U.S., Synergeia Foundation train PHL educators on early childhood literacy

Nearly one hundred educators from across the Philippines recently completed U.S.-led training workshops to improve participants’ skills in English-language instruction for young Filipinos.

U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Officer Dr. John Groch and Synergeia Foundation, Inc. Vice-Chairman Antonio Torralba congratulated ninety-nine school administrators and K-3 teachers who completed the “Integrated Language Learning in Early Childhood” training workshops held in Manila from July 25 to 28.

“These early childhood literacy workshops present opportunities for greater collaboration between the United States and the Philippines, in line with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s priority of building Filipinos’ English language skills, which he underscored in his first State of the Nation Address,” Dr. Groch said.  Vice-Chairman Torralba also offered guidance to participants on applying their new skills in their respective communities.

A team of three American English Language Specialists in early childhood literacy—Dr. Elaine Gallagher, Dr. Constance Dziombak, and Professor Ann Mayeda—traveled to Manila from the United States and from Japan to conduct these U.S. Embassy-sponsored training workshops with the support of the Synergeia Foundation, Inc.

Following the training workshops on July 29, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided over 1,500 books to the participants and facilitated a session on USAID-developed basic education literacy-related trainings.