more issues on Philippine education

the second part of mike luz's article came out of the inquirer today. this time, it discusses in detail the concerns on teachers' salaries. while it is true that elite private schools are able to provide a relatively competitive wage scheme for teachers, smaller private schools are the opposite. something i have experienced myself when i was still a jesuit volunteer in bukidnon. my partner and i were assigned in a small Catholic school there.

i received a salary ofP3,200.00 a month. at that time, i thought of that amount as "wow! saya." because my previous assignment in mindoro was just P1,500.00. after a while though, i began to realize it was okay for me because i was only taking care of myself in a far-flung town where the money i earn just goes to my snacks and coke. but how about other teachers who have families to take care of? i chanced upon the payroll one time and saw that the principal of the school was only receiving P5,600. dang. for the headache of running a school of 2,000 students. my. and even those who are single teachers could barely make ends meet as they would often share what they earn with their families.

no wonder there are a lot of teachers who'd rather work as domestic helpers abroad.

the third part of the series will come out tomorrow. i'm pretty excited about what mike luz has to say about parent education. for the last four years that i have been with assisi, i've come to realize how important it is to involve the parents in the education of their children. parents, especially those in poorer communities, tend to put all the responsibility of their child's welfare in the hands of the school. a fact, that we urban-raised people, know is untrue. parents play a crucial role in the development of their children. study habits and discipline in learning often reflect how a child does in life as well.

i think i'm starting to have a bigger crush on mike luz already. hehe! but it is just wonderful to see the things i've been mulling over work be put on paper. whenever i suggest something for the program i can say, "mike luz said in this article he wrote that..." nyehehe!

a funny exchange and a serious thought

i have just been enlightened by toni what a naughty gift pearl necklace means. and i had to go "eeeeeeek!" i have just been sending that to friends over facebook? what the hey. i am so sorry.
so note to self... if it is a naughty gift and it looks pretty harmless... it still means something else. so if you don't know what it means... don't bother sending it. jeez. kakahiya. hahaha!

kasalanan mo to, sigmund freud! nyeta ka. hahahaha!

* * * * *

after paying the water bill, i arrived at an empty office with just today's paper waiting on the table. (hmm... how did that get there? moomoooo!) . so i flipped around and saw the usual bad news and did not bother to read. until i came across an article on education written by mike luz.

it talk about systemic answers to the problem of the department of education, rather than band-aid solutions. one of the band-aid solutions that he points out to is cyber-education. which i totally agree with! when i first heard jesli lapus talk about it during the karunungan festival in the ateneo, i was totally skeptical about the idea. having gone around several indigenous communities in mindanao, i have seen the state of public elementary schools in the area. and using the internet would do nothing to improve it at all. heck, there is no electricity and much less phone connections! and with zte deal... makes you wonder, really. cybereducation would probably just widen the gap between urban and rural education centers more.

what these children in the forgotten regions of our country needs are good teachers and better classroom conditions. they need schools that are near their communities and not one that can be reached only after a three kilometer walk. what they need is definitely not the internet. yet.

mike luz makes a good point about the department of education budget. while it has the biggest budget allocation (as it should be), the real test of government commitment to education should be budget per child. and he indicated, other countries spend seven to ten times more than we do.

and the teacher's salary... most urban private schools are able to provide good benefits for their educators. the government and the people have to realize that teachers are the core to the progress of the nation. salaries must be competent and one that will allow a teacher to live on it, not merely survive. imagine that our nation's future is in their hands. so investments on good teachers is a must.

and applicants should be screened properly. not just on the intellectual basis (which i actually find lacking still), but also on their capability to handle and educate a class. teaching is not about having the smartest people in front of the board, but one who is able to have an idea understood. (i've had so many near-genious teachers in the ateneo, but some of them do not know how to teach at all!) and any person who believes in corporal punishment applying to be a teacher, should be kicked out as soon as they step in the door. threatening a child will not do anything to a child's learning. at all.

