Tolentino said a study has shown that the US demand for teachers would balloon to two million in the next 10 years because fewer Americans are inclined to teach basic education.
She said US schools prefer to hire Filipinos because they have a good command of the English language and are "naturally caring and friendly."

AMERICA'S capital cities may be collapsing but the American dream lives on in the hearts of some Filipinos.

An initial group of 50 Filipino domestic helpers in Hong Kong recently took a qualifying examination for teaching jobs in the United States.

The testing was the brainchild of the Philippine ambassador-designate to the US, Albert del Rosario, who said he wanted to "bring back to their profession the misplaced Overseas Filipino Workers."

The 50 domestic helpers who took the examinations are all qualified teachers back in the Philippines.

The OMNI Consortium Inc., a recruitment agency for Filipino nurses and teachers bound for the US, arranged for the tests to be conducted at the Philippine International School-Hong Kong last Sept. 9, two days before the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

"It's very important to give them opportunities to do what they have been trained to do," said OMNI chief executive officer Florita Tolentino.

Tolentino said a study has shown that the US demand for teachers would balloon to two million in the next 10 years because fewer Americans are inclined to teach basic education.

She said US schools prefer to hire Filipinos because they have a good command of the English language and are "naturally caring and friendly."

The contract workers paid 130 dollars to take the test.

Filipino teachers who qualify to teach in the US and are assigned to either Texas or California receive an average of 4,000 dollars a month.

Tolentino said she did not consider her company's recruitment efforts as contributing to the brain drain in the country, which has been losing its best professionals to more lucrative jobs abroad.

"The government should look at it positively. We are a poor country and there is a need out there, so why don't you go and help yourself?" she said.

"There are no jobs here and instead of going as domestic helpers, they can go as teachers or nurses," she added.

She said Filipinos working in the United States can help boost the economy because of the huge dollar remittances that they send back to their families.

"If we need dollars, then this is better than going around looking for investors," she said. "Tourism will not be back in the next few years because of the kidnappings."

She said recruitment agencies like hers can create a niche abroad for Filipinos as educators in much the same way that they are now in demand as health workers.

The results of the exams will not be known until later this year.
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