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[av_heading heading=’EDITORIAL | No shortcuts’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”][/av_heading]
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Monday, May 22, 2017
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EDUCATION is a building blocks system. Employability cannot be assured if college education is flawed. College outcomes cannot be fixed if high school education is flawed. High school outcomes cannot be improved if elementary school fundamentals are lacking. Authentic education reforms must begin at the lowest levels and work upwards. We cannot afford to take shortcuts.
This school year 2017-2018, the Department of Education begins rolling out Grade 12 as part of the K to 12 or the 12-year basic education program. It is a result of studies on the defects of our educational system. We view this as but an initial step in promoting higher standards in education for the benefit of millions of Filipino students. We have known for years that only few children who enroll in Grade 1 get to graduate from elementary school and enroll in high school, and also only a few who enroll in high school get to finish it and go to college. With a disheartening survival rate, most of these students do not even achieve up-to-standards mastery of English, Science and Math. This is the result of many factors, particularly low government spending on education. The global standard is six percent of the gross national product.
Two weeks from now schools will open and classes will resume. The state of Philippine education system will again be the center of discussions. No doubt, we have to strengthen our education system through timely interventions on the quality of teachers, the medium of instruction used, and the evaluation of students’ aptitude, among others.
We need to fix our educational system to promote social justice and better opportunities for the Filipino youth. This is the best way for us to catch up with our neighbors that have long made wise and huge investments in their own educational systems.
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