of the Bicol University College of Education and Mr. Henry Grageda from The Asia Foundation also contributed their insights in local education by giving the opening and closing remarks respectively.
The output of the consultations will be used by ULAP and its partners as reference to converge the programs of private and civil society organizations with LGUs that express the need and demand for such programs. This is part of ULAP’s commitment to assist local government leagues and LGUs to be able to access and implement programs for the enhancement of policy and service delivery in the localities.The Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, through the support of Australian Agency for International Development, The Asia Foundation – Coalitions for Change, and in partnership with Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan held the Mindanao Local Government Consultation on Education Program and Needs in the Audio-Visual Room of the Annex Library Building within the Xavier University Main Campus in Cagayan de Oro City, 18 July 2013.
The event is a part of a series of consultations being conducted in selected areas of the county to probe on current initiatives and needs of localities on education. For this Mindanao session, participants were from LGUs and local Department of Education offices of Tangub City Misamis Occidental and Dumingag Zamboanga del Sur, and the provinces of Sarangani, North Cotabato and South Cotabato. Fr. Eric Velandria, SJ, Dean of the Bicol University College of Education and Mr. Henry Grageda from The Asia Foundation also contributed their insights in local education by giving the opening and closing remarks respectively.
The output of the consultations will be used by ULAP and its partners as reference to converge the programs of private and civil society organizations with LGUs that express the need and demand for such programs. This is part of ULAP’s commitment to assist local government leagues and LGUs to be able to access and implement programs for the enhancement of policy and service delivery in the localities.

MANILA, Philippines - The Ayala Foundation Inc. has forged an agreement with the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) for the implementation of its mobile learning program ‘Text2Teach’ in various public elementary schools nationwide.
Text2Teach allows teachers to download and choose educational videos on math, science, English and values specifically created for the project.
Ayala Foundation, Inc. president Luli Heras-de Leon said the project provides a highly effective visual aid for teachers and creates an interactive, student-focused learning environment in the classroom.
“There are today 11 countries all over the world that actually have a Text2Teach program under a mother program called Bridged IT. And the Philippines is one country that is a model country cited by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) as among the best practices for mobile technology in education,” Heras-de Leon said.
“So if we can mainstream this and make it happen to all of our public elementary schools, that would be a dream come true,” she said.
The project was conceptualized in 2002 by Nokia, Pearson, the United Nations Development Program and the International Youth Foundation.
It was being implemented by Nokia, Globe Telecom, the Department of Education, Pearson Foundation and Ayala Foundation in the Philippines since 2003, covering 736 public schools nationwide.
Under the partnership, interested local government units will share the cost of implementing the program at P46,000 per public school, covering 38 percent of the actual project cost. The Text2Teach program will shoulder P74,000 or 62 percent of the remaining project cost.