Why some people in the country end up the way they are
January 16, 2005 | 12:00am
Last summer, I went to London with my husband to attend a cousin’s wedding. I went to my second favorite place as far as non-shopping is concerned, the British Museum (the first being the British Library). I was awed that school children there were already taught and exposed to world history and science even at the age of nine. In fact, kids from two public schools were sitting on the floor and quietly answering worksheets on Egyptian mummies and artifacts.
Now that our kids have to go back to school after a two-week Christmas break (aw, shucks!), I figured that I would write something about the state of education in our country. Or should I say, one reason why our country is in the doldrums.
I had an interesting conversation with a private preschool teacher-turned-private tutor-cum-public school teacher. Her story about her students made me realize why some people in the country end up the way they are.
She says that the problem in public schools, which majority of the nation’s schoolchildren attend, is not the academic standards as much as the discipline among kids, and the attitude of their parents. She tells her story.
"After teaching for 15 years in a privately-owned preschool, I got bored and decided to have a change in environment. I went into private tutoring, and at my age, I decided that it was time to give my expertise to the less fortunate. I decided to teach in a public school.
"Moving from a very exclusive private preschool to an elementary public school was certainly a culture shock for me. In the school where I teach, each grade level has six sections except for Grade 1, which has eight sections. There are on an average 50 students per class. I teach Grade 1 section eight, which is an ‘opportunity class’ where they group all the slow learners. Because I applied late (way past the start of the school year), that section was assigned to me. No one really wanted to take it.
"Each grade level, including kindergarten, holds half-day sessions. The sessions of Grade 1, three and five are held in the morning, while those of grades two, four and six are held in the afternoon. The reason they can’t have whole day sessions is the lack of classrooms. There are only 18 classrooms in the school. I teach four subjects from 6 to 11:30 a.m. That’s English (integrated with science), Makabayan (which is Sibika integrated with PE, arts and music), math and Filipino.
"The biggest difference between a private school and a public school is the discipline of the kids. It is a gargantuan task just to discipline them. It is easy to teach the kids the curriculum but disciplining them is hard. Majority of my students don’t get any support from their parents, starting from the baon. I would ask these kids why they didn’t bring baon and they would shyly say, ‘Walang pera si nanay, e!’
"On the first day, when the bell rang for recess, I was surprised that the kids didn’t go to the canteen. They just remained at their desks. One kid then volunteered to get a bilao of food to bring to the classroom. I asked why she was going to get the bilao and why no one was going to the canteen, and she told me, ‘Kasi kayo ang titinda sa amin.’ Apparently, they were expecting me to get the merienda from the canteen and be in charge of selling it to them. Why? Because they didn’t know what it meant to line up at the canteen.
"So, I asked three boys to get the bilao from the canteen. When the bilao arrived, the kids swarmed the three boys like bees! They simply didn’t know how to line up. It was so confusing with the kids getting their own thing that I just had to tell everyone, ‘Basta huwag magsisinungaling sa bayad! (Just don’t cheat when you pay.)’ The food is very cheap. Six pesos for spaghetti, P5 for halo-halo, P2 for two pieces of kikiam and P1 for one sausage.
"The following day, I told the canteen staff not to prepare any more bilao. I brought the kids to the canteen to teach them how to line up and wait for their turn. I had to be very strict with them, ‘Hindi tayo aalis ng classroom hangga’t hindi maayos ang pila. (We are not leaving the classroom until we have an orderly line.)’
"They eventually learned how to line up, but then another problem cropped up. The kids started loitering and didn’t come back to the classroom on time. So, I went back to handling the selling of the merienda again in the classroom. When the total receipts are short, I have to get the balance from my own personal funds. Yet I can’t go back also to having them go to the canteen because now the school is short of funds to maintain enough canteen staff to serve the kids.
"There was another problem aside from not knowing how to line up. Some of the kids used their allowance to gamble. They would gamble P1 in a game of jack-en-poy. Or their money would get stolen. Every day at least three kids would complain that their money was stolen.
"Finally, I decided to call the parents for a meeting and tell them that starting next week, no one would be allowed to bring money anymore to school and that they would have to prepare merienda for their kids every morning.
"Thank goodness that after a few weeks, I managed to train them not to steal anymore. Now there are no more complaints of theft. At least I hope so.
"The parents are tricycle drivers, construction workers, electricians, laundry women and even scavengers. The richest parent is a retired military man. My friend who teaches in a public high school says that a major concern is the indifference of some of the parents on the academic performance of their kids. These parents tell her to just pass their kids, what the heck. ‘Tutal hindi na magkokolehiyo iyan (Anyway, he won’t be going to college.),’ they would say, ‘Construction din naman ang papapasukan niyan (He’ll also end up doing construction work.).’
