1. NGO – Bridge Builder
about the Pitfalls in the
South - North School Partnership
Minnie Maisie Salanga,
San Miguel National High School, Puerto Princesa City,
Philippines
Uwe Berger,
Carpus e.V., Cottbus

2. Background about us
- Minnie Maisie Salanga, Head Teacher at San Miguel National High
School, a public school with more than 2,000 students and 90 teachers
- Uwe Berger, chairman of Carpus NGO, a German NGO with contacts to
Philippine NGOs since 1992
- South-North School Partnership initiated by Carpus NGO in 2007
- San Miguel National High School and three (3) German High Schools in
Brandenburg
- Four (4) encounter in Germany, three (3) in the Philippines
- 28 students from each country, seven (7) Filipino teachers and five (5)
German teachers involved

3. 1. Fragile anchoring of the partnership in the school
- Often only one teacher in the school manages the partnership
 Work overload can result in absence of this teacher
 Then partnership falls asleep
- Philippine teachers benefit from the encounter through a promotion
- Downside effect of Promotion: Teacher might be transferred to
another school
- Difficulty in finding teacher-participants
- Only few teachers are willing to travel long distance with students

4. 2. High organizational effort
Brandenburg:
Almost all schools have European school partnerships (Comenius)
• encounter comprises only 5 travel days
• more or less a tourist visit program
• usually no preparation and evaluation seminar
• 100% funded by EU
In contrast:
South-North school partnerships comprises 14 days program + travel
• intensive preparation and evaluation seminars
• sophisticated themes, e.g. racism, colonialism, justice, etc.
• Approx. 50% funded by ENSA, difficult to find other funds
 Many teachers are discouraged

5. 2. High organizational effort
Philippines:
Rigorous or strict adherence to rules of the system:
• Department of Education permits and clearances (1-2 months);
• Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)
clearance for minors (1 month);
• Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for Passport Application (3
weeks – 1 month);
• Personal appearance at the German Embassy in Manila for
Schengen Visa application (2-3 days)
• Parents of minors (below 18 years old) are required to join at
the embassy (difficult to waive)
 High travel cost during preparation

6. 3. Lack of support by the school administration
Philippines:
• Permit to travel issued with status “Leave without pay” for 1 month
• Teacher participation limited to permanent teachers only (national
employees) and not for city-funded teachers
• Difficulty in finding a substitute teacher
Principal Empowerment: Everything depends on the will of the principal
Brandenburg:
• Principal Empowerment too
• Difficulty to obtain absence from class for teachers
• Encounters are approved only if school vacation are contained
therein
• Sometimes participation of teachers in seminars are not even
permitted

7. 4. Low funding for southern schools
Philippines:
• Limited financial options, dependent on German funds
• Preparation and evaluation seminars are done in school by
alumni (no fees for professional facilitators)
 Unequal situation concerning
- preparation and evaluation
- funding in general

8. 5. NGO as a bridge builder over the pitfalls
• German NGO can be used by the schools as a partner to release
work from teachers, e.g. :
 Preparing funding applications and invoices
 Accessing additional funding (aside from ENSA)
 Proposing themes and topics for the encounter
 Organizing workshops and field trips
 Finding speakers and resource persons
 Dealing with the embassy and support visa-application
 Translating documents for the principals
• NGO looks on the partnership from an "outside perspective" and
can make suggestions on how to develop the partnership mutual
 e.g. redistribution of funds to the schools
• NGO can advise school management for the anchoring of the
partnership within the school

9. 5. NGO as a bridge builder over the pitfalls
But:
• German NGO has a powerful role and is subject to the possibility of
power abuse
 Self reflection on the position of power!
 How many white and non-white people are running the NGO?
 Are both perspectives (south and north) equally reflected
within the NGO?
• Disadvantage: No local NGO in the Philippines to support the
school

10. Conclusion and Recommendations
- Good ENSA exists! Without ENSA-funds no south-north school
partnership
- ENSA offers very good advice structure for German schools
 But schools in the global south benefit less from it
(seminars, networking, etc.)
- Recognition of high aims of ENSA towards mutual partnerships
- Possibility of using a partial amount of ENSA Funding for preparation
and evaluation in the global south is an important step
 But new rules are needed for a better implementation, e.g.
• German schools/NGOs should be obliged to hand over funds
for preparation to their partners in the global south
• Partner schools in the global south should permitted to pay
facilitators fees during preparation seminars

11. Conclusion and Recommendations
- Good experience with tandem projects, e.g.
• joint preparation and evaluation of two school partnerships
(two Brandenburg schools together with their partners from
Tanzania and Philippines)
• common workshops during encounter in Germany
 Realization that South-South-Exchange is very fruitful
 Therefore networking and exchange of experiences among
schools in the global south should be supported/organized
NGOs can be of help to organize local conferences or trainings
- ENSA is a good funding program. Let it develop together further!

12. Thank you!