By ERWIN ‘AMBO’ DELILAN
QUALITY education (QE) is quite a thought-provoking topic.
For starters, there are so many barriers to it. Fund lack is on top. Corruption in government, too.
These and more really need “passionate warriors” who’ll devote time in attaining this “incalculable quest” for QE’s sake.
Bacolod City is lucky, therefore, to have Ken Paolo Gilo. At 22 years of age and still a university student, Paolo has a gigantic passion for education since high school.
As a Political Science student of the University of St. La Salle (USLS)-Bacolod, Paolo “embraces and adjusts” himself to a lot of social problems presently confronting the country.
TRICKY BUT FULFILLING
In a chance interview, I asked Paolo why he’s passionate about QE.
His simple retort: Tricky but fulfilling!
As the sitting president of the Student Council Alliance of the Philippines (SCAP), Paolo stressed he’s studying well the “realities on the ground”.
He said access to education (not to QE yet) among the Filipino youth today is somehow okay. We already have so many state colleges and universities, he pointed out.
He, however, enunciated that the high “college drop-out” rate is among the “silent tests”. Poverty or lack of stable family income triggers this very problem.
“Budlay mag-move forward without knowing deeply the root cause of this problem,” he said. “Thus we need to validate sa aton palibot kon ano gid ang matuod-tuod nga rason sa likod sining drop-out problem.”
‘POLITICS IN EDUCATION’
Paolo is internalizing the varied problems on education. In his personal assessment, “politics in education” in one savage reason. Fighting such would be “wearying”, for sure. But Paolo is no “coward”. He’s determined! In his humble way, he’s beyond ready to conquer this “politics in education” by means of “education in politics”.
Quite a new tack. The “terrain”, Paolo admitted, won’t be easy.
“Winding, perhaps!” he confessed.
Though, he stressed, government, supposedly, has the vital role in this kind of problem, the youths, too, can offer their share of solutions.
‘MODERNIZING POLITICS’
“Modernizing Philippine politics” is one. Yes, Paolo pointed out that modernizing politics is an “unprescribed doctrine” to address problems besetting the country’s quest for QE.
“But we in the student council believe that modernizing politics would really matter,” he shared.
“Youths, he furthered, must be taught that beyond basketball or volleyball leagues, there are more avenues and possibilities that could benefit them and their future.”
“We need to expose the youths to various realities of life and in the communities to stimulate their thinking to a wider range of perspective,” Paolo underscored.
It’s a bit “tiring”, yet Paolo is insisting that constant communication about politics and education, and vice versa does matter.
“We really need to navigate all the possibilities until we reach the arena of solutions meant for QE realization,” he emphasized.
CORRUPTION VS EDUCATION
Too, Paolo said, corruption is one of the worst enemies of education.
“It ‘kills’ youths’ future!” he punctuated.
Lamented by Paolo, “Corruption starts with patronizing dole-out scholarships.”
Dole-out scholarships, he warned, bear “utang na loob”.
And “utang na loob” results to political patronage.
This is not supposedly, he argued.
Youths, Paolo said, are needed now in all government dealings and processes. “It’s a-must for them to be acquainted now with all the happenings in our government.”
‘PLUS FACTOR’
Well, Paolo’s bias towards QE is kinda a “plus factor” for Bacolod.
Having this young human being “architecting” an immense passion for QE is more than a “blessing” for his community.
La Salle-Bacolod must be proud of breeding this intelligent and passionate being.
A quest for QE is no ordinary battle. The “battle field” is huge, and the foes (the societal plus political ills) are “invisible”.
World-renowned American author Stephen Pressfield said that when it comes to a fight for QE, “we are all warriors.”
And Paolo is now accepting Streesfield’s challenge.
I remember business tycoon and Philippine Airlines’ top honcho Lucio Tan, who said, “We cannot, as a country, improve economically, socially, and culturally without quality education.”
No wonder that, soonest, Paolo will surely be included in the list of the world’s young fighters for QE like Olivia Maskan, 18, of Indonesia; Viktoria Kravets, 21, of Ukraine; Truth Osumareton Egbe, 24 of Nigeria; Chrstina Pop, 16 of Romania; among others.
They were all advocating for children’s rights leading to QE.
If this happens, for sure, the Negros Occidental High School (NOHS) where Paolo started to develop a passion for QE will be the proudest Alma Mater ever.
Hats off to Paolo for having the “bravest heart and guts” to launch an astonishing fight for QE./PN
