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Educating our children

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What is the status of our educational system?

With the country’s dismal performance in the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) among 15-year-olds from around 79 countries, there is clearly an urgent call on all sectors to give a hard look at the quality of Philippine education, and to develop a collective action plan to improve the standards for teaching and learning.

PISA results released recently showed the Philippines ranking lowest in reading comprehension, and second lowest in science and mathematics from close to 80 countries.

The PISA study measures the ability of 15-year-old students to use their reading, mathematics, and science knowledge and skills to meet real life challenges.

In reality, problems like haphazardly-written textbooks, demoralized and emasculated teachers, and a politically-motivated curriculum which puts emphasis on mastering the native tongue/Pilipino language rather than basic education or the 3 Rs (reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic), misdirect the focus of the educational system. The timeframe allotted for more important or the more basic subjects is diverted to what is referred to as the Makabayan programs.

For instance, a parent wonders: “Why study the Bisayan dialect in school when the children normally speak it at home? It’s a waste of time and tuition!”

As a result, the learners are overwhelmed, with less concentration on the 3 Rs.

Does learning how to speak the native tongue/Pilipino even make our students more patriotic? Has the Department of Education recognized the fact that students are now adept towards global trends via cyberspace? Has the government addressed the continuing brain drain as Filipino professionals continue to seek employment overseas?

In effect, the Philippine education system is indirectly subsidizing more affluent economies hosting our Overseas Filipino Workers who are usually perceived as docile employees.

This is compounded by the phenomenon of fly-by-night diploma mills producing half-baked, unprepared, and incompetent graduates, lowering our quality of education in terms of international standards.

Globalization is here, and we Filipinos have to cope, compete, and come up to par with the rest of the world!

It is important to learn from Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew who had a vision that with education, the population would be the nation’s most important asset. Working towards that vision, Mr. Lee in the 1950s and 1960s focused on building an efficient, universal education system with a bilingual policy: with English as the working language and of education and learning; and the mother tongue to keep Singaporeans culturally-rooted in their home country.

Back then in Singapore, trade and industry was their only hope for economic survival. To attract foreign investors, Mr. Lee foresaw that Singaporeans had to speak English, the language of the global economy, international diplomacy, science and technology. With these foundations in place, Singapore’s economy swiftly took off.

Today, Singapore is a global hub of education, science and technology, trade and finance. Its transformation from being considered Third World to being First World in one generation is one of Asia’s great success stories.

Without quality education, Filipinos will not be able to compete and get better employment opportunities, upgrading their economic status. Our children are our future; the economy of the Philippines will rise as our labor force attains better education.

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Author’s email: [email protected]

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