Impulses
Long live teachers!
(Note: Below is the excerpt of the speech that is to be delivered by this columnist today upon receiving The Most Outstanding Teacher in Western Visayas award to be given by the Private Secondary School Administrators Association of the Philippines-Region VI at Punta Villa, Arevalo, Iloilo City this Wednesday, February 7. Engr. Lagon, to note, is a physics, journalism and remedial math teacher of Ateneo de Iloilo.)
Good day!
In the "Munting Tinig" movie, there was a scene that struck me to the bones that even until now I can vividly remember the dialogue between Alessandra de Rossi, an idealist teacher in the clip, and a seemingly jolly old co-teacher. Alessandra asked in Filipino, "why did you become a teacher?" The old lady replied, "I merely took education for I was the dumbest in our family."
What a sad reality.
The intention of the director of the movie is crystal clear. That is to depict the sorry state of our education. And it was so picture perfect that no one can deny its certainty.
At the 24th National Educators Congress, former Education Secretary Florencio Abad laid down the facts:
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Only six out of every 1,000 Grade Six elementary graduate students are prepared to enter high school.
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Only two out of every 100 fourth year high school students are fit to enter college.
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Only 19 out of every 100 public school teachers have confidence and competence to teach English.
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The Philippines is no. 41 in Science and no. 42 in Mathematics among 45 countries.
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Thousands of A-1 teachers are now going abroad for greener pastures every month.
We are bleeding to death.
Indeed, the quality of Philippine education is declining seriously. Elementary and high schools, public and even private schools combined, are failing to teach the competence the average citizen needs to become responsible, productive and self-fulfilling.
Given the current realities, there clearly is an urgent need to develop excellent teachers to eventually ensure the future of this country.
But hey, please don't get me wrong. I am not trying to spoil this momentous event with horrendous statistics. My intention is precisely the opposite.
Excellent teachers are one of the most rare species in the country. In fact, they are near extinction. Numbers don't lie. It is in the books and it's alarming. And doing nothing to solve it is the worst of all options!
Some say the solutions, among others, are to upgrade the teachers' salary scale, give them advanced trainings, and develop a rationalized teaching program. Who can argue with that?
Yet, amid the present times, they are all difficult, if not impossible, to achieve in large scale.
But in its simple yet significant way, PRISSAAP, for its part, answers this call by giving recognition to those educators and students who are going out of their way to make a difference in this country.
This is a good symbolic step.
I am sure that there are still hundreds out there who deserve more this recognition. Hundreds out there who, despite the dreadful state of our country's education, are still dedicated and equipped enough to their calling, that is to give everybody equal access to quality and relevant education.
Dr. Onofre Pagsanghan, the quintessential teacher of Ateneo de Manila High School, recently said, "I know of no other profession apart from teaching that gives so much for so little."
I agree with him. Teaching is one of the highest forms of service. Our profession, better yet vocation, is so honorable and essential that if we become extinct, the country will be dead in a blink.
Indeed, the state of education in the country is crumbling. But we will never be daunted. We will face this with flaming swords ready to fight against pragmatism, mediocrity and apathy. We will multiply. We will change the statistics for the better. We will succeed!
Thank you.
(Engr. Herman Lagon may be reached through h_lagon@yahoo.com.)