Late reaction
It has been seven days since the State of the Nation Address was delivered by our dear President. By the nature of the work that I am in, I was tasked to sit through the two hour long telecast.
Hours before the actual event, preparations were already seen live. Of course, who could miss spotting those who attended the prestigious affair and the gowns that they were in? I could not help but bring out the girl in me as I scanned through the fashion of the different respected individuals.
Finally the President entered the hall and everyone stood up, he motioned for them to sit. He began by beginning with a litany about what the different agencies achieved especially during the different calamities that struck our country such as the typhoon and the earthquake. As he went through the agencies one by one I was bracing myself for him to mention the department of education.
And he did, saying that there has been improvement in this sector citing specifically the K-12 scheme which has taken effect. I raise my eyebrow at skepticism. Is the new scheme really an improvement? Yes and No.
On my watch, I could sense that a larger bulk of budget will be needed if it will indeed be continued. There are more classrooms to build and more books to provide. Not to mention that the youth of today need to be technology savvy if they intend to compete with the world. There has to be an adequate number of computers that could be used by the students, if possible with a lower student-computer ratio. On top of that, other facilities should be provided for such as library, laboratory, gym and the like. I do not see any improvement given the lean budget that this sector is receiving.
On another note, K-12 helps because those who cannot afford college are now eligible for technical work since this has been already tackled in high school according to the new system. They can easily find a job that could suit their acquired technical skill while aligning with the western standard.
Ideally, the scheme seems to uplift the status of our Filipino youth especially those who do not have the means to proceed towards college. However, the issue remains to be debatable. But if you ask me about improvement, I say that the status remains the same just as it was in the previous administrations; little improvement, perhaps.
At the University of the Philippines where students are supposed to be enjoying their privilege to be inside the national university, they are forced to pay their tuition fees to cover the expenses of the government. What worsens the situation this time is the new socialized tuition scheme form where lifestyle questions are being asked; an unfit yardstick for one's socio-economic background.
As of today, most of the teachers are calling for the suspension of K-12 since their assessment reads that we are not ready for this educational system. Some of them are also scared that their jobs might be lost. This prompted them to grade the President as a beginner. He might be, or not, but still the education sector clamors for attention especially with its budget.
With all that was being said during the President's SONA, it was hard to distinguish the truth from what is not especially on education. Towards the end of his speech he showed emotion. I did not know what that meant about.
Consider this as a late reaction somehow I am hoping that before 2016 comes, something will be done on the education sector. We must not forget that if we do not invest on our young today, we will be facing a country with a poor foundation. I just hope the President puts that on his to-do list for his last two years in the administration.
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