Education then and now

MANILA, Philippines - Many children enrolled in private schools, including their parents, are overburdened by their school work. They have very little time after class hours to indulge in recreational activities and enjoy their youth. Their parents, fresh from work, spend the rest of the day and into the evening, helping the children accomplish the homework and the learning process that should have been done in school. Not a few parents hire private tutors to coach their children, to enable them to cope with the school requirements. Most of these children are above-average in intelligence. Under normal circumstances, they should not undergo this unreasonably rigorous training. What should be done in the classroom is moved over to the home, i.e., the drill and seatwork.

There should be fewer subjects and only an equal number of textbooks and learning materials. Imagine a child with a knapsack filled with books at his back and another larger bag with rollers filled with the same stuff, going to school! I find this atrocious! I am reminded of soldiers at war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

There should be a comprehensive review of the educational system in the grade and secondary schools. This should include the public schools. The educational system should not deprive the child of going through a normal life at home. The parents should not be overburdened in assisting their children in their lessons. The hiring of private tutors is a symptom that the school is setting standards that cannot be achieved within its premises.

I am a product of the school system before the Pacific War in 1941. From the first day in Grade 1, the medium of instruction was English and this was carried on through high school. In a few months, we were thinking, writing and speaking in English. The local dialects, Ilocano and Ibanag, were never used to explain the meaning of English words. The use of the dialects never suffered because these continued to be the medium at home and the community. We had fewer subjects and only an equal number of textbooks. Nowadays, the homework assigned to children is far too much for them. We read the succeeding chapter in our books to enable us to participate in the next day’s discussions and seatwork. Some high school graduates were even hired as teachers when not enough teacher-education graduates were available for teaching jobs. We were never inferior to today’s graduates! — APOLONIO G. RAMOS, Mindanao Street, Marikina