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SINGAPORE - Siblings Nathan and Phoebe Foong have been waking up for school, where they stand to attention for the National Anthem during assembly, before heading to the canteen. The catch? They are actually at home. Their parents, Elvin and Esther Foong, devised "Naph School", an amalgam of the first two letters of the children's names, after the family were asked to self-isolate under a leave of absence (LOA) request. The family's LOA was issued after their trip to visit Mrs Foong's father in Johor during the recent March school holidays. Nathan, nine, and Phoebe, seven, will return to school on April 2 . According to the Education Ministry, less than 10 per cent of students and staff across all schools are on LOA or stay-home notice (SHN), which aim to prevent the spread of Covid-19. They are both 14-day self-isolation measures, typically following overseas travel. Some families with young children are concerned about supporting their offspring's learning away from ... » Learn More about Staying at home during Covid-19 outbreak: How to plan activities with your kids, and take ‘sanity breaks’

Globe Telecom’s #OneGlobeVsCOVID campaign brings home the Bronze Award for Best Crisis Management Strategy at the recently concluded 2021 PR Awards Asia.  Globe was the only Philippine company to be shortlisted in the prestigious regional award-giving body. Given its purpose of treating people right to create a Globe of Good and recognizing the significant role it plays as a telco, Globe immediately mobilized all facets of the business to deliver assistance and innovative service to its customers at the height of the pandemic. The #OneGlobeVsCOVID campaign activated all the resources of the Globe ecosystem from mobile and broadband services, digital finance, telemedicine and more, to assess, understand, and respond with viable solutions for Filipinos and their immediate needs. In a short amount of time, Globe’s products, services, and programs across the board were reprogrammed and communicated through Globe’s digital and PR efforts. These included revamping and ... » Learn More about Globe’s #OneGlobeVsCOVID campaign wins Bronze at PR Awards Asia

SINGAPORE: A new COVID-19 cluster involving four confirmed cases has been identified in Singapore, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Wednesday (Apr 14) in its daily update. MOH reported 27 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, including one community case, who is part of the new cluster. The sole community case, identified as Case 61917, is linked to three previously reported infections - Cases 61461, 61470 and 61360 . The 44-year-old man is a Papua New Guinea national who arrived from Australia on Mar 25 for a work project in Singapore. The short-term visit pass holder had tested negative for COVID-19 in a pre-departure test taken in Australia on Mar 23, and in an on-arrival test in Singapore. He was in isolation until another COVID-19 test on Mar 27 came back negative. "Subsequently he was on a controlled itinerary, which was largely limited to his place of work and accommodation," said MOH. After being identified as a close contact of two previously ... » Learn More about 1 community case among 27 new COVID-19 infections in Singapore; new cluster formed

Academic Year 2020-2021 is consequential for Philippine online education. Prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic, education institutions in the country have resorted to online teaching to mitigate the impact of the crisis. Sensing an opportunity, the Educational Policy Research and Development Center (EPRDC) is pushing for legislation to institutionalize online or “blended” education, which, according to the Department of Education (DepEd), also involves the traditional face-to-face system and the use of radio and television. EPRDC said repeated studies by the Philippine Normal University (PNU) have been proving that online education is “creating renewed zealousness for learning among young students across all levels.” The education think tank said research over the last 10 years, as compiled by PNU’s Dr. Edna Luz Raymundo-Abulon, even indicate that technology, as part of other education strategies, may reverse the “brain drain” phenomenon. “The brain drain phenomenon — where ... » Learn More about Education think tank bats for law institutionalizing online learning

