As a nation, we should start rethinking how we address challenges in Philippine education. They say, “failing to plan is planning to fail.” The Philippines is still advanced in terms of education in Asia.
You may disagree with me, but the fact that we have surpassed even America in numbers of Facebook users, with English as the medium of communication, shows there is no doubt we are a race to contend with.
According to Google, “Education is the cornerstone of society, shaping people and communities.” It further emphasizes that “education promotes economic growth by providing individuals with additional skills and greater access to resources that foster positive change within communities.”
There have been great leaders appointed as DepEd secretaries, but none have led us in the right direction. Among LCC’s batch 88, we joked about calling our classmate Engr. Vlademir Nonato “secretary,” hoping one day he will be promoted to Cabinet Secretary.
In one of my talks during an education symposium at Saint Francis of Assisi College, I had the privilege of sitting alongside one of DepEd’s brightest undersecretaries, Dr. Mike Luz. His wife, Elna, is a good friend of my wife China since they were classmates in their master’s program. Dr. Luz emphasized during his lecture that to combat ignorance, proper nutrition must be provided to public school students.
Malnutrition remains unresolved, with 10-20% of students still underweight. As Lions, this is one of the advocacies we are pushing by feeding selected pupils until they reach the proper weight for their age. While it may cost us thousands every week, we are happy to help.
Our officials should push for an updated education program that will be at par with advanced countries. We cannot fix the problem by not addressing its root causes like malnutrition. The problem of corruption is secondary. People who are starving are easier to corrupt.
To improve the education sector, we should realign the budget of useless offices to the education sector. We need to hire intelligent and efficient heads so that new ideas can be introduced. Our colonizers first established educational institutions to control how we think, making us effective followers rather than productive thinkers.
Most educational institutions are owned by Catholic sectors like the Jesuits, Dominicans, Augustinians, and many more. Other enterprising religious organizations like JIL, Pentecostals, and INC have established their own colleges, together with the Adventists who own school properties in Silang, Cavite. Even SM, in its desire to nurture the minds of our youth, bought NU and offered it wherever there is an SM mall.
Neglecting to improve education will bring us back to the dinosaur age. Our officials should talk to first graders. They think more advanced than most adults and are free from corruption. They think fairly in evaluating issues. This made me smile, thinking, “Are our senators more intelligent than a first grader?” Sen. Robinhood Padilla is welcome to take the challenge, while others may line up as the next challenger. ||
