1145 Bob and Belen Mendoza, our visitors from Sydney, are leaving today. Actually, we left them at the airport. The plane was supposed to arrive 9 but after two hours at the airport, there was no plane in sight. We reluctantly left them at the airport to wait for the plane on their own.

Now I am back at the office. It’s a few minutes before the noon break. Let me just look back at this brief visit of the couple. I have learned quite a lot from them.

For instance, they were telling us about the new teaching method (combining email, one-on-one tutorial, assignments, practical work) being applied in the school where Bob works as a teacher. He is actually handling an IT course. His students are mostly children of Asian who have settled in Australia. He says the method is based on the observation that students learn at different paces; no two students learn at the same pace. Hence, the method adjusts to the unique profile of each learner.

This method is being tried for almost two years. It evolved from the frustrations of educators about the high unemployment rate among college graduates and the lack of pertinence of what students learn to the needs of industry. A survey was conducted on what exactly industry needs and the curriculum planners take this into account. Hence, the skills being imparted to students are particularly designed to the actual needs of industry.

The other idea we have found useful is this concept of a Neighborhood Technology Center being tried in Australia. I think this can be tried here with a little imagination and efforts. I have discussed this with Tony Irving, and he says we actually can try it as a project in the barangay where we are pretesting the household survey. It can be a project to engage the large number of unemployed youth in the area.

Bob and Belen have stayed in Sydney for more than 20 years. Their five daughters were born there; all have their own families there. The Mendozas are originally from Lucena City, Quezon. They have their roots there and regularly visit relatives.

For this visit, they will have time to attend class reunions of the Quezon National High School (formerly Quezon Provincial High School). Bob and Belen belong to Class 67 and Class 70 of this school. In Sydney, they have helped our class, Class 58, produce its website and a powerpoint presentation to be used by Milwida Sevilla-Reyes for the class reunion scheduled 27-28 Dec.