Additional years of basic schooling is not a solution
Presidential candidates say that education will be their highest priority if they get elected. Most have merely mouthed motherhood statements about education programs. LP standard bearer Senator Noynoy Aquino came up with his own plans by adding two years to basic schooling.
Aquino pointed out how the Philippines’ 10-year education curriculum is proven incompetent as compared to the 12-year education curriculum of other countries. He said “The Philippines has the shortest education cycle preparatory to university. Ours is 10 years; the rest of the world is 12. In short, we have a curriculum that, on paper, covers the same subject matter as the rest of the world but which we cram into 10, instead of 12 years.
This means that our teachers take all kinds of short cuts to try to cover the material or just simply do not attempt to cover the entire syllabus in a given year for lack of material time. This shortchanges our children’s education.”
According to him, this is one of the reasons why many Filipino graduates are ineffectual and could not compete with graduates of international universities/colleges. Noynoy envisions that his proposal will help alleviate poverty in our country. But will the additional two years of basic schooling address the missing years of tertiary education enough to address these problems?
The additional years would only increase the number of out-of-school youth. It means additional expenses for the struggling masses; thus making this proposal anti-poor. Noynoy failed to take a look on the number of education issues that still have not been addressed. The added years in the basic schooling is not a solution in solving the problems. More precisely, he lacks the idea on the present state of Philippine education particularly in the primary and secondary public schools.
Is it not ideal to first attend to the needs of the primary and secondary schools in the different parts of the country? Instead of additional years, why not provide the public schools better instructional materials, sufficient classrooms, competent teachers as well as better pay for our school teachers. Teaching is a noble profession and yet their condition is often neglected.
Noynoy should connect himself with the reality in the education system of the country. Do we have enough budget for education? Is education a priority in the government’s budget? Are they properly spent? The problems on the lack of classrooms, teachers and textbooks are a perennial problem during the opening of classes. There are classes held outside the formal classrooms. School children have to share their textbooks too while teachers have to sell from candies to different kinds of food stuff to the children in order to reinforce their income.
While pushing for added years in basic schooling starting at kindergarten, Noynoy’s silence about tertiary education means he has not thought through the entire problem. Our country is in the midst of grave poverty but are we too desperate to consider taking a very simplistic approach in solving a highly convoluted problem existing in our country for so long.
If the times call for an immediate action on this matter, why not improve and further develop the standard of Philippine education without having to risk losing the number of enrollees for the next school year?
While, it is true that education will help break the poverty cycle but Nonoy should see the possible disadvantages to the so-called masa of additional years in the basic schooling. If Noynoy really cares in improving our country’s education system, then he should present something beyond sound ideas. He should come up with concrete and doable plans to improve the country’s education system. His decisions should be of great consideration to the masses which comprise the majority of our population.
Let us face the truth that in a country where there is a visible sign of struggle almost everywhere we look, there is no place for a law that will only melt the littlest hope the poor masses are hoping for—a brighter and better future for their children. Noynoy should know better.