"I have 43 students in my class, 30 boys and 13 girls. Half are aged six to seven, the other half are between eight and 10, and two kids are already 13. In fact, I have two brothers in my class. Simon is seven while Ernesto is 13 (not their real names). Their mother is a basurera (scavenger) and their father doesn’t do anything. Simon doesn’t attend school regularly. I asked Ernesto why, and he said, ‘Teacher, ’di ko po nalabhan ang polo niya (I wasn’t able to wash his uniform.).’ Ernesto is indeed a very good kuya. He washes the clothes of his younger brother, but unfortunately, they have only one set each, which they have to wear every day.
"Out of the 43 students, only about 10 can read, and when I mean ‘read,’ I don’t mean the way one is supposed to read. They can read only three-to-four letter words. The rest cannot even read. I have to read to them.
"Another problem, which I encountered on my first day of work, was their smell. Iba talaga ang amoy. (They really smell different.) They had no sense of hygiene. They would come to class without brushing their teeth and they would say, ‘Teacher, wala kasi kaming Colgate (We don’t have toothpaste.),’ and I would advise them to use salt instead. They would take a bath but without using soap nor shampoo. I have to constantly tell them, ‘Amuyin mo si teacher, mabango. Araw-araw aamuyin ko kayo. (Smell your teacher. She smells pleasant. Every day, I will check if you smell pleasant, too.)’
"And some kids, at such a young age, already know how to curse. Obviously, they could learned it from their parents. I would have to approach them very kindly if they curse, ‘Yung mga anghel lumalayo sa inyo. Yung mga demonyo yumayakap sa inyo. (The angels stay away from you, and the devils rush to embrace you.)’
"Last Christmas, we had a party for the class. I had to cook spaghetti for all of them because if not, there would be nothing to eat. The party was attended not only by their immediate family but also their extended family! They attacked my spaghetti like piranhas! The exchange gift was P20 because that was all they could afford. The kids all came in old clothes and two didn’t attend because they said they had nothing to wear. Simon came in wearing a tattered adult men’s shirt and basketball shorts.
"Despite all this, I always instill in the kids the attitude that they should try their best. Moving from a private school to a public school was certainly a shock for me, but it has been very fulfilling. Despite the hurdles, there’s joy in seeing a little improvement day after day, even if it just pertains to hygiene or lining up. My mission now is not so much academics but discipline. I think it is this lack of discipline that’s our No. 1 problem. It is this discipline that compels people to succeed, whether in school or their careers."
Now, if you’re wondering why some people don’t know how to line up for the bus, why bus drivers don’t know how to follow a single file on the road, why manholes get stolen, why there is so much garbage on the streets, why some people who are already broke would still gamble their last few precious pesos away, or why some children grow up with no intentions of improving their lives, or worse, sniff rugby, now, you know why.
Now that our kids have to go back to school after a two-week Christmas break (aw, shucks!), I figured that I would write something about the state of education in our country. Or should I say, one reason why our country is in the doldrums.
I had an interesting conversation with a private preschool teacher-turned-private tutor-cum-public school teacher. Her story about her students made me realize why some people in the country end up the way they are.
She says that the problem in public schools, which majority of the nation’s schoolchildren attend, is not the academic standards as much as the discipline among kids, and the attitude of their parents. She tells her story.
"Moving from a very exclusive private preschool to an elementary public school was certainly a culture shock for me. In the school where I teach, each grade level has six sections except for Grade 1, which has eight sections. There are on an average 50 students per class. I teach Grade 1 section eight, which is an ‘opportunity class’ where they group all the slow learners. Because I applied late (way past the start of the school year), that section was assigned to me. No one really wanted to take it.
"Each grade level, including kindergarten, holds half-day sessions. The sessions of Grade 1, three and five are held in the morning, while those of grades two, four and six are held in the afternoon. The reason they can’t have whole day sessions is the lack of classrooms. There are only 18 classrooms in the school. I teach four subjects from 6 to 11:30 a.m. That’s English (integrated with science), Makabayan (which is Sibika integrated with PE, arts and music), math and Filipino.
"The biggest difference between a private school and a public school is the discipline of the kids. It is a gargantuan task just to discipline them. It is easy to teach the kids the curriculum but disciplining them is hard. Majority of my students don’t get any support from their parents, starting from the baon. I would ask these kids why they didn’t bring baon and they would shyly say, ‘Walang pera si nanay, e!’
"On the first day, when the bell rang for recess, I was surprised that the kids didn’t go to the canteen. They just remained at their desks. One kid then volunteered to get a bilao of food to bring to the classroom. I asked why she was going to get the bilao and why no one was going to the canteen, and she told me, ‘Kasi kayo ang titinda sa amin.’ Apparently, they were expecting me to get the merienda from the canteen and be in charge of selling it to them. Why? Because they didn’t know what it meant to line up at the canteen.
