Encouraging children to learn critically and creatively

MANILA, Philippines - While there’s nothing to stop school owners from adding the word “international” to the names of their schools, Domuschola Internationalional School has every reason to do so.

The International Baccalaureate (IB) has authorized Domuschola to teach its Primary Years Program (PYP), with immediate effect, for pupils aged three to 12 years old.

IB is a highly-reputable, widely-recognized, non-profit educational foundation with one simple mission: “To provide high quality international education for a better world.”

To realize its mission, IB teams up with schools and governmental institutions in different countries, as well as international organizations “to develop challenging programs of international education and rigorous assessment.”

Pre-school kindergarten students make the story “The Fox and the Stork” come to life.

Domuschola is one of only two schools in the Philippines recognized as an IB world school offering the PYP, and as such, it conducts a curriculum framework consistent with that of 3,145 similar schools across 140 countries.

“This means our program is recognized around the world,” Domuschola directress Jenny Mapua Banal explains. “This ensures seamless adaptability for IB students, especially the children of the growing mobile population of parents who are diplomats, expatriates or who are part of other international and multinational organizations.”

She notes that becoming an IB World School is closely tied to their vision of providing world-class yet affordable education.  “We believe that an international education should not just be for the elite,” she adds.

School fees for one year at Domuschola are, on average, lower than at other internationally recognized schools in town, whether local or multinational. Some of the premier Catholic schools with 35 or more students per teacher per class may charge a bit lower, but then again Domuschola keeps the class size to 15 students, a student-teacher ratio that no doubt is considered a luxury in overpopulated Metro Manila.

“Our students are encouraged to propel their own learning by applying thinking skills critically and creatively,” says Perico Pineda, Domuschola’s PYP coordinator. “In other words, they are active inquirers and investigators, not passive empty boxes waiting to be stuffed full with facts and formulas by the teacher.”

Students do not need static dead-end knowledge, Jenny Banal stresses. “Our children will be graduating into a world that’s very different from the one they live in. They will be holding jobs nobody has yet configured.”

Echoes Joel Banal, president of Domuschola, “Education, to be meaningful and relevant, should equip students with the capability to cope with changes that will increase in complexity throughout their lives — changes that cannot be foreseen at this time.”

Grade 6 students learn the human body system during the science fair.

“So here at Domuschola,” Jenny Banal says, “we are teaching them how to fish, rather than just giving them fish, as the saying goes.”  

A banner on one of the walls at Domuschola proclaims “Be the change.” Those words sum up much of what drives and inspires Domuschola.

Domuschola Internationalional School is at Dorm 1, Philippine Sports Complex, Molave Street, Ugong, Pasig. Call (632)635-9743, 635-2002. E-mail info@dis-edu.org or visit dis-edu.org.