Education will determine future of this country

Because of the strong dollar inflow from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), for the first time in more than a year, the peso breached the psychological barrier of 50 to the dollar. The reason for the sudden increase in inflow is that OFWs send money to pay for their children, brothers and sisters school fees which starts next month. This clearly shows how high Filipinos regard education. They know that the best legacy they can leave their country is an educated family.

Ignorance is a form of slavery. Wisdom begins with an awareness of ignorance. And although it is a fact that education is costly, ignorance is the only thing that is even costlier than education. And education is still the cheapest defense of any nation. It is a better defense than any army. Education should teach us not only how to work for a living, but how to live so that we will be of service to the country and our fellowmen. In short, education should not merely be teaching people what they do not know, but more important give their lives purpose and meaning.

We live under a democratic system of government where the majority rules. Sad to say, the majority of our people are still ignorant. Look at our local movies, for example. As a general rule the protagonists are screaming at each other. Why? Because a dialogue is an exchange of knowledge; an argument is an exchange of ignorance. And it is a fact that today, people are more influenced by media than by their families or schools. That is why we are in serious danger of being governed by entertainers. Samuel Gompers said it well. "We can advance and develop democracy but little faster than we can advance and develop the average level of intelligence and knowledge within the democracy." Add to this, the observation of Henry Brougham that "Education makes a people easy to lead, but difficult to drive, easy to govern, but impossible to enslave." Lastly, let me quote Joseph Addison’s statement: "Education is a companion which no misfortune can depress, no crime can destroy, no enemy can alienate, no despotism can enslave. At home a friend, abroad an introduction, in solitude a solace, and in society an ornament. It chastens vice, it guides virtue, it gives, at once, grace and government to genius. Without it, what is man? A splendid slave, a reasoning savage." In short, the safest investment is education.

The goals and policies of any administration are seldom reflected in the pronouncements of its officials. If you want to know the priorities of any administration, the place to look is the budget. Education should get the top priority in our budget. Our school children should be provided with school houses, books and competent teachers. We can’t have dedicated teachers unless they are properly compensated. At the moment, many of our school teachers are working as housemaids in Hong Kong because they earn more than what they get as teachers in their own country. The main task of a teacher is to imbue their pupils with the desire to learn. They cannot do that if their compensation is not commensurate with their responsibilities. The success of our educational system depends on our teachers.

Our greatest enemy is ignorance. The only thing that can defeat ignorance is education.