“EDUCATION is essential to our life as a nation. This is a truism that bears endless repetition. It is acknowledged by the provisions of education in the Constitution. Except for the provision on free secondary education, however, these Constitutional mandates have not yet been translated into action.” (Congressional Commission… on Philippine Education, 1989)
Undoubtedly, our greatest resource is our people, Hence, through the education of our people, the development of our greatest resource must be our top priority. Unfortunately, the apparent deterioration of the quality of our educational system “confirms our worst fears for the mind of our nation.” Clearly, “our nation’s mind (is) at risk.”
Our new Vice President Sara Duterte Carpio has been designated as our new Secretary of Education. No doubt this is a very challenging task. Based on our experience in the education of our four children, we focused more on their basic education from kindergarten to elementary school. Of course, we made sure that their skill in reading (with comprehension), writing, science and arithmetic including good manners and right conduct were properly attended to. To their advantage, English was our language at home then.
Hence, in my mind, to improve the quality of our educational system, we must focus on reforming our basic education. In addition, retraining of our basic education teachers including improving our school facilities must likewise be attended to.
Our biggest problem anent our basic education is our population explosion. “Ang daming bata sa Pilipinas na kailangan pagaralin.” Our school facilities and number of teachers can hardly cope with the exploding number of students. Thus, the standard number of 45 students per class is impossible to comply with. Furthermore, our standard of 75 passing grade has already “gone with the wind.” Per info, “wala na yatang binabagsak sa “ elementary schools. What a mess. The heroic work of our elementary school teachers seems to be the only compensating things in this sorrowful situation.
Then came COVID-19 Pandemic into the picture! “Grabe and epekto sa ating buhay. Kasama na ang edukasyon ng ating mga kabataan.” The challenges in our educational system is further compounded particularly for our poor families.
Another “dragon” is approaching the world that will further demand more radical reform and upgrade our educational system. This is the forthcoming 4th Industrial Revolution of artificial intelligence, cyber technology and what have you. More advance and expensive gadgets will be needed by our students to keep up with the demands of the times. Hence, leaders of our various institutions have to stretch their creative and innovative imaginations to effectively confront these challenges. How can our educational system “ride the wave of global change” so to speak.
These are only some of the difficult, complex, and compelling problems and issues facing our new Secretary of Education that will surely test her capability. As sure as the sun rises in the east, enormous funding will be needed for success. New sources of money to finance an honest-to-goodness educational reform must be found by the new administration. Perhaps, this is one of the reasons why our new President – Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. appointed no less than our new Vice President to take charge of this very trying task.
A summary of my humble suggestions on education reform are:
- Invest more in our education.
- Partner with the private sector, particularly big businesses.
- Prepare for the forthcoming 4th Industrial Revolution and introduce solutions for Pandemic occurrence.
- Focus more on our basic education – from kindergarten, elementary and high school.
- Extend more scholarships for our talented youths.
- Introduce alternative learning modes for the illiterate.
- Review and improve our K to 12 educational system.
- Enlarge and enrich technical skills training.
- Expand deworming and nutrition programs.
- Build more and better school facilities.
- Ensure that only the best and most qualified professionals become teachers and administrators – by making more attractive rewards for teaching as a career.
- Manage the rising population more effectively.
- Review and upgrade our Philippine history for the sake of truth. The crucial role of our Muslim Filipinos` and indigenous people in nation – building must be adequately taught.
It is noted that some of the above suggestions were reiterated from the previous Congressional agenda for education reform.
