INSTEAD of demanding an apology from the World Bank for publishing the realities of our education system, the Department of Education should address the worsening education crisis revealed in the recent WB report.
Rep. France Castro of the ACT Teachers party-list put it more bluntly: “DepEd and the Duterte administration should be ashamed for its abandonment and negligence in the worsening education crisis in the country, not because the World Bank published a report.”
The cold truth is that the World Bank report simply reflected the effects of an education system that has been neglected and abandoned in terms of providing adequate budget to address the perennial shortages in facilities and learning materials, the under-supported, overworked and underpaid teachers, the large class sizes and limited access to the blended distance learning amid the pandemic.
What will an apology from the World Bank do to benefit the quality of education in the country? What will the DepEd do with the report if the World Bank informs them of the report before publishing?
DepEd and the Duterte administration should provide concrete plans to address the perennial problems that were also reflected in the World Bank report instead of being onion-skinned and demanding an apology.
If only the DepEd heeded the demands of our teachers and students for education reform that would provide better access to quality education and provide better working conditions to our teachers, then maybe, our pupils would not be ranking low in international assessments.
DepEd should be ashamed not because the World Bank has exposed the reality that the education crisis in the country is getting worse, but because it is letting it get worse. Does it even have a concrete plan to solve the long-standing problems of education?
The government is insulting the Filipino people by making education its least priority. If it really cares about the education and future of the youth, it should ensure that every child has access to education under blended distance learning, enough self-learning materials for children, enough gadgets and internet allowance for teachers, fits the curriculum for the needs of young people, and gives teachers substantial additional salaries and benefits
The publication of the World Bank report — that simply reflected the realities of the education situation in the country — and the poor ranking of Filipino students in international assessments is a challenge to DepEd to heed the demands of our teachers and students for better access to quality education, and to address the perennial problems to solve the worsening crisis in education.