on mike luz... juan miguel luz used to be the undersecretary of education. while i was not able to follow his short career on the post, i find it tragic that he wasn't able to stay longer to make the changes he had discussed in his article today. i had the privilege of being in a meeting in him january this year.

when i was informed that we were to present our program to him for comments, i got nervous. i barely had an idea about him and i've always been afraid of presenting thoughts to education experts. but he came. late but quite apologetic because he came from another meeting. and i was aghast... he was a handsome fellow. if i were in my 40's, i'd have a super crush on him. since i'm only nearing 30's, i only have a slight crush on him. hehe!

but i was more blow away by the way he thinks, by his ideas. in that man, i find a true educator. one truly concerned by delivering education to children and not just an official concerned with statistics to present to people. we both advocate against GMA's english policy for early childhood level students. and our program was lauded for using the native dialect as medium of instruction for class (yey!). and he was encouraging with focus on our skills-upgrading for teachers rather than prioritizing infrastructure (which tends to be a government folly).

anyway... that meeting made me a mike luz fan. i would like to work with someone who has that kind of drive for change and the intellectual capacity to lay options out. i do hope to hear more from this man next time. for now, i will content myself with his articles.

the state of education in the philippines

begin rant.

these are some of the graduates of our pre-school in malabog district here in davao city.

notice that some of them are wearing their uniform, while the others are not. this is actually the spot where they change into their uniform. the place is 30 minutes away from their home.

the night before, it rained. the roads are like melted chocolate, and are quite slippery. so they kids walk barefoot, while carrying their slippers so as to keep it clean for class.

from this point, they have to walk another thirty minutes to get to their primary school. some of them have not had breakfast yet. it is possible that they won't have lunch either. some probably brought boiled rootcrops to tide over their hunger, until they get home.

at least they only have to do it thrice-a-week.

isn't class supposed to be mondays to fridays?

yeah, well. up in the mountains, teachers get to school on monday afternoons, start teaching on a tuesday and go home on thursday afternoons.

and the government insists on an additional year of high school or elementary?! these people hardly have anything between their ears, ano?

hey you people up there in your pedestals... before you do that, why don't you first have your teachers go to school regularly. then limit those monthly programs that take so much time from class just to practice. independence day, nutrition month, linggo ng wika, christmas, valentine's, araw ng sitio, fiesta ng sitio, intramurals... and maybe you could add more schools to farther areas, one that won't force the children to walk for hours just to be 'educated.' no budget? crap. cough up those kickback! our foundation has been able to build a decent enough structure for just P50,000.00. who are you kidding.

end rant.

back to school

yesterday, the public schools have begun their classes. (which means, the intolerable traffic in manila when i go there. darn it.) while i was nccc lunch time, there were these children with their big bags wearing their school uniform. and the nostalgia came. those were the days when i was so excited with new notebooks and all that.

but, aha! i'm going back to school this year too! i go back to UP Open University for a second try. hehe! the last time i enrolled in their distance course (Masters in Professional Studies in Development Communication), I dropped my elective (which was more demanding than my major!) and aced my major (yeah!). And was considered AWOL because apparently the form they asked me to fill up asking whether I plan to enroll in the next semester which I stated I would not was not considered official. So for 5 years I was AWOL. Mwahaha!
So... I am once again a UP student. This time taking up their Professional Teaching Course. Not that I plan to become a teacher, but the education units will help me better with my job (I handle an education program). And the way fate has taken a turn, I might have to bid my media background goodbye and truly focus in the pursuit of education for all. Hahay.

Still, I'm not as excited as I should be. But I need the distraction for the loads of work I have to do. This morning I woke up realizing I am doing the work of three people plus helping out in other programs as well. I wanted to screaaaaaammmm! But haha. More work as therapy? Times are crazy nowadays.

Sayang though... I don't get to enjoy student discounts anymore. Darn it. 20% Student fares with PAL can only be for those 25 below. Not even that close. Mwhehe! Oh well. Another adventure for me, going back to school is. Let's see, let's see. :D