State of education - Roses And Thorns

Two days ago, Education Secretary Andrew Gonzalez announced that his agency had improved the student- textbook ratio from 1.6 for elementary pupils and 1.8 for high school students to 1.4 for both elementary and high school. We congratulate Secretary Gonzalez for this big step forward. The tragedy is that the book crisis was not caused by a budget deficiency but by graft and corruption under previous administrations.

Last November, EduQuest published a report on the comparative status of our educational system. It raised this question: "Are our schools giving our children the skills they need to succeed in the Information Age?" In the 3rd International Math and Science Survey, the Philippines placed 38th in mathematics and 40th in science in a list of 41 nations! Singapore was Number One. And it is noteworthy that our Asian neighbors have all launched a crash course in educational reforms.

A UNESCO report said: "In Thailand, a constitutional overhaul is leading to the biggest shake-up of the educational system since the days of absolute monarchy. Indonesia has introduced an emergency scholarship system. Malaysia is launching its first computerized `smart schools'. And Singapore has begun a campaign to teach innovative thinking.

"Despite differences among the Southeast Asian countries, a few main threads run throughout their approaches. First, these countries recognize the need for a quantum leap in basic education and skills standards in order for the labor force to regain competitiveness. Second, rote learning is giving way to a new call for creative thinking. Finally, in Thailand and Indonesia, authority over curricula and spending is being decentralized to make education more responsive to local needs."

We have a great educational heritage. During the Spanish period, our literacy rate was even higher than the Mother Country. Santo Tomas University is the oldest university in Asia and if you go by student population, it is the largest Catholic university in the world. It is our educational system that gave us the economic status from the Spanish colonial times to the period before martial law being the most advanced economy in Asia next to Japan. Then, martial law came and the emphasis shifted from education to the military. As a result, we are now the most economically-backward nation next to Bangladesh. It is lack of education that has made the people vote for movie stars and basketball players to represent the people's interests in the executive and the legislative branches of our government. We are entering the Era of Information led by the most uniformed leaders we have ever had in our history. We are glad that the Department of Education is now in very able hands.