Mitzi Ilagan | Negosentro.com
Teachers are basically the foundation of learning. The Internet today serves as the most commonly used medium for almost all kinds of processes, services, and communications. What if they were merged together? 51Talk, in partnership with Gabay Guro, will change the way technology and education is being utilized today. Through the official launch and contract signing last September 22, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 51Talk and Gabay Guro now offers a digital livelihood program for Filipino teachers. 
51Talk (pronounced as “five one talk”), established in China, is the leading online English Language Teaching (ELT) platform, which is now in the Philippines, too. Since 2012, 51Talk has been creating thousands of jobs for home-based teachers from all over the country. It is also listed in the New York Stock Exchange as aN online English education company, which makes it the first Chinese high-tech company listed in the US and the first Chinese online English education company to be listed in the US stock market. On the other hand, Gabay Guro is the education arm and flagship project of the PLDT-SMART Foundation which is run by volunteers from the PLDT Manager’s Club Inc. Gabay Guro is a program that attends to the needs of the Filipino teachers, not only to change their lives, but also in order to create a better future. The partnership’s main agendas are anchored to two pillars: trainings and digital livelihood. The trainings would focus on dealing with the students and on English proficiency so that our teachers would meet worldwide standards when it comes to the language. The digital livelihood would help giving opportunities for online teaching with students not only from China but all around the world. The teachers would greatly benefit from this, as to these given advantages:
- They would only work online, during evenings and on weekends
- They could work on the comforts of their homes
- It is an innovative livelihood option which is aligned to their profession
- It is a supplementary source of income
Gabay Guro’s Chairman, Chaye Cabal-Revilla mentioned during the press launch that this partnership is a great opportunity because they could not only help our country, but also the world, through making more English proficient people. It may become a game changer, that through this education, nation-building would be more strengthened.
“As long as you have the Internet, you could have a one-on-one lesson with a native speaker anytime, anywhere. As long as you have the Internet and you have a good command on English, then you can also be available to teach to anybody who wants to learn English,” says Jennifer Que, Vice President for Philippine Operations of 51Talk.
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