CONSTITUTIONALLY, the State has the responsibility to “establish and maintain a system of free public education in the elementary and high school levels. Without limiting the natural right of parents to rear their children, elementary education is compulsory for all children of school age.”
Agreed.
But with compulsory elementary education, the State has onerous responsibilities. For example, the State has the responsibility to provide adequate conditions for students in elementary education to be able to make satisfactory progress compatible with their ability. It is not satisfactory therefore for students to suffer from a chronic classroom shortage. The government tacitly confirms this by making repeated commitments to address the shortage of classrooms in public schools. Nevertheless, the Department of Education (DepEd), despite a substantial budget, perennially fails to meet these commitments.
In last month’s State of the Nation Address, President Marcos claimed that the shortage of classrooms is being addressed.
Clearly Marcos has an extravagant speech writer, because he followed up by saying “aside from new constructions, schools and facilities are being retrofitted to become ready for the future – ready for hybrid and high-tech learning and also climate-ready and disaster-proof.”
This upbeat pronouncement rings somewhat hollow when a national broadsheet last weekend featured a picture of a teacher clutching textbooks in a flooded classroom.
Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte makes similar strictures. She draws attention to the large number of public-school buildings which are in need of major repair or are even set for condemnation!
We cannot go on like this.
Fighting Corruption
Now that President Marcos is well into his six year term, we believe that it is high time that he focused attention on fighting graft and corruption. It is not clear that progress is being made.
Graft – that is practices, especially bribery, which are used to obtain illicit gains in politics or businesses – still goes unchecked.
And corruption – dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery is, likewise, allowed to continue.
We believe that the Ombudsman, who has an important role in checking corruption, should be able to identify corruption opportunities and make inroads into their eradication.
In 2013, the Philippines was 84th in Transparency International’s corruption league table. Now, we are 111th.
We must do better!/PN
