Kate Oiph-Weers will leave Palau today to enroll in an 18-month professional certification course on science education at the Naruto University of Education in Tokushima, Japan.
Her scholarship includes a round-trip ticket and a monthly allowance of up to $1,900 for housing and transportation.
Her tuition and other school fees will be paid by the Japanese government.
Oiph-Weers has been teaching science at PHS for eight years now. “I’m very excited, especially for the fact that [the scholarship is] in the field of science. I see the need for more science teachers. I want to equip myself with new practical and theoretical skills or methods of teaching science so I can know how to involve my students in the process of learning the concepts of science,” she said.
Weers, in her study proposal, said the performance of Palauan students in science is not good. She said there are several contributing factors and one of them is the lack of relevant content materials provided by teachers.
“Students retain information better when we can provide the chance for them to learn constructively,” she added.
Japan Embassy charge d’affaires Masayuki Takashima said there were two applicants for the scholarship and it was Oiph-Weers who met the requirements.
“When she comes back she will be equipped with skills to teach science and after her training hopefully we can see improvement in the performance of the students,” Takashima said.
