An alarming exodus of teachers!

A dear friend of ours, Fr. Ernesto O. Javier, S.J., Director of the Sacred Heart School, was the guest speaker of the Rotary Club of Cebu (Mother) and he had an urgent message to send, not only to the Rotarians present, but to the entire country as well that, "Our best schools are experiencing a steady loss of teachers especially in subjects like English and the sciences. Many of our teachers today are surfing the Net looking for better opportunities abroad and when they find one, they have no qualms to leave."

This is something that we have already known, but not given it much thought. But hearing it from Fr. Javier, I would like to say that the time has come to push the proverbial panic button before it is too late. We already know the consequences when Filipino nurses, doctors and other professionals leave the country. But today, there is also a great demand in linemen, welders, teachers, professors, principals and even soldiers!

Perhaps, the only consolation we can lean on is that, our population has not experienced a radical decline, unlike in many other countries where they are already experiencing a Zero Population Growth (ZPG). It is in those countries having ZPG that are brain-draining our country of our professionals. So whenever the government goes into its so-called "Population Control" programs I always go and lambaste it not only because it runs counter the teachings of the Catholic Church, but these artificial birth control methods disrupt the natural cycle of the human body. And when you meddle with Mother Nature, you already know who is at the losing end!

What was disturbing with Fr. Javier's talk was when he said, "we are losing teachers faster than we can replace them." This is why we are pressing the panic button at this time and sounding the alarm, before it is too late. Fellow Rotarian John Domingo (who was forced to make a clean joke) also offered a vital information as to why this was happening. Because in the United States today, there are 58,000 teaching positions that are available! With starting salaries pegged close to US$3,000 it is an offer hard to resist given the pay our teachers get in our schools.

Fr. Javier believes that the exodus of teachers is not only by monetary consideration, but rather because too many of us have painted a contemptible picture of a country without any hope and future. We have known long ago that the Filipino shares the American dream of a life in the pursuit of happiness and prosperity, which is why for decades the long lines for visas at the US Embassy have only gone longer. But this time, Pinoys are not only leaving for the US, but for other countries as well.

Meanwhile, I suggested to Fr. Javier that it is time for the Academe to be creative. I'm sure there are many executives who can teach within their various fields of competence but since they do not have a degree in teaching, they cannot teach. But if the Department of Education (DepEd) gives them a mandate, then at least we'd solve one problem. John Domingo also suggested that we allow foreign teachers to teach in the Philippines. Most of them are actually teachers from abroad who are already retired and have married Filipinas and are now living here. I'm sure that these people do not have to work full time, but their spare time would be invaluable to our kids.

So there, we have helped Fr. Javier push the panic button. It is now up to us to do something with this situation. Are we going to act now before it's too late and the teachers teaching our children would be those fresh out of college without any experience whatsoever? If you have any suggestion, you can send these to Fr. Javier at the Sacred Heart School.

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Tomorrow is a Red-Letter day for me as it is the 19th anniversary when the first column of Shooting Straight came out of The Freeman when we started our once-a-week column, which a month later, (thanks to the constant pushing of our Editor, now publisher, Juanito "Nito" Jabat) became a thrice-weekly column and eventually 19 years later, we write in The Freeman six times a week!

Yes, a year after I joined The Philippine Star (exactly a week ago, we celebrated The Stars' 20th Anniversary at the Makati Shangri-La) Nito Jabat asked me to write a column for The Freeman. Of course, I had permission from Sir Max Soliven who helped me coin the title of this column. Two years later, it was the turn of Sir Max to ask me to write my Inside Cebu column in the Philippine Star. Coincidentally, tomorrow, we are being conferred a Garbo Sa Sugbo award by the Province of Cebu, a recognition that comes timely after celebrating our 20 years as a journalist. This is an honor that I accept not for myself, but also for The Philippine Star and The Freeman.

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