Story & photo by Stephanie Tumampos | Special to the BusinessMirror
Eight hundred twenty-three elementary pupils and high-school students were given recognition by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) through the Youth Excellence in Science (YES) awards.
Held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) on February 1, the students were awarded for their exemplary performance by reaping awards in science and mathematics in international competitions from all over the world in 2016.
The YES awards is a special ceremony that the DOST, through the Science Education Institute (SEI), has been holding annually, since 2007, to honor students who have achieved high marks in international math and science competitions.
Dr. Josette Biyo, director of DOST-SEI, expressed pride and gratitude to the students who have brought home medals.
In her speech she said, “Last year was indeed a huge year for us to date. The year 2016 is actually, so far, the biggest year for YES awards and for science and mathematics excellence, in general.”
Biyo was referring to the increase of awardees from 2015 to 2016. From 614 in 2015, the number of YES Awardees rose to 823 in 2016, a 25-percent increase of the total number of awardees. In 2007, even with only over 200 students who received awards, the DOST has seen the increase in interest in the fields of mathematics and science among students.
Human-capital development
Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña, who graced the YES awards, expressed pride with the output of the Filipino students.
In his speech, de la Peña said the increase in the DOST budget under the current administration has paved the way for more opportunities for the Filipino people to pursue and work in science and technology (S&T).
In an interview with the BusinessMirror, de la Peña said, “The 20-percent budget increase for the SEI itself means more scholarship slots for the Filipino students. That’s very important and it could also mean incentives, more services and science and mathematics teachers because we want to build a core of science and math teachers.”
He added that it is the DOST’s way of helping the Department of Education to improve the quality of math and science in the country.
De la Peña noted the inclusion of S&T in President Duterte’s 10-point agenda. He said it was not just to promote S&T to enhance innovative capacity, but also to improve human resources in S&T.
“There is also an item in the [10-point] agenda that is very important, the investment in human-capital development,” de la Peña said partly in Filipino in the interview with the BusinessMirror.
He added: “This is one particular concrete way in investing in human capital because [S&T] is a very important part of life and in our development. Therefore, we have to invest in [S&T] human resources.”
YES for a brighter future ahead in Philippine S&T
With the increasingly good track record of the Filipino youth in the field of mathematics and science internationally in a span of a decade, Biyo said in her speech: “This is an outlook that all of us in the science community are excited about as it gives us assurance that the future of S&T in this country is bright.”
The DOST and, in particular, the SEI, has always been aiming to create an environment where the youth has a heightened appreciation and consciousness of the value of S&T. De la Peña expressed optimism, saying “good signs are there.” He is pertaining to the full support of the Cabinet in the initiatives of the DOST, and foresees a consistent increase in the S&T budget.
“By the end of his [President Duterte] term, we hope to see our expenditures for research and development have gone up significantly,” de la Peña added.
He is also hopeful of the increase in human resources involved in S&T research. “We also hope to reach the standard set by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [Unesco], which is around 380 persons working in R&D [research and development] per million [population]. We are still less than 200 [R&D persons per million population].”
Although the number of Philippines’s R&D workers is more than half of the Unesco standard, de la Peña said SEI is investing and hoping to increase the current number of science R&D people in the country. He said, “This is, of course, going to be complemented also by the initiatives of the private sector.”
De la Peña is hoping that more students will continue to be inspired to compete and bring more honor for the country, and see more YES awardees in the coming years.
“We all love our country and we want to project a good image of our country,” de la Peña told the BusinessMirror. He added, “Some day, they [YES awardees] will be the potential Nobel prize winners and there’s nothing wrong in aiming for that.”
Image credits: Stephanie Tumampos