“I was privileged to have been the first education attaché from the Department of Education to have been posted overseas,” Babano said as she prepared to leave her office at the Philippine Embassy for the last time.

Babano, who was a regional director of the Department of Education, added, “I have had a good two-year stint in the Kingdom and I think it has been meaningful as far as I am concerned. I am not only leaving good co-teachers but newfound friends as well.”

Being the first and the only education attaché overseas, she said she considered her assignment in the Kingdom as a great challenge to help the 22 Filipino international schools all over the Kingdom.

Saudi Arabia is host to some 1.2 million Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). Many of these have brought their families with them, and their kids are studying at Filipino international schools.

Her responsibilities included the preparation of reports on the education of students, problems the teachers encountered and their needs in teaching.

About the students, she said, “We should invest in the future of our children through education. Aside from spending money, the parents should coordinate with the school. Teachers teach values as well as give behavioral and transformational education. That won't be effective unless parents follow-through at home.”

“If what is taught at school is opposite of what the kids see at home, this will create a confusion in their mind. It's necessary that parents understand the directions of the lessons at school so they can support them at home,” she said.

Babano added, “If the students are taught honesty, truthfulness and humility among others, it's possible that at school, the children will observe these. As soon as they leave the school, they may do otherwise.”

However, she said, if the parents closely monitor their children, they could immediately correct it.

“To develop a good habit, we have to do it now. It's a partnership between teachers and parents,” she said.

Babano said that many of the children live in flats with limited space. “When they go out, they're so hyperactive, because that's the only time they can really move. They run here and there and sometimes, because they're confined and have no time for association with other children, they wouldn't know how to act in their presence,” she said.

Babano was sent to Saudi Arabia by the Philippine Department of Education as the representative of Secretary Armin Luistro. She received her Doctor of Education degree from Western Mindanao State University in Zamboanga City, southern Philippines.