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About the Economics Education Institute

About the Institute

Our general mission is to improve the economic literacy of the populace and thus promote responsible citizenship. In light of the Philippine reality and its socio- economic constraints, our specific aim is to improve the citizen’s understanding of key economic issues through a better delivery of courses in public high schools.

The institute facilitates discussions on the economic issues that confront the nation tend to appeal more to emotions than to clear logical thinking and honest-to- goodness examination of facts. Ordinary citizens need to have a clearer understanding of the economic issues that confront the nation and a greater appreciation of the role of economic freedom in crafting the solutions to these problems.

Education of the citizenry requires a venue which can allow us to reach as many people as possible with sufficient time to cover with breadth and depth these complex economic issues.

Improving the delivery of the courses in economics in public high schools offers this unique opportunity to stimulate the minds of the youth on these issues and prepare them to become effective agents of economic reforms. Approach

In order to achieve these goals, we have identified several activities which are to become the key functions of the Institute. These set of activities center around the idea of capacitating teachers of economics in public high schools, given their unique situation. Thus, it is the aim of the Institute to simplify the lives of these economics educators by providing three basic services – training, materials development, and a network of teachers. The implementation of these activities is outlined in the following table:

Institute Director

Dr. Emilio T. Antonio Jr. is the President of CRC, an associate professor of economics at UAP, and a trustee of the Foundation for Local Autonomy and Good Governance Inc. He was former Dean of UAP’s School of Economics and past president of the Philippine Economic Society. Dr. Antonio obtained his MS Industrial Economics from UAP and PhD. in Economics from Kiel University (Germany). He conducts regular macroeconomic briefings for Philippine corporations and foreign fund managers. Some of the firms where briefings and consultancy services were rendered: Isla Lipana Company, Mead Johnson, Landco Pacific, Goldilocks, Ayala Corporation, Bayer, ABS-CBN, 3-M Philippines, Chinatrust, Jollibee, RCBC, Philamlife, SSS, Red Ribbon, EEI, Inc., BPI Capital, National Steel Corporation, Metrobank, Unilab, Honda Motors, Toyota Motors, Ford Philippines, Fort Bonifacio Development Authority, San Miguel Corporation, Jacinto Steel, Duty Free Philippines, Security Bank, Phelps Dodge, Equitable Bank, Guoco Securities, Pioneer Hi-Breed, Skandia, Chemphil, TESDA, DOLE, World Bank, Asian Development Bank.

Accomplishments

To date the Institute for Economics Education has been running for almost a year already. Our primary activities center on the conduct of seminar-workshops, the development of a website with downloadable materials for teachers of economics, and the revival of the Master of Arts in Economics Education Program for Department of Education scholars – deserving teachers of social studies in the public school system.

Seminars and Trainings

One-day seminars

True to our mission of capacitating public school teachers of economics, we have began conducting short courses on How the Philippine Economy Works especially for public high school teachers. These seminar-workshops are designed to help teachers of economics and social studies improve their understanding of how the Philippine economy works and how this knowledge can be imparted to their students more effectively. The seminar takes into account that these teachers would not be training these students to be professional economists.

The primary interest is to provide them with a basic understanding of the key economic realities that a nation confronts. This knowledge is essential to help them apprntwork fciate the roles of individuals, government, firms, industries and sectors in the development of the economy as a whole.

A typical seminar will consist of four modules of 1 and ½ hours each. These modules cover topics ranging from the business (economics) of education, simple analogies to help in understanding the Philippine economy, a Philippine macroeconomic history discourse, and an open forum for feedback and deeper discussion.

A Grant from Citigroup and independent sponsors has enabled us to complete seven (7) seminars for the year 2007. These were conducted in Cebu (2), Iloilo, Manila (2), Laguna, and Baguio City. A grand total of over 1,000 public school teachers of economics in public high schools have since benefited from the seminars conducted by the Institute.

Through these seminars, we have also begun to establish professional relationships with various districts of the Department of Education. The Institute has also benefited greatly from the assistance and support provided by graduates of its Master of Arts in Economics Education program at the University of Asia and the Pacific. Various alumni of this Program have lent their hand in making these seminars possible. Furthermore, we have been continually accumulating feedback and reinforcing our programs based on the feedback we get from the participants. These forums also provide us with numerous first-hand accounts of how it is to teach economics to public high school students in our country. Through these seminars, we have also begun to establish professional relationships with various districts of the Department of Education.

Institute for Economics Education Seminar-Workshops in 2007

Materials Development

A complementary activity to teacher training is the preparation of supplementary materials for the teaching of economics to public high school students. Existing materials available to public high school teacher do not meet the current needs of economics instructors in facilitating the delivery of economics with a real-world understanding particularly in the context of a layman. This is especially true for a typical public high school economics teacher - a non-specialist social sciences teacher handling a class size of fifty up to one hundred students. We see the need to develop materials which supplement and enhance the capability of these public school teachers. We believe that this will go a long way in enhancing the way the economics course is delivered and how it is appreciated by our youth.

Thus, towards its goal of generating responsible citizens through economic literacy, the Institute considers an integral part of its advocacy the development of supplementary teaching materials to be used by public high school teachers in the delivery of economics courses.

Currently, the Institute has developed – in preparation for the publication of supplementary materials – an improved website which will soon house all materials prepared by the Institute and provide information about the Institute and its current and upcoming programs to teachers, potential beneficiaries, and prospective donors.

The Institute will also continually shore up the resources and materials available through its website (www.crc.org.ph/economicseducation.html). A critical component of the website soon to take form is the supplementary materials section which will house downloadable teaching aids for public high school teachers of economics. The Institute has also sought the rights to and will soon be available at www.econed.ph.

Network of Teachers

True to our mission of promoting economic literacy through teacher training, we have also begun developing the groundwork for the formation of a network of teachers. Through the conduct of various seminars and workshops throughout the country, and by setting up a website accessible to all, we are gearing the Institute towards becoming a forum and venue for collaboration among economics educators from all over the country.
		Towards this end, we plan to make use of all other activities conducted under the Institute to develop this network. As initial pillars of the proposed network of teachers, we are reestablishing ties with graduates of the M.A. Economics Education program of the University of Asia and the Pacific particularly those who have undergone the program as Department of Education scholars and currently hold various positions in the Department.

In other areas, Dr. Emilio Antonio, the Executive Director of the Institute, has also presented the programs and advocacies of the Economics Education Institute at the 2006 Financial Education Summit in Seoul, Korea.

The summit, organized by INSEAD and Citigroup, was attended by various organizations involved in promoting financial literacy from all over the world.

With the help of corporate (Silver Finance Corp., Citibank NA, Adtel Corp., One Capital, Pasar Corp., Metro Gaisano and Diwa Publishing) and individual friends (Manny Engwa, Mario King, Reghis Romero, Shirley Sanggalang, Juanita Sy, Bernice Montenegro, Clemente Escaño, and Edmund Liu), the Institute has been able to raise about PHP 3 million pesos.