In a small private school near my home, where tuition is affordable enough even for low-income families, pupils are taught robotics in first grade.
I have no idea what is taught in grade school robotics apart from using computers, but one of the students enjoyed the class so much and he is now an avid learner in second grade.
The boy’s father is a minimum wage earner and the mother has a stay-at-home job, but they want to invest in their oldest son’s education by putting him in a private school instead of availing themselves of free public education.
With the exception of the University of the Philippines and Philippine Science systems, privately funded elementary and high schools in this country are still generally seen to offer better education than public schools. I’ve been told that the situation was the reverse during the Commonwealth period, with public schools offering top-quality education. Today, however, parents in poor households who believe in education’s potential for empowering an individual consider tuition in a private school a worthy investment.
But the winds are shifting and public schools have upgraded the quality of their services enough to entice some students to transfer from private schools. Even teachers from certain private schools are now attracted by better compensation in the public education system. This is according to Education Secretary Leonor Briones, who adds that a government program to lure back teachers working overseas has also attracted over 2,000 returnees so far.
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Facing “The Chiefs” the other day on Cignal TV’s One News channel, Briones chided us for nurturing what she described as an “outdated” and “romanticized” view of the state of Philippine education.
Told about the pronouncement of an educators’ group at the start of the school year that students would be facing the same chronic problems as classes opened, Briones gave what she said was a Visayan response: “That is to their according.”
She brushed aside images of classes being held “under the mango tree” and of teachers being overworked, underpaid and handling three class shifts a day. While Briones acknowledged that the Philippine population keeps growing, she stressed that the government has the resources to provide education for all, and even to hire thousands of additional teachers over a certain period.
With a basic entry pay of P21,000 for grade school teachers, compared to the minimum pay of P6,000 in some private schools in underserved areas, the public school system has become attractive for educators, Briones told us. As for the quality of the education rendered, the upgrading is a continuing effort.
Briones recalled being asked what the Department of Education (DepEd) was doing “about these traditional problems.” She replied, “They’re no longer traditional.”
“Very competitive na ang public sector ngayon,” she said.
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Which is not to say that Philippine public education is now in an ideal state. Among the persistent problems is the sheer lack of space in Metro Manila and other major urban centers to build more school rooms and buildings.
“In Metro Manila you can’t even get a flower pot of soil to build a teeny-weeny school,” Briones told us.
DepEd is therefore going vertical, she said, turning each school building into at least four floors. This will take some time to complete. Another option is to build new schools away from city centers, with a bus service to transport students to their schools and back to their neighborhoods. For this, the DepEd is still coordinating with local government units.
And despite ending the long-festering teacher shortage, Briones admits that the country still lacks teachers in science and mathematics. This, however, reflects the state of Philippine society, which puts a low premium on the two subjects.
Perhaps this is due in part to the lack of successful role models. In the US, UK and some other countries, biopics are made of their math and science geniuses. In contrast, can you think of a famous Pinoy scientist or mathematician? Our role models are movie stars, politicians (mostly lawyers), a boxer-turned-senator, and now a mayor-turned-president with a propensity to deadly violence and profanity-laced speech.
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Speaking of role models, DepEd is offering subjects on good manners and right conduct. What do teachers say when students ask them about President Duterte’s unrestrained cussing in public against everything and everyone including God?
Briones said she refused to be “trapped” into commenting on her boss the President, telling us only that “he’s a big boy, he can speak for himself.”
“The President can defend himself,” Briones said. “I’m not accountable for him. What we teach our children are good manners and right conduct.”
Briones prefers to dwell on the positives, among them the progress of the Kindergarten plus 12 program. The first batch of K-12 graduates has found it easier to find jobs even without proceeding to college, Briones noted.
Some quarters had initially complained about the financial burden of an additional two years in basic education and warned of a high dropout rate. But Briones is happy to note that the K-12 dropout rate has defied dire predictions. She said that even the feared massive displacement of teachers did not materialize. Briones credits her predecessor Armin Luistro for withstanding the flak and forging ahead with K-12.
Employment is also getting a boost from a growing interest in technical-vocational courses combined with job-matching programs, she said.
It may take some time before the good news about Philippine education begins to sink. Many people, including the parents whose son is enjoying his robotics class, would gladly see those negative, “romanticized” perceptions changed.