Readers' views on education, women issues

We feature today two of our readers’ views. Flor Lacanilao, a retired professor in marine science from the University of the Philippines, has written a short piece on the state of education in the country. It is an astute observation of a former educator whose views deserve some attention. Please read on.

“The problems of basic education in the country have become worse despite various reform programs of past administrations. For example, one of them is the teacher problem – shortage and poorly qualified due to migration to developed countries.

“Our usual remedy is massive training programs. But these have made the problems worse; the training made them more qualified for working abroad. Hence, we have been training teachers to serve other countries.

“These are among the observations of the husband and wife team of academic scientists Christopher and Ma. Victoria Bernido, Ramon Magsaysay Awardees for education. As published physicists, they have shown that “Poverty and scarcity are no barriers to quality education.”

“Their results show that innovative teaching methods in basic education under present conditions resulted in improved performance: “For our school, we have seen marked increase in proficiency levels of our students, especially in science, math and reading comprehension. This is seen from their performance in college admissions tests and the National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE),” wrote the RM Magsaysay awardees.

“Among the innovative changes they introduced are the following:

1. Teacher problem – Bypassing the need for qualified teachers.

2. Textbook – Only one copy per class is needed.

3. Laboratory – No need for expensive lab equipment.

4. Teaching – Only 1/4 of the allotted class period.

5. Students – Not given homework.

“With their continuing research work, the Bernidos foresee, “We are expecting a profound transformation of educational systems and institutions within the early part of the present century.”

“That statement, of course, assumes that academic scientists – that is, published in peer-reviewed international journals like the Bernidos – are appointed to educational and scientific institutions in the Philippines. At present, none of these institutions has such leadership.

“Since these are basic institutions for development, President Aquino can be the first Philippine president to start real national progress, if he thinks about that conditional prediction seriously. With the trust and last hope in him by many Filipinos, he must not fail.

“The government’s proposed reforms in basic education are not based in properly done studies. As in all previous reform programs in the country by academic nonscientists, the failure of President Aquino’s proposed program is easily predictable.”

Support for women issues

Nelly Duckett of Bacolod City is an avid reader not just of this column but I think all columns in the Philippine Star. She is also a staunch supporter of reproductive health, and her comments below came as no surprise. Her recent letter contains a firsthand experience, which perhaps explains her avowed advocacy, but makes for interesting material. Please read on.

“I must say you have a good understanding of the problems of women in the Philippines, something often lacking in the Catholic Church.

“We should be much further on from the times of my mother. She had 10 children, and only four saw adulthood. She died at the young age of 34 in 1960 much as a result of there being no contraceptives available at that time.

“You mentioned legal abortions. To stop the Bishops quest of keeping contraceptives out of the Philippines, much more should be written about the yearly number of illegal abortions. The World Health Organization gives the 2010 yearly figure on this in the Philippines as 800,000.

“It is well known that desperate women are using this method as a birth control method. Also those who have become pregnant by an evil act either feel suicidal or turn to abortion in desperation. No member of hospital staff should judge them; hospitals are there to heal.

“You may have read the comments of Bishop Odchimar that there could be a chance of excommunication for NoyNoy Aquino. Crazy, just crazy.

“This would be a joke if it were not so serious. Following the doctrine of the Catholic Church of no contraception is the main reason why we have this year 800,000 illegal abortions.

“So who really has no moral ground to stand on? I think the truth be known that the Catholic Church of the Philippines, not the Catholic Church of the rest of the world as most Catholics such as in Europe use contraceptives. The fight of the Catholic Church there is against those who want to liberalize abortion.

“Here, the Catholic Church will always stick to no contraceptives despite the number of abortions, and despite the results it brings, of which they would be in denial anyway. The proof is in countries similar to the Philippines where [the Church] has a strong influence such as in Brazil and Mexico.

“So they are happy as long as the truth is kept from Filipinos especially politicians who are unaware of the full facts when they vote on the RH Bill. There is the so called the ‘morning after pill’ used for emergencies such as rape, including incestuous rape.

“As raped Filipinas do not generally report rape until it is too late, ‘the morning after’ pill is really a ‘red herring’ to be used by those against contraceptives.

“Journalists can do a moral service for the good of the Filipino people.”

Collegiate basketball update

Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (CESAFI), one of the major collegiate leagues in Southern Islands, is on its 10th season. Over the years, the teams competing in the league have been a valuable source of basketball talents eventually recruited by teams from Metro Manila. Offhand, the names of Manny Paner, Miego, Martires, and recently Slaughter, among many others come to mind. But talents keep coming and the CESAFI teams maintain their competitiveness making its games always exciting. 

The top four teams – University of Cebu Webmasters, University of Visayas Green Lancers, University of San Carlos Warriors and Southwestern University Cobras – played single round robin with UC Webmasters and UV Green Lancers, winding up as the finalists.

The CESAFI championship between UC and UV is a best-of-five series with the Webmasters slightly favored to dethrone the perennial champion Green Lancers. Both teams are automatically in the Sweet 16 of the 2010 Champions League joining the top four of the UAAP and NCAA.

University of San Carlos and Southwestern University may still make it to the Sweet 16 Finals as they compete with the regional champions from Mindanao and the Visayas Islands (outside Cebu) during the zonal qualifying games scheduled on November 14-17 in Cebu City.

Visit www.CollegiateChampionsLeague.net for more details about the 2010 Philippine Collegiate Championship games.

Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City. Or e-mail me at [email protected]. For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net.