SENATOR Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada said foreign language other than English should be offered as an elective course in all higher education institutions in the country to help prepare students in linguistically and culturally diverse workplaces.

“This will make the Filipino students adequately equipped to be 21st-century learners. They would be able to connect with the world and be more globally competitive in their future workplaces,” Estrada said in filing Senate Bill 2341.

The proposed Foreign Language Education Act mandates the Commission on Higher Education to develop and execute a program to offer three-unit basic foreign language courses for beginners in all higher education institutions.

Estrada say that the inclusion in the higher education curriculum of foreign language courses will only be an elective course and will not in any way replace Filipino as a core subject.

The measure aims to continue the special program in foreign language classes currently implemented by the Department of Education in public schools for Grades 7 to 12 students.

The program started In 2009 in select schools and only offered Spanish language but was later expanded to include Nihongo, French, German, Mandarin, and Korean.

“This would benefit Filipino students as they will be able to communicate efficiently with other foreign nationals and will have better job opportunities in companies that require multilingual employees,” Estrada said.

“Hindi lang magkakaroon ng competitive advantage kapag sila’y sumabak na sa pagtatrabaho dahil magbibigay din ito ng personal growth sa kanila. Mapapalawak nito ang kaalaman, karanasan at pag-unawa ng mga mag-aaral sa iba’t ibang kultura bukod pa sa mapapataas din ang kanilang kumpiyansa,” he added.