Struck by lightning

A thunderbolt is used as an icon for an idea. In this country, a thunderbolt can mean death.

Since my days as a reporter, I’ve come across so many stories of people around the country being killed by lightning. Most of the fatalities were electrocuted while wet or walking barefoot – often in the rain, in a puddle or a rice field – and were likely killed by ground current.

 Another common story is of people dying after touching a live electric wire or exposed outlet. The pregnant wife of someone I know was killed together with the baby in her womb when she reached out for a light switch while bathing in an outhouse. Her toddler daughter heard her scream and watched in horror as the mother shook violently and turned black from electric shock. Fortunately, the girl did not touch her mother, or she might have also been electrocuted. But for a while, the girl would imitate her mother shaking in her death throes. 

Even in the Information Age, too many Filipinos still don’t know such perils. Pre-pandemic, a water-themed park belatedly realized this, after a guest in one of the pools died of electric shock during a thunderstorm.

This reflects the quality of science education in our country. As for math, I have written about persons who can’t grasp, try as they might, the concept of fractions, and who need a calculator for numbers beyond 20.

Meanwhile, in communication, many seem to think it’s enough to be able to send short message bursts digitally, with words abbreviated and Filipino, English, Taglish, local dialects and emojis all jumbled together.

As for creative thinking, one can be creative even with low information literacy. But studies have shown that creativity is enhanced by information literacy and reading. So it wasn’t entirely surprising that our 15-year-old students landed at the bottom (again) in the inaugural global assessment for creative thinking. 

This was carried out under the Program for International Student Assessment of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Two PISA rounds, taken in 2018 and then in 2022, showed Filipino 15-year-olds landing at the bottom in math, science and reading comprehension.

*      *      *

While the PISA assessment on creative thinking affirmed a common perception in our country, the results were still disheartening.

 Philippine education is in crisis; we’re in a state of national education emergency. Let’s hope the next education secretary grasps the enormity of the challenge, and proves up to the task. 

The poor quality of education is a factor in our lamentable status as a regional laggard in many human development indicators, from economic prosperity to national competitiveness.

 Our biggest export, our human resource, could soon suffer the consequences of having peers from other countries who are equipped with higher skills, levels of comprehension, innovation and other competencies.

 Instead of giving education the priority that it deserves, Philippine presidents brag about their academic underperformance. Joseph Estrada took pride in being a college dropout. Rodrigo Duterte often publicly marveled that he, who barely achieved passing grade in high school and college, ended up being the bosing of the class valedictorian and other academic achievers – his “trabajantes.” 

How can Filipinos appreciate the value of a good education when their role models for success (measured by wealth, power and fame) are dominated by academic underachievers? 

Or else the successful Filipinos are those belonging to the .001 percent of the population who can afford an education in the top schools in the US and UK.

*      *      *

The quality of education has to be one of the reasons for the creativity that has made K-pop and K-drama conquer the world, earning billions annually for South Korea and allowing that country to project an enviable level of soft power.

Foreign chambers in the Philippines have long cited the creative industries as an area with strong potential for growth and becoming a major contributor to national productivity.

 We like to describe our culture as one that was shaped by nearly 400 years in the convent and 50 years of Hollywood. Considering our love for Hollywood movies and western pop music plus our proficiency in English, we should have been the first in Asia to produce global pop music stars and world-acclaimed movies.

Instead it was South Korea, where English is still not widely spoken, that gave the world BTS, Blackpink and Psy; movies such as Oscar Best Picture winner “Parasite” and “Squid Game,” and hit TV series such as “Crash Landing on You” and now “Queen of Tears.”  

These days, several of our pop music artists are copying the music and appearance of K-pop stars, while K-drama storylines are being adopted for local versions.

*      *      *

Creativity and innovation are needed for cutting-edge technology that makes life easier and the world better. But how can we innovate if so many of our youths are borderline no read, no write, and are bored (as per the PISA results) by new ideas?

 The Japanese, for example, apply technology even to the most basic necessities.

 I’ve always been impressed with Japan’s attention to creature comforts, particularly their toilets. They’ve had heated toilet seats with push-button bidets with pressure and direction control for a long time. Their public lavatories for women have automatic sound to drown out the nature of whatever the user is doing.

That kind of attention to detail can only spring from an educated, creative mind.

 Their latest innovation: the toilet seat cover automatically opens as soon as you enter the lavatory, and goes down automatically when you step out. The automatic flush sensor is invisible and is probably built into the temperature-controlled toilet seat. 

It’s fun to use, and you won’t get electric shock from such a toilet.