Philippine bill to make better writers

I am taking a break from the usual political commentary and devote this entry to the cause of better writing.

I just found a news report about a bill filed in the Philippine House of Representatives (HoR) that a bill was filed that would create a National Writing Program.

The bill number wasn't provided by the reporter and this will make it a bit hard to locate it on the internet using the HoR's online database. But in anycase, it's worth hunting for.

I will get behind this and hopefully, I'll get somebody to file a counterpart bill in the Senate.

Bill to make better writers filed in House

By Leila Salaverria
Philippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 22:04:00 05/02/2009

MANILA, Philippines – The country needs better writers in this day and age when disseminating information and sharing one’s thoughts are easier than ever through the Internet, according to a partylist lawmaker.

Alliance of Rural Concerns Representative Narciso Santiago III has filed a bill that sought to put in place a National Writing Program to improve students’ writing skills as well as the way writing is taught in schools.

“As we take on the great information superhighway, or the Internet, we need to develop not only our skill to read, but also our skill to write in order to better communicate with the rest of the world,” Santiago said in a statement.

The bill will require the education secretary to award a grant to a non-profit organization that will work to improve the quality of student writing and learning.
The funds will also be used to develop strategies to teach quality writing in classrooms.

The program will also train teachers to conduct writing workshops for other teachers.

Santiago said the measure also aimed to promote the expansion of a network of Internet sites where teachers could access the national writing program