“What moral right do we have to demand or expect children to do better?”
AT A social event earlier this year, I found myself standing beside a middle-aged school owner from a province down south. Our small talk about young people being digital natives eventually veered toward higher education. He casually tossed in the fact that he had a PhD in Education.
I was impressed. Here was a person who cracked jokes every so often, freely talked about his family, his few business ventures to augment the family income, and his love for traveling whenever his schedule and budget allowed it.
Who would have guessed that this easy-going fellow had what it took to actually finish a postgraduate degree in one of the most challenged sectors in our society today?
“Wow,” I could not help exclaiming. “Congratulations, sir!”
He smiled self-consciously even as he muttered: “Thanks!”
Now I was really interested. College is difficult enough. Taking an MA/MS and PhD, hurdling its financial demands, juggling it with a full-time job and/or a business, not to mention personal responsibilities as husband and father, are unlocking a different level of achievement.
“What did you write about for your dissertation?” I asked. Imagine getting to know a specific aspect of your field of study, reading so much about it, conducting actual surveys or analyses, looking at your results, summing it all up and hazarding a new insight based on what you found. The man must be a fountain of knowledge about his topic. I was genuinely interested and thought a discussion would be better than the generalizations and trite observations people usually make during small talk.
“Uhmmm…” he paused. “Ahh.. naku nakalimutan ko na e (I forget).”
I thought he was saying he had spent too much effort on his dissertation, he was glad it was done, and he wanted to finally forget about that difficult part of his journey.
But he sincerely had no idea what his paper was about.
This was perplexing because some acquaintances who had written dissertations talked about how this document ruled their existence for years on end. They were always working on it, writing it, revising it, rethinking it. They sacrificed time for it. It even inhabited their dreams, or nightmares – that’s how big a figure it was.
It was grace to be finally allowed to defend it.
I tried to defuse the awkwardness. “Naku sir baka na-trauma kayo sa sobrang hirap tapos naka-block na sya ngayon sa memory nyo!”
We laughed. And then he added: “Ang mahal nga ng nagastos ko sa PhD na yan,” he said.
“Ay sobrang mahal na nga ho mag-aral talaga ngayon, lalo na kung private school,” I said. “Saan ho ba kayo nag-enrol?”
“Sa (certain university),” he said, naming his alma mater.
“Mataas pala ang tuition sa (certain university). Is the price comparable to Ateneo or La Salle?”
“Ay hindi, ibig ko sabihin ang laki ng nagastos ko sa mga Lacoste na pinagbibili ko para sa panel ko!”
I failed to muster a response to this, simply hoping that he was still on Dad-joke mode.
***
All these came back to me when I read about the Second Congressional Commission on Education’s (Edcom 2) findings that diploma mills offering master’s and doctoral degrees were proliferating.
Data between 2012 and 2024 showed that more than half of the total enrollment in graduate programs was concentrated in the field of education. This is driven by the vertical qualification requirements and point-based promotion systems within DepEd, Edcom 2 said.
But the study, undertaken through a research fellowship with Ateneo de Manila University, found systemic issues in the production of advanced degrees especially in education and public administration. Incentives from government policies meant to raise the level of educator quality are inadvertently degrading instructional quality.
“There is a strong public perception that the pursuit of advanced degrees has at times become transactional—a means to gain promotion points rather than to enhance teaching competence. This sentiment is fueled by a perceived failure to properly regulate institutions, leading to a situation where, as many have pointed out, low-quality or ‘fly-by-night’ schools provide the same career benefits as high-quality universities. This reality undermines the very purpose of professional development and points to an urgent need for systemic reform,” Executive DIrector Dr. Karol Mark Yee said in a statement on the EDCOM 2 page.
Advanced degrees are always desirable, even if they are not for everyone. For those in the field of education, having advanced degrees confers upon them a presumption of expertise and credibility that would affect their promotion, if they are employees, or perhaps enrollment rates if they are school owners. Degrees equate to merit, and this is always better than promotions given on a whim or because of connections.
But if the degrees themselves become the sole aim, without regard for quality or the manner in which they are attained, then it becomes a free-for-all pursuit that denigrates, instead of elevates, education.
In the end, how can we face the children we are supposedly teaching knowing that the degrees we claim to have were obtained through subpar and devious means? What moral right do we have to demand or expect them to do better?
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