Rep. Henry Pryde Teves (Neg.Or., 3 rd District) said he wants to gain more support for the move to adopt the lingua franca or native dialect as the medium of instruction in schools, before the end of the 14 th Congress.

Teves said he hopes to get positive results from pilot schools now advocating the use of the lingua franca, so that funding from the AUSAID of the Australian government will be realized.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus has issued a memorandum order to different school divisions on the use of the native tongue, but this is only implemented in the pilot school system.

Teves said his proposal will require the making and publishing of new books with the dialect as medium of instruction. The use of lingua franca will help a lot of school children improve their performance in school, he added.

Negros Oriental presently ranks seventh from its previous 13 th place in in terms of school performance.

Meanwhile, Teves thanked those who continuously prayed for his recovery after the Batasan bombing on Nov. 13, 2007, causing him to undergo at least 20 major operations.*MA

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