Republic of the Philippines-Resource Persons Group is an informal organization dedicated to promoting educational exchange between the Philippines and Korea as a means to improving the quality of Philippine education and enhancing the well-being of Filipino educators in Korea.

Membership

RP-RPG is composed of Filipino academics who are or were at least once (1) visiting professors at Korean universities and/or (2) full-time faculty members in Korean universities. Membership is by invitation or voluntary application and is free of charge. The chairmanship rotates among the members, who are in principle, peers.

While most members of the group are based in South Korea, RP-RPG is a placeless organization with coordination and communication being done almost entirely on cyberspace. At present, the group has a Yahoo group (rp-rpg@yahoogroups.com) and its own Wikipage (http://rp-rpg.intodit.com). The members meet about once a month at a designated time and place.

Purpose

The RP label suggests that the group was formed in active partnership with the Philippine Embassy in Korea. As such, one of the group’s self-defined functions is to provide advice to the Embassy on how to tap the potentially vast educational opportunities in Korea for the Philippines in the areas of teaching and research. In particular, the group aims to (1) provide advice on how to implement dormant MOU’s among Korean and Philippine universities and colleges; (2) create a more reciprocal arrangement (rather than the one-way mode which characterizes most programs today); (3) brainstorm on how to improve the quality of current academic exchange programs between the Philippines and Korea; and (4) Increase the number of formal educational tie-ups between the two countries. RP-RPG also provides social support to newly arrived professors to ease their adjustment in Korean life, and shares information that can possibly lead to professional advancement among its members.

Activities

At this stage, RP-RPG is in the process of defining its identity. It is consolidating its membership and  boosting its profile and visibility by attending events and meetings with significant Philippine government agencies and political personalities. At a meeting at Hannam University in Daejeon, the group invited a Korean English language teacher to discuss issues associated with English language learning among Koreans, English language education being one of the potentially lucrative fields for Filipinos. This early, two members of the group already have begun publishing articles in Korea’s leading English language dailies (http://www.koreatim es.co.kr/ www/news/ special/2009/ 06/275_46065. html, and http://www.koreaher ald.co.kr/ NEWKHSITE/ data/html_ dir/2009/ 06/01/2009060100 83.asp).

Looking ahead

In the near future, the RP-RPG hopes to facilitate links by making representations to the national association of Korean universities. One of the concrete measures suggested is securing complimentary booths for Philippine universities at annual university fairs in Korea. Another target is holding of a symposium on Philippines-Korea educational exchanges within the year.