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| Two more years of high school? Try telling these students how that feels ... |
Does more necessarily mean
merrier?
Starting today, the Department of
Education began implementing the K-12 educational system, which meant kindergarten
and Grade 1 students of today and subsequent years will have to endure at least
two more years of education through primary and secondary schools.
According to the Aquino administration,
this move is an improvement over the previous educational system for several
reasons. First, the increased number of years of schooling will give the
students more time to complete essentially the same set of subjects offered in
the previous system, giving them lesser workload and (in theory) better focus
on their academic and non-academic endeavors, which should lead to an overall
improvement of the performance of the students. Second, the curriculum itself
will be more oriented towards the core subjects (Mathematics, English, and Science)
throughout the 12 years of schooling, and electives that enhance the skills of
the students relative to their chosen field of specialization as they near
their entry to their respective college or university. Third, with the expected
increase in students and workload for all those involved in the educational
system, the system will feature an increased role of the “native tongue”
languages for communicating important information with the students.
When you look at the arguments at
first, they sound mostly foolproof. Just like wine that tastes better when prepared
and processed longer, students who are given more time to exert effort will (in
theory) become more efficient in their schoolwork and future careers. By
orienting their efforts towards what they want and what they need to learn, their interest and attention in
schoolwork is enhanced, if not optimized, which should lead to a better performance.
And as school is supposed to be the second home of students, using their first
dialect or language should make them more comfortable at school, further leading
to better results.
However, the K-12 system figures
to be more of a fresh slice of pizza with a lot of toppings on the outside, but
can burn your mouth when it’s not cool enough.
Firstly, despite the near
30-million-peso budget increase for the Department of Education for this year,
the immediate implementation of the K-12 system can lead to a worsening of the
current state of education in the Philippines. With the population growth not
expected to slow down any time soon, even the current growth of the Philippine
economy (as seen by the increase in GNP) and the boosted funding for schools
might not be enough to overcome the current shortage of books and other school
materials to accommodate the expected increased student population for the
foreseeable future. With the expanded student population, more classrooms are
needed to be built, even though a significant number of schools across the
country still lack the proper places for classes to be held. More teachers are
also required for two more years of schooling, but the current shortage of
teachers and an even more severe deficiency of trained and qualified teachers stay
as a big problem. In short, the very foundation of the Philippine education
system remains unstable at best, given the current conditions.
In relation to said point, I
believe it is a bad idea (at least for now) for the government to start pushing
for tablet-based readings this early into the new implementation of the K-12
system. It may save paper and make the learning process more interactive and,
by extension more fun to the youth, but how can you implement such a high-tech
system while there are so many hard-to-reach areas down South with children who
have absolutely no access to any of the comforts and benefits of schooling and
what people with access to “modern necessities” such as computers and
cellphones, even the basic necessities such as food and shelter? If simply
creating an image to the world that the Philippine educational system is making
a historic leap from conventional to technological, we are fooling nobody but
ourselves.
Second, by adding two more years
of secondary schooling to the academic life of the youth right now, you also
add two years of burden to the family, especially those earning at or below
minimum wage. For instance, in Metro Manila, the current minimum wage is barely
above P400 a day. While this is, in fact the third highest rate in Southeast
Asia (behind Singapore and Malaysia), this is still not enough for the poorer
sector of Philippine society. If even one child from a family below poverty
line manages to enter high school, the family still has to deal with increased
expenses over a longer period of time, putting more pressure on the parents to
deliver financially for the children and likely forcing the child’s brothers
and sisters to abandon pursuing their academic endeavors to help in financially
supporting their sibling as that child through secondary school. Even then, the
child may still lack the proper materials he/she needs to comfortably study in
his/her secondary school, placing the child at a disadvantage compared to
his/her more fortunate classmates. The situation becomes even worse at rural
areas, where the lower wages (if the family earns any) and lower quality of
education simply makes schooling more difficult for the youth.
Third (and perhaps the one with
the biggest immediate effect on the nation as a whole), to be able to make the
transition as smooth and quick as possible, where are we going to get the
funds? Of course no plan with such huge implications can be executed overnight,
but if the government will be making a hard push for the K-12 system, who will
provide the money needed to make the life of the students easier and more
productive?
While in no way I question the
sincerity of President Aquino in his personal pursuit of good governance, some
shady characters (by nature) might look to take advantage of this massive
undertaking by making quick, big bucks through illegal transactions with
big-time corporations, especially concerning the tablets and the construction
of more schools and classrooms. If we have not learned our lesson from the
ZTE-NBN scandal by now (this also involved high-tech equipment being acquired
for national usage with widespread implications), we could be in another embarrassing
situation five to ten years from now. Not only will it be a big blow to the
President in power if that happens, it will hamper any progress we have made in
making the Philippines a great nation to live in.
Finally, just because there is
more time for students to focus on their studies through the K-12 system does
not mean they will focus on their
studies. The current globalization and modernization has undoubtedly captured
the attention of the youth (well, at least the urban youth) from all walks of
life. It will still be up to the schools themselves to efficiently implement
the knowledge they have to pass on to the students. It’s an age-old problem
that only the creative and the resourceful can truly master and successfully
use. And when it comes to creativity and resourcefulness, perhaps there is no
other group of people that has more potential to use it than the Filipinos.
I am not against the
implementation of the K-12 educational system. In fact, I believe it eventually
will lead to the overall improvement of the Philippine educational system in
the future. What I believe needs to be done is implement the K-12 educational
system only when the Philippines is
truly ready for such serious shift. Just because every nation in the world, up
to this point, has the K-12 system in place except for the Philippines and two
African nations does not mean we have to follow suit as soon as we can; rather
we can try to improve the system we have while we wait for the right time to
change the status quo.
The history of the Philippines
has been marked with men and women rushing through their stride for change
which will indirectly lead to their demise, such as Andres Bonifacio
prematurely starting the Revolution of 1896, and the Commonwealth leaders
wanting immediate independence after a devastating World War II. Although not
bloody at all, the immediate implementation of the K-12 system can lead to
serious consequences.
Remember: quality beats quantity
every time.
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