‘Pangulong GMA, buhayin mo sana ang aming kakayahan’

Sa unang dekada ng bagong milenyo, si Ginang Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ang naging pangulo ng bayan. Siya ang pumalit kay Presidente Estrada ng ito ay napaalis noong 2001 at siya ay nahalal noong 2004. Ano ang katangian niya na napapamahal siya sa ating kapwa Pilipino lalo na sa ating mga kabataan? Sa 2010, sa pagtatapos niya sa kaniyang katungkulan, ano ba ang alaalang iiwanan niya para sa atin? Isang kilong bigas? Mauubos ito sa isang araw. Nakakapagtaka sabi ng mga mag-aaral, nakalimutan na ba ng ating mahal na pinuno ang kasabihan, "Give a man a fish, he eats in one day, but teach him how to fish and he eats his whole lifetime."

Ako’y May Munting Tinig, May Munting Pangarap…

Sayang! Ang dole-out ay karaniwang paraang ginagamit ng mga makalumang (traditional) politiko. Lagi bang ganito? Nasusuya na ang bayang makita ang kanilang sarili na parang pulubi.

Sana gamitin ang P5 milyon para sa pagtatayo ng Pagsasarili preschool pilot sa bawat Region I, II, at III ng Luzon. Kung gumastos si Mayor Vilma Santos Recto ng P1 milyon para sa 15 Pagsasarili Preschools, magagawa din ito sa ibang lugar.

Makakamtan ba ng Pilipinas ang UN Millennium Development Goal (UNMDG 2000-2015) dahil sa kaniyang mga gawa sa halos sampung taon? Kung pilit niyang bibigyan ng halaga ang ‘quality education’ at ‘functional literacy’ sa bawat ‘skill training’ para sa mga dalaga at binatang hindi nakatapos. Ang isang limang taong gulang na kindergarten na bata ay magiging 15 taon gulang na at maaaring makapagtrabaho.

Ginang Pangulo, buhayin mo sana ang aming kakayahan, "I am but a small voice."

Give us the tools and we will do the job

When European countries were at war with Germany and the invasion of England up north was imminent, her leader Winston Churchill pleaded to US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, "Give us the tools and we will do the job."

The Philippines is at "war" now, constantly buffeted by heavy politics, weak defense program, and corruption that has scared away foreign investments. But, each Filipino has individual strengths. Piloting the effective Pagsasarili system in preschool will condition the Filipinos to love work, order and be self-confident. It has been proven as a launching pad to quality education. President GMA must arrest the wasting away of Filipinos by preventing poverty and misery caused by wrong education, as observed by the EDCOM survey of schools way back in 1990.

Ilang beses kong nilapitan ang Pangulong Gloria, kasama ang aking mga kasamahan sa Council of Early Childhood Education of the Philippines (CONCEP, Inc.) na itinatag noong 1987 ng Departamento ng Edukasyon sa pamamahala ni Dr. Lourdes Quisumbing, para pahintulutan kaming gamitin ang Pagsasarili system sa mga public preschools. Ang tanong niya, "Kaya mo? Kaya mong gawin iyan sa 42,000 elementary schools?"

Ginang Pangulo, nagawa ko na sa slum areas, sa Ifugao Rice Terraces, at sa Lipa — dahil sa partnership sa local mayors. Dinadaan lang sa pagtutulungan mahal na Pangulong Gloria.

UNESCO ACCU Meet on Education for Sustainable Development

I will be returning to Tokyo, Japan by the third week of February for the second meeting of UNESCO-ACCU. The Japan Funds In Trust is a major source of funds in implementing the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals for 2001-2015. The United Nations launched it. The search for Centers of Excellence for ESD in Asia will be announced formally by March. The winning centers will receive yearly US$35,000 for five years.

Within this decade, with GMA’s leadership starting in 2001 and ending in 2010, a five-year old child will be 15 by the end of her term. Her counterpart abroad is already employable since high schools in Europe, USA and Canada lasts six years — divided into lower and superior levels majority of the students learn technical skills from butchery, mechanics, retail business, beauty science, etc. To make this possible in the Philippines, TESDA must connect to high schools by adding an extra fifth year for technical training.

Psychologically, high school students are very keen on acquiring economic independence. The economy of Europe, America and Canada have been propelled by technical training of high school students. The Philippines is the only country in Southeast Asia with 10 years of Basic Education, the rest have 12 years.

