I AM disappointed by DepEd’s prickly and defensive attitude towards the international criticism it receives from our poor quality education system.
The facts are not in dispute. We compare unfavorably with other countries in terms of our educational attainment. What we should do, surely, is to accept the inconvenient truth and to make an appropriate response.
Furthermore, the situation is not new. We have performed inadequately in international comparisons for as long as I can remember.
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I recall in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, Rodrigo Duterte criticised the failure of the K-12 strategy to bring us up to international standards. I clearly recall a speech he made in December 2015 to this effect. Unfortunately, DepEd has failed to grasp the nettle so that we are left with the uncomfortable position of being a “cellar dweller” in international league tables.
It is not too late to make improvements. We need to make public the performance of our students.
The 2021-2022 scholastic year begins soon. I believe the situation can be clarified by having an annual public examination for all students. This should be administered towards the end of the scholastic year. This is not meant to humiliate anyone, least of all students and their teachers, but to assess the seriousness of the problem.
The 2010-2016 administration has much to answer for in terms of its contribution to our poor current performance. DepEd at the time was obsessed with ‘K-12’ as a panacea to all our educational woes. We were told that K-12 was necessary and sufficient to make us ‘globally competitive’. It did nothing of the kind. We now have an excessive 13 year program of time-wasting mediocrity in which the results achieved are not demonstrably better than the relatively efficient ten-year program embodied in the pragmatic 1982 Act.
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Can we learn from the Chinese schools? I believe we can.
Iloilo’s Hua Siong College and Bacolod’s Tay Tung High School both have a style which I respect and admire.
There is an emphasis on reinforcement, which is a necessary component of learning how to construct Chinese characters. Young students enjoy reinforcement in which, by repetition, they become proficient at appointed tasks. Reinforcement is particularly necessary in Math. Our students would achieve more if they simply undertook more examples. With achievement comes enjoyment. With enjoyment comes success.
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Some time ago I noticed a teacher’s lesson plan. This gives teachers too little time to enable them to help students achieve proficiency in a new topic. Surely students should be given enough time for them to master a topic before moving on.
The results of international comparisons sadden me. Many Philippine students must be present in classrooms but not understanding much of what is going on.
A few years ago, American schools adopted the mantra ‘no child left behind.’ This is a highly valid concept.
We can do better!/PN
