Kuwait's battle of the brains

The Philippine Schools in Kuwait held a mini-Quiz Bee at Kuwait's 7-star Radison Hotel along the Gulf Road under the patronage of His Excellency, Ambassador Ricardo M. Endaya. It was auspiciously dubbed as the Filipino Students' Battle of the Brains. Well, these are about 10,000 Filipino children who are studying in many Filipino International Schools here. They are the children of the 150,000 Filipino expatriates and OFWs in this part of the Middle East.

The program was attended by about 500 selected students and about a hundred faculty members and school administrators. All the Embassy officers and staff graced the affairs. It was a very exciting contest of intelligence, general knowledge and information and mastery of mathematics, geography, English language and current events. It was an activity that enhanced the Embassy's ties with the Filipino communities in Kuwait aside from stressing the importance of high quality of education for young Filipinos.

Two competing top schools

Out of many competing schools, the two finalists, the Philippine International English School and the new Kuwait Philippine International School. After a grueling five-hour contest, the new Kuwait Philippine International School bagged the championship and their students got all the top prizes. The questions in the championship round were very tough. They concerned the history of Kuwait and the Philippines. The Ambassador and the Labor Attache themselves asked the final questions. 

The Ambassador is an expert of Philippine history and world current events. He asked the students about the Spanish colonization, the US occupation and the Japanese invasion. I was surprised that the students were able to answer question about the "principalia". The "illustrado", the "encomienda" system. My question about the blood compact between Sikatuna and Legaspi in Bohol was likewise handled well. It was the deciding question between the champion and the runner-up.

Education: OFWs' competitive edge

The main reason why Filipino migrant workers are preferred among the many foreign workers in Kuwait and anywhere in the Middle East and all over the world is the Filipinos' higher quality of Education, compared to those coming from Bangladesh, Sri Lancka, Pakistan, Indonesia and other labor-sending countries. Despite our educational system's many short comings and inadequacies, our graduates are still among the best in the world. Compared to other migrant workers, the OFWs speak better English, have better mastery of basic Mathematics and have strong inter-personal skills, including communication.

The only problem with our country is our inability to effect an integration between our educational systems and our economic and industrial development. That is why we experience the spectacle of our schools' producing too many graduates that our economy can not absorb as the labor markets are looking for skills and competencies which our educational system is unable to produce. This is the main reason why our college graduates need to look for job opportunities abroad. The OFWs who can afford it prefer to bring along their families in their country of destinations. Thus, their children do study in the country where their parents are working as OFWs and expatriates.

At the end of the day, what matters most is that the Philippine Embassy representing the Philippine government has given stress to the vital need to stress the importance of education to young Filipinos abroad. Filipino students are responding positively and they are excelling among the different nationalities of students here in Kuwait and all over the world.

Education is the only means to level the playing field. It is the most effective way to promote social mobility in Philippine society. All our foreign mission should focus on this as another pillar of our foreign policies.