Tripoli, 5 June 2004 – Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Domingo Albert made an unplanned visit to the Philippine Community School in Tripoli today to learn more about the school, which was established in 1991 and is one of three Philippine international schools currently operating in Libya. The two other schools are situated in Benghazi.

“As  Chairman  of  the  Commission on  Filipinos  Overseas (CFO),  it is my  responsibility to  monitor the  situation of  Philippine international schools all over the world, particularly in the Middle East and the Gulf region, where we have a large community of Filipinos and where their families work and reside in their host countries,” the Secretary said.

“My tour of the school is also intended to maximize my activities during my official visit to Libya,” she added.

The Secretary was received by a group of four Filipino teachers, who have been working in the school for more than two years. The teachers accompanied the Secretary during her tour of the three-storey building housing the school, its classrooms and its various facilities. The school has a gym, a computer room, classrooms for the elementary and high school levels, and even accommodations for unmarried teachers.

Secretary Albert was informed that there are some 300 students enrolled in the coming school year, mostly Filipino children of mixed marriages as well as foreigners, including children of diplomats and expatriates. The school’s faculty has 16 teachers, including the principal and a Libyan instructor who teaches the Arabic language.

The school’s curriculum is patterned after those of schools in the Philippines, except that it includes subjects on the Arabic language, which is required to learn in Libya and other Middle Eastern states.
 
Secretary Albert said that the Philippine International School in Tripoli and the two other schools in Benghazi provide an incentive for Filipino workers in Libya to bring their children along for the duration of their overseas employment.

“These schools not only serve as a venue for the pursuit of academic excellence, but they also lessen the difficulties experienced by children of overseas Filipinos who become separated from their parents because of the latter’s professional commitment and work abroad,” said the Secretary, who added that she  will work for the establishment of similar schools for the benefit of overseas Filipinos and their families. END.