Comparing the unit cost of primary and secondary education in Southeast Asia

The UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines in cooperation with UNESCO-IIEP (International Institute of Educational Planning) Paris have just concluded a five-day sub-regional workshop at Linden Suites, Pasig City to analyze the national costs of grade schools and high schools of Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Financial analysts, educational planners, and researchers are among the foreign participants, while Philippine experts from DepEd, DBM, NEDA, NSCB, TVET, SEAMEO-Innotech, Assumption, OB Montessori Center, and Maharlika Elementary School of Taguig comprised the group.

This is the third conference financed by UNESCO IIEP. The first is on administrative and financial costs of what sustains quality education in both private and public schools of Asia, while the second is based on parallel studies of government laws and regulations in educational management. With IIEP expert Dr. Serge Peaño, we began to understand that the professional formula for quality education consists not only of national funding, but the local government supplement and surprisingly parents’ voluntary contribution.

Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos have been through wars which interrupted seriously their education efforts. Thus, they could not provide accurate information on their cost of education. Meantime, Malaysia approximately spends US$1,000 per child annually. How is this possible? They only have a population of nearly 24 million. In fact their "20:20 Vision" Country Plan of education is promoting higher birth rate. Parents hardly contribute to educational expense. They do not send their child to private schools because many of these cannot afford facilities, and well-paid teachers of the "performing schools". Therefore, almost everyone attend public schools — the major capacity builders of Malaysian economy. Graduates are readily employable. The average pay of a teacher per month is US$400 and a principal US$1,600.

In Indonesia, a major part of public school education is provided. The Indonesian government can barely support its huge population, which is nearly triple that of the Philippines. Its educational system was never reinforced by its former colonial superior, Holland, unlike the Americans who introduced the public schooling in the Philippines. According to the Department of Education, the average annual education cost per pupil for primary education is US$103. Apparently, Indonesia and the Philippines have not factored parents’ contribution.

Dr. Romulo Virola of the National Statistics Coordination Board presented the 1991-98 NEXA (National Education Expenditure Accounts) of the Philippines survey, which stated that the Philippines spent a total of $5.9 billion for education in 1998 or 20 percent of the national budget. Funds are used to finance basic, middle-level skills development, higher education, job-related training programs, and ancillary activities. The share of families is almost the same with the government (45.8 percent and 48.1 percent in 1998).

The major lessons learned by the participants are: annual or biennial statistics on education expenditures should be done; accumulated report of costing should involve parents’ voluntary contribution; and the education cost is based on population.

The fable of the Great River

Elementary school children who are six to 12 years old enjoy a period of powerful intelligence. Their zest for learning is heightened by their fertile imagination. Since that fades in the next stage of development in adolescence from 12 to 18 years old, DepEd must cultivate it in the 42,000 elementary schools in the country. If the Pagsasarili cosmic curriculum is piloted in one school per region of Luzon, thus there will be barely any drop-outs in the first grade. By the sixth grade, the class population would be intact and most of the grade school graduates would pass the entrance exams to First Year High School.

The story of ‘The Great River’ inflames both intelligence and imagination of graders as early as the third grade. Try giving it in your Science class with an illustrated poster.

Once there was a "Great River", at its source stands the president’s headquarters. From here the topmost leader of the country communicates to various departments on both sides of the river — all the Departments of Nutrition, Education, Agriculture, Labor, Justice, Health, and Defense. The inhabitants of this country work 24 hours daily. If one stops working it would cause the death of the nation. The Great River helps nourish the country at the same time flushes the waste out.

The "Great River" is actually the Circulatory System of the "great nation", which is the Human Body. The citizens are the cells. Together they form the tissues. The tissues make up the organs and a set of organs makes up the system. Example: the Digestive System is composed on the man’s mouth, esophagus, large and small intestines, liver, pancreas, spleen, each with its particular tissue. The health of the tissue depends on the health of the cells. If it becomes cancerous then the sickness can collapse the whole life system of the body.

Likewise, the strength of the Filipino nation is dependent on the capacity and self-sustenance of each citizen, If the president can focus on the spirit of "helping people help themselves" through quality education particularly a "lifelong EFA for Sustainable Development".

Ginang Presidente Sana Pakinggan Ninyo ang Munting Mamamayan

"Ako’y munting tinig
May munting pangarap
Samyo ng bulaklak
Sa hanging malinis

May ngiti sa araw
At kung umuula’y makapagtampisaw
Malayang daigdig ng kawalang malay."
"I am but a small voice

I am but a small dream
To smile upon the sun
Be free to dance and sing
Be free to sing my song to everyone"

"Come young citizens of the world
We are one, we are one
Come young citizens of the world
We are one, we are one

We have one hope
We have one dream
And with one voice we sing…
"Peace, prosperity

And love for all mankind
Peace, prosperity
And love for all mankind."

(For more information or reaction, please e-mail at [email protected] or [email protected])