English communication, anyone?

Sometime ago, I went in a campus of a public high school located in our city. While waiting for the person I was supposed to meet, I read some announcements posted on its bulletin board not just to fill the void but to learn anything about the school.

What a learning I got! The very first paper I read really caught my attention and aroused my curiosity to pore over the other notes. In the end, doing that was something frustrating or disturbing or both. Some memoranda, ostensibly coming from higher offices, were written with less attention to form. I could understand if they were composed with less finesse because the same could be rationalized by the lack of material time to come up with an exacting prose.

True, the messages they contained were comprehensible but what horrified me were the lapses in grammar. They were discernible that anyone of my former college English teachers Ms. Matthea Baguia, the late Mr. Dionisio Soronio or Mrs Valmoria (yes, the mother of the Police Provincial Commander) would have a field day underlining them in red ink!

Before I may be misunderstood, let me clarify that I do not profess to have a great command of the King's language. Even my writing this column is more a result of the urging of the publisher, Sir Dodong, for whom my gratitude is immeasurable, and Sir Nito, than in recognition of a skill I obviously did not (make that do not) really possess. 

What I saw on the papers posted on that bulletin board made me ask questions. The first query that confronted me was whether the apparent disregard for better written communications in that school alone or was it also prevalent in the other institutions. If only to find an answer, I took time to visit few more campuses and then I dreaded at what I discovered.

The next question begged its answer. How could we expect students to attempt at more refined ways of writing when those responsible for their education did not show their concern for the language via better craftsmanship? They should have realized that those papers were to be posted on the board for everyone to read.

This is the direction of this article today. Among the many ills that beset our country, there is a basic problem to solve. It is in the area of education. Specifically, it is in the proficiency of the English language where, many observers have said, we had a decided edge over the rest of Asia.

Our policy makers claim that manpower continues to be among our best exports. The billions of dollars we receive from abroad help us stave the dire effects of financial crisis. These are, as if we don't know, remittances of our off shore workers. True or not, our ability to speak the Kings language constitutes our edge. We should not lose this advantage. Instead, we need to sharpen our competence.

 The posted announcements are writings on the wall, in a manner of speaking. We have to address this issue. Let us start with the higher echelon. Adopting programs that do not embarrass them, our government has to review their capacities. Those identified to possess skills that are more appropriate to different aspects of our system, have to be relocated. Others who remain tasked with acquiring a profound knowledge in English, have to undergo a process of enhancement, if not, reengineering.

At the frontline, our English teachers will find a continuing education useful and I mean continuing. Programs for them to revisit regularly their learning or update, now and then, their understanding of the language will go a long way to ensuring that they do not demonstrate to their students ungrammatical construction in their communication.

Those seeking employment as English teachers must show their technical skill. The screening has to be so rigorous as to go beyond merely looking at the certificate of eligibility. Applicants are determined qualified to teach not because they pass the general examinations, or that they know somebody in the department but because of the knowledge they bring to our educational system.

There must be more appropriate ways unknown to ordinary mortals like me designed by technocrats to improve our English communications skills. When they are fully implemented, I will no longer be terrified by what I may see posted on the bulletin boards of our own institutions of learning. End.