Leading online English education platform in the world 51Talk is partnering with Gabay Guro, the education arm and flagship project of the PLDT-SMART Foundation, to offer digital livelihood to qualified Filipino teachers.
The partnership was signed and launched on Sept. 22 at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Ortigas, Pasig City.
Photo from 51Talk Facebook page
Since it was established in China in 2011 by its co-founder and Philippine Country Manager, Sue Ting, 51Talk has been recognized as the best and largest professional online English school in China and the leading online English education company in the Philippines. Gabay Guro, on the other hand, was founded in 2009 with the aim to equip and sharpen teachers’ skills to help them thrive as educators. It later became the corporate social responsibility arm of the PLDT-Smart Foundation.
Jennifer Que, vice president for Philippine Operations of 51Talk, considers the partnership a milestone for various reasons. First, this is a partnership between two very credible organizations: Gabay Guro, the flagship project of PLDT-Smart Foundation, and 51Talk, a NYSE listed online English education company.
51Talk went public on June 10, 2016 under the stock symbol COE (China Online Education Group), making it the first Chinese high-tech company listed in the US and the first Chinese online English education company ever to be listed in the US stock market.
Secondly, Que sees this partnership as the fulfillment of a shared vision. “Gabay Guro is always looking for ways to empower Filipino teachers. We at 51Talk want to provide the platform for teachers to give more of themselves. We share the same vision of changing the lives of teachers,” she said.
In this partnership, qualified teachers can bring their English teaching skills online to help augment their family income. “After teaching in the classroom, they can teach for 51Talk, and earn more while still attending to their family without leaving the comfort of their homes,” enthused Que.
Gabay Guro will endorse qualified teacher members who will immediately undergo 51Talk’s stringent kids’ teacher selection process.
Successful teacher candidates will join the more than 7,000 home-based teachers with 51Talk, and will be given free trainings on English proficiency, online teaching, the use of the 51Talk platform and educational material, among many others.
The trainings will help improve the teachers’ technical skills and provide other skills that they can use not just in online teaching, but in the traditional classroom setting as well.
“We provide continuous trainings to our teachers. We give them specialized trainings on how to teach kids and adults alike, as well as special lessons and modules that we in 51Talk conceptualize that the students may want. We pride ourselves on providing teachers upskill trainings,” shared Que. “Bringing teachers online doesn’t just improve their technical skills, but also gives them cultural exposure through exchanges between them and their Asian learners,” she added.
The partnership, Que believes, is for the long haul since Gabay Guro has been committed to the teaching profession since its inception, and 51Talk will always be providing opportunities to teach, learn and earn for qualified kids’ teachers.
“With this partnership, the only winners are the teachers. We don’t want them to leave the classroom, we want them to stay in the classroom, but at the same time have a supplementary source of income during their free time, in the comfort of their homes. Teaching English online is an innovative livelihood option for the teachers,” concluded Que.
