ISRAELI Ambassador to the Philippines Dana Kursh led the inauguration of a digital learning center at Jacinto Zamora Elementary School in Manila, an Israel-sponsored project.
Kursh said the project, launched in time with Israel’s 78th Independence Day, is an investment in the future of Filipino children and a symbol of the partnership between Israel and the Philippines.
She said that instead of doing the usual commemoration of the occasion, the embassy opted to direct resources toward a project with a lasting impact on students.
”National Day receptions are going in a hotel, holding one glass of wine, doing something or the other, maybe hearing some music or some dance. We said, this year, it’s not appropriate,” Kursh said at the project’s launch on Wednesday.
”We said, let’s invest, instead of one day, a present day, in the future. And that’s what we chose to do here,” she said.
The ambassador said the school was selected after consultations with Philippine education officials, who recommended several schools for consideration. Embassy representatives later visited the sites and chose Jacinto Zamora Elementary School.
Kursh noted that the 105-year-old school serves about 2,000 students and was named after Father Jacinto Zamora, one of the three Filipino martyred priests collectively known as GomBurZa.
The learning center was completed in less than two months and is designed to be more than just a classroom.
”What you see here is a digital learning center that is not just a place to learn. It’s a place to inspire, it’s a place to dream,” she said.
The facility includes a coding component featuring CodeMonkey, an Israeli-developed educational platform that introduces children to programming and problem-solving through interactive lessons.
”It teaches children how to basically solve problems and how to introduce code not in something that you may be afraid of, but in something very, very simple,” Kursh said.
The center also contains books and reading materials intended to encourage literacy and cultivate a love for reading among students.
”The aim is, how do you fall in love with books?” she said.
A third component is a community space where students can gather after class to read, learn and collaborate. The Israeli Embassy said it will fund a staff member who will be present every afternoon to guide and mentor students using the facility.
Kursh said the embassy’s commitment would extend beyond the inauguration.
”Our commitment to this place is not just today,” she said. “We will have now a journey where, from time to time, one of our team will come and educate, interact with the children and identify what other things they would like to accomplish.” The ambassador linked the initiative to the shared future of Israel and the Philippines, noting that Israel marked its 78th Independence Day this year while the Philippines is set to celebrate its 128th Independence Day on June 12.
”This is our future, and the children are our future,” she said. “We need to invest in you because you are investing in our future.” Kursh described education as “the best investment for the future” and expressed hope that the center would inspire students to learn, explore and pursue their dreams.
”Come to this place, come to learn here, come to read here, come to explore here, but mainly, come to dream here,” she told the students. “To dream of what you want to do when you grow up.”
