THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

164

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

requesting the Department of Education to establish a student exchange program to involve students in THE public schools in Hawaii and students in THE provinces in the Republic of the Philippines WITH WHICH THE STATE HAS STATE-PROVINCE RELATIONSHIPS.

 

 

WHEREAS, student exchange programs involving students in Hawaii's schools provide students with the opportunity to learn first-hand the diverse cultures of other countries of the world; and

WHEREAS, these exchanges also foster and sustain good relationships and cultural exchange between foreign countries and the State of Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, the student exchange program between the State of Hawaii and the educational system in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture, now in its fourteenth year, has demonstrated the benefits and cost-effectiveness of these programs; and

WHEREAS, implementing similar student exchange programs between Hawaii and the provinces in the Republic of the Philippines with which the State has State-Province relationships would provide a more concrete and viable connection between the State and those provinces than a mere paper relationship; and

WHEREAS, the Governors of the provinces in the Republic of the Philippines with which the State has State-Province relationships, especially in the Ilocos Region, have expressed strong interest in developing student exchange programs; and

WHEREAS, the Filipino community in Hawaii has demonstrated its unity and resolve as a growing ethnic group of immense potential and influence in Hawaii; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Legislature requests the Department of Education to establish a student exchange program to involve students in the public schools in Hawaii and students in the provinces in the Republic of the Philippines with which the State has State-Province relationships; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature expresses on behalf of itself and the Filipino community of Hawaii, strong support for the planning and implementation of such a project; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent of Education, the Governors of the Provinces of Cebu, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, and Pangasinan in the Republic of the Philippines, the Filipino Chamber of Commerce, the United Filipino Community Council, the Filipino Coalition for Solidarity, United Pangasinan of Hawaii, Ilocos Surian Association, Ilocos Nortenians of North America, and the Congress of Visayan Organizations.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Student Exchange Programs for Hawaii/Philippine Sister-States