"So, I asked three boys to get the bilao from the canteen. When the bilao arrived, the kids swarmed the three boys like bees! They simply didn’t know how to line up. It was so confusing with the kids getting their own thing that I just had to tell everyone, ‘Basta huwag magsisinungaling sa bayad! (Just don’t cheat when you pay.)’ The food is very cheap. Six pesos for spaghetti, P5 for halo-halo, P2 for two pieces of kikiam and P1 for one sausage.
"The following day, I told the canteen staff not to prepare any more bilao. I brought the kids to the canteen to teach them how to line up and wait for their turn. I had to be very strict with them, ‘Hindi tayo aalis ng classroom hangga’t hindi maayos ang pila. (We are not leaving the classroom until we have an orderly line.)’
"They eventually learned how to line up, but then another problem cropped up. The kids started loitering and didn’t come back to the classroom on time. So, I went back to handling the selling of the merienda again in the classroom. When the total receipts are short, I have to get the balance from my own personal funds. Yet I can’t go back also to having them go to the canteen because now the school is short of funds to maintain enough canteen staff to serve the kids.
"There was another problem aside from not knowing how to line up. Some of the kids used their allowance to gamble. They would gamble P1 in a game of jack-en-poy. Or their money would get stolen. Every day at least three kids would complain that their money was stolen.
"Finally, I decided to call the parents for a meeting and tell them that starting next week, no one would be allowed to bring money anymore to school and that they would have to prepare merienda for their kids every morning.
"Thank goodness that after a few weeks, I managed to train them not to steal anymore. Now there are no more complaints of theft. At least I hope so.
"The parents are tricycle drivers, construction workers, electricians, laundry women and even scavengers. The richest parent is a retired military man. My friend who teaches in a public high school says that a major concern is the indifference of some of the parents on the academic performance of their kids. These parents tell her to just pass their kids, what the heck. ‘Tutal hindi na magkokolehiyo iyan (Anyway, he won’t be going to college.),’ they would say, ‘Construction din naman ang papapasukan niyan (He’ll also end up doing construction work.).’
"I have 43 students in my class, 30 boys and 13 girls. Half are aged six to seven, the other half are between eight and 10, and two kids are already 13. In fact, I have two brothers in my class. Simon is seven while Ernesto is 13 (not their real names). Their mother is a basurera (scavenger) and their father doesn’t do anything. Simon doesn’t attend school regularly. I asked Ernesto why, and he said, ‘Teacher, ’di ko po nalabhan ang polo niya (I wasn’t able to wash his uniform.).’ Ernesto is indeed a very good kuya. He washes the clothes of his younger brother, but unfortunately, they have only one set each, which they have to wear every day.
"Out of the 43 students, only about 10 can read, and when I mean ‘read,’ I don’t mean the way one is supposed to read. They can read only three-to-four letter words. The rest cannot even read. I have to read to them.
"Another problem, which I encountered on my first day of work, was their smell. Iba talaga ang amoy. (They really smell different.) They had no sense of hygiene. They would come to class without brushing their teeth and they would say, ‘Teacher, wala kasi kaming Colgate (We don’t have toothpaste.),’ and I would advise them to use salt instead. They would take a bath but without using soap nor shampoo. I have to constantly tell them, ‘Amuyin mo si teacher, mabango. Araw-araw aamuyin ko kayo. (Smell your teacher. She smells pleasant. Every day, I will check if you smell pleasant, too.)’
"And some kids, at such a young age, already know how to curse. Obviously, they could learned it from their parents. I would have to approach them very kindly if they curse, ‘Yung mga anghel lumalayo sa inyo. Yung mga demonyo yumayakap sa inyo. (The angels stay away from you, and the devils rush to embrace you.)’
"Last Christmas, we had a party for the class. I had to cook spaghetti for all of them because if not, there would be nothing to eat. The party was attended not only by their immediate family but also their extended family! They attacked my spaghetti like piranhas! The exchange gift was P20 because that was all they could afford. The kids all came in old clothes and two didn’t attend because they said they had nothing to wear. Simon came in wearing a tattered adult men’s shirt and basketball shorts.
"Despite all this, I always instill in the kids the attitude that they should try their best. Moving from a private school to a public school was certainly a shock for me, but it has been very fulfilling. Despite the hurdles, there’s joy in seeing a little improvement day after day, even if it just pertains to hygiene or lining up. My mission now is not so much academics but discipline. I think it is this lack of discipline that’s our No. 1 problem. It is this discipline that compels people to succeed, whether in school or their careers."
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