Dear PAO, Dear Julius, “A conviction for illegal recruitment whether simple or committed on a large scale would not preclude punishment for estafa under Article 315(2)(a) of the RPC. This is because no double jeopardy could attach from the prosecution and conviction of the accused for both crimes considering that they are penalized under different laws and involved elements distinct from one another. Conviction under Article 315(2)(a) requires the concurrence of the following elements: (1) the accused defrauded another by abuse of confidence or by means of deceit; and (2) the offended party, or a third party, suffered damage or prejudice capable of pecuniary estimation. These are elements completely different from those required for illegal recruitment. “Under Section 6 of RA 8042, illegal recruitment, when undertaken by a non-licensee or non-holder of authority as contemplated under Article 13(f) of the Labor Code, shall mean any act of canvassing, enlisting, contracting, ... » Learn More about Illegal recruitment and estafa

Accessing learning materials can be particularly challenging amid the pandemic that compelled schools to close and instead, adapt remote learning. But kindergarten pupils in the province of Batangas just found the help they needed. “Abutin Na10,” the ongoing fundraising initiative of World Vision Philippines in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd) through its Office of External Partnerships Service, turned over to the agency the needed printed learning materials for the pupils on March 9, 2021. World Vision Philippines is a nonprofit advocacy organization that aims to look out for the welfare of children, and its “Abutin Na10” program is in support of the DepEd’s Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan to help students continue their school activities in the safety of their own homes. It has so far reached 18,000 students. Education Undersecretary Tonisito Umali, Esq. thanked World Vision and its partners during the turnover. “This turnover of learning ... » Learn More about DepEd learning materials reach kindergarten pupils through ‘Abutin Na10’

The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) and Mapua University revealed on Tuesday that they are starting to equip the country’s 45 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) with data science and analytics skills for the post-Covid-19 pandemic world, following the launching of the Data Analytics and Digital Transformation Training for Higher Education, an executive program delivered by Carnegie Mellon University-Australia (CMUA), a global leader in data analytics. The program is a 10-day virtual training that combines a comprehensive business intelligence, data analytics and technology management curriculum with a hands-on focus. The 60 participants, who come from 45 HEIs all around the Philippines, are taught by CMUA’s expert pool of faculty who are also industry experts, with many active industry collaborations that put them at the forefront of data science developments. The participating HEIs are Agusan Del Sur State College of Agriculture and Technology, Aklan State University, ... » Learn More about CHEd, Mapua equip HEIs with data science skills in post-pandemic scenario

“Federalism should be able to maintain unity among all. But this does not mean that we should boycott regional voices and the voices of ethnic groups.” – Khil Raj Regmi PRESENTED during the Hanns Seidel Foundation-initiated Asia Federalism Dialogues was how functional a specific country’s devolution structure responds to a major crisis such as the coronavirus. Country-specific federal governance structures had two countries employing horizontal devolution: Myanmar governs through local to local governments, while Pakistan, provincial to provincial. Nepal’s structure is through collaboration among central, provincial and local governments while Sri Lanka is through collaboration of central, provincial and local with public and private organizations. A sixth structure — the Philippines — governs through its quasi-federal structure which rests on a powerful center. This country specific contexts enabled participants to appreciate the pros and cons of a country’s mode of devolved ... » Learn More about Federalism: Ethnic voices local to local, central to local

Facebook is suing a Bangkok resident for developing and marketing software that ‘cheats’ the social network’s advertising review process to enable users to post dangerous ads to other users. Facebook explained that Mr Basant Gajjar, an Indian-American software architect living in the Thai capital, developed a “cloaking” technique in software that hides the real content of advertisements, while showing the user something else, essentially tricking Facebook’s review process from identifying inappropriate ads. His business, apparently thriving, is called ‘LeadCloak’. The lawsuit outlined how Gajjars cloaking software allowed links to ads promoting the sale of sensationalised diet pills, cryptocurrency scams, even fake news relating to the Covid-19 outbreak. Facebook said in the lawsuit that ‘cloaking’ is a malicious technique that impairs ad review systems by concealing the nature of the website linked to an ad. Gajjar’s unregistered business LeadCloak has offered cloaking ... » Learn More about Facebook sues Bangkok man for ‘cloaking’ software