"It will take years before we can see the fruits of educational reform."
Out of 58 countries that participated in the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study whose results were just released Tuesday of last week, fourth grade Filipino students came in last in both Mathematics and Science.
This is hardly surprising and not the only bad news. Our English proficiency which is the only advantage that Filipinos have in competing for international jobs has also significantly deteriorated over the years. In another study in reading, out of 79 countries, our country was also last.
We are graduating so many people, many of whom are mediocre and cannot compete in the international job market. There was a time that we Filipinos were very proud of the quality of our public education from grade school all the way up to college. Unfortunately, not anymore. This is the reason why there are so many private schools that have sprouted all over the country because parents would rather spend money to send their children to these private schools instead of free public schools.
The TIMSS report did not say whether private school 4th graders took part. If they did, it would be doubly embarrassing for us for then, both our public and private schools are really below par. The deterioration of our educational standards did not happen overnight. It has been sliding slowly for many years.
This first started during the Martial Law period when the defense budget took precedence because of the Mindanao uprising in the early 1970s. The education budget which traditionally got the lion’s share of the national budget had to be sacrificed for a few years because of national security requirements.
When Martial Law was over, the game of catch up took over which we are still doing up to now.
But only this time, many other problems were added to the mix. For instance, all our classes are overcrowded with more than 50 pupils to a class. It is also undeniable that the overall quality of teachers has deteriorated because we are not attracting the best candidate teachers due to poor pay. Many schools in the country especially in the rural areas lack the equipment to help enhance learning. School children also have so many vacations and holidays that are becoming disruptive to the learning process.
If we add the many days wasted because the schools are being used as evacuation centers every time there is a natural disaster, then we can begin to understand why the quality of education has gone down. We are not even talking about the quality of our education leaders. Those people who are supposed to be leading, managing and administering a supposedly 21st century education. What kind of educational leaders do we have?
The Department of Education is one of the largest if not the largest bureaucracy in government. It is in the field of education where the future of our nation depends. It is for this reason therefore, that it has the largest slice of the national budget.
But if the country keeps on getting very low and embarrassing results in international assessment studies, then the future of our country is bleak. Perhaps it is time for drastic changes. As one Senator said, our educational system is in crisis.
The Department is currently headed by Secretary Leonor Briones who will be 81 years old next year. She is an academician and has held senior government positions in previous administrations. Her government service record has been impeccable and distinguished. She is however, advancing in years. We do not know how much longer she would like to stay on her job or whether she is still up to it considering the stress and huge responsibility of managing such a large agency which could task even a much younger and healthier person to the limit. Watching her on TV during conferences and information coming from some reliable sources, she does not only look her age but is also acting it already. Maybe she should consider retiring to give a chance to a much younger qualified and dynamic person and take her well deserved retirement and rest.
The job ahead to reform and improve our educational system will not be easy and will take time. It will also need a sustained and determined effort which should be more than the common platitudes that we often hear from our government leaders every time we have problems like this. We need better pay for our teachers, better schools, better curriculum, better educational leaders, less political interference, and the government not using school teachers for election duties anymore. It will take years before we can see the fruits of educational reform. But whether the government realizes the dire situation of education and embarks on a much-needed reform is another matter.