#Rightings: Not just NAT Iloilo City elementary schools performed the worst among all divisions in the entire region in 2013. Worst because they were at the bottom of the National Achievement Test results. The pupils of public schools in the regional center did worse than those in the far-flung corners of #WesternVisayas. And because of this last place finish, everyone is knocked for a loop. The city dwellers cannot believe that the kids from the boondocks outdid them! The city folks may have that city-centric ego for them to feel bad. After all, their schools are in a better physical state than those in the islands and the boondocks. The teachers here have access to the best learning kits and aids. They, too, have the proximity to the great UPV, WVSU, CPU, USA and UI which have strong graduate school curricula, empowering them with fresher techniques and newer strategies. When books are released, including the chairs and tables, city schools are first in line. The kids have access to online tools as well. In other words, the main ingredients of the best dish there could ever be are there as well as the chef. So, how in the world did the dish end up bland if not sour or bitter? To justify this failure, theories have been laid down. Theres the access to the internet, which is not for learning but playing online games, and there, blamed too, is too much exposure to TV. Some, on the other hand, say the ineffective use of school board fund for things that dont translate to efficient teaching and thus learning is to blame. Still, others say teachers in the city did not resort to cheating or coaching thats why their kids didnt do well. NAT is a test in English, Math, Science, Araling Panlipunan, and Filipino given to those who are in Grades 3 and 6 and Fourth Year High School. Dep-Ed formulated it so that all decision-makers will have an idea how effective their teaching technologies and strategies are so that theyd know which areas need intervention and further tweaking. Critics, however, say NAT made teachers resort to teaching-for-test practice because they will be given P35,000 as bonus should their kids do very well. Memorization instead of analysis was inculcated in the kids. Worse, some allegedly leaked answers. (Remember Dr. Gracia Malazarte?) Because of the very poor NAT scores of city kids, an education summit is being proposed. I am of the understanding that this means teachers, education experts, education policy-makers, and everyone who has a stake will be called to participate, including some parents, in knowing the problems and in finding solutions to these woes. Such is a long overdue course of action. Instead of waiting for #Dep-Ed national officials, local decision-makers should have long seen that there is a need to achieve even just parity in the quality of graduates in public and private schools. As it is now, there were special science classes created and herded, where the best and the brightest are put together, but the regular classes dont seem to get almost the same quality of teaching and learning. These special science classes have kept the sad state of regular classes under the rug. And, if we provide good quality education, why the need for tutorial sessions after the whole day of class? If only the quality of education in the 50s, 60s, or 70s can be had today, we would have elementary school graduates who are so proficient in reading, writing and arithmetic. If only the teachers today are of the same quality as that of old, we would have high school graduates who are fit to teach elementary pupils. If only they can discipline the kids today like the time of our grannies, they would know when to watch TV and when to do their homework. Today is a different generation, however. Certainly a teaching method and an educational culture more attuned to the time is needed today. The gadgets are there and so are the techniques and everything modern that should make learning easier, so theres no reason not to find out whats wrong. It is a wonder to me before why a lot of college graduates have bad grammar and funny pronunciation. I thought these kids have more and heavier books than those of our elders, so why lack of basic knowledge? They have more subjects than there were in the era of our lolos and lolas but the know not enough. It seems that the goal of equipping them with knowledge for the real world has failed. And were not even talking here of critical and analytical thinking yet! A friend working in a private university told me that their graduates are not of good quality yet because they had to re-teach them what should have been learned by these students in basic education. A summit on the sad state of education is the call of the day. It must tackle each and every problem that has an impact on the quality of public school education---from facilities, to teaching methods, teachers competence, study habits, and to the role of parents, to how the local special education fund is spent, and how they could help their children. Everything must be discussed---miseducation, mal-education, etc.---and not just #NAT. One day must not be enough. It must be exhaustive and in-depth. It must be participatory and inclusive. It must not allow grandstanding but just full understanding of the problem and the solution. #IloiloCity must set the trend in finding local solutions to education problems endemic across the country. Just like how those statues have beautified the plaza of #Molo, may this city, known decades ago as Athens of the Philippines for its famed learning institutions, not only end up doing a lot of talk but also so much walk. After all, were excited about #APEC. Remember it has a cousin called #ASEAN, which is gearing up for an integration. And for us to be in synch with other countries and be integrated, we must be armed with good quality education at par with theirs so we must start with the basic. The whole educational system is the problem and not just NAT
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 22:08:40 +0000
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