Playing with Fire
New pathways to education
By Gonzalo Duque
HEARD the song “Honesty?”
We want to dedicate it to most of our pubic officials. Here goes, “Honesty, it’s a lonely word, everyone is so untrue.”
If you read the national dailies these days, that guy whose name is Doble seems to be true to his name. Right?
* * *
Integral to our advocacy for a responsive educational system, we have presented a paper “Proposal for a National Academic Festival” with sub-head “Developing a Culture for Intellectualism.”
Initial response to it is heartwartming. Former Commissioner on Higher Education Ester Garcia, now UE president, told us “it’s an idea whose time has come.”
Below are the salient points of our proposal:
A- Developing the Filipino Youth through Sports
Context of National Inter-School Competitions
The current context of national inter-school competitions for higher educational institutions (HEI) is more or less defined by the success of the Private Schools Athletics Association (PRISAA).
For decades the PRISAA has succeeded in developing a national culture of sportsmanship and constructive competition among the various HEIs who value the prestige this event brings to their respective institutitons and to their athletes . Having gained such deep roots in the honored traditions of HEIs, the PRISAA successfully maintains a broad and sweeping linkage with all HEIs.
B- Developing the Filipino Nation through Academics
Expanding National Inter-School Competitions through Academics
The success of the PRISAA is a clear indication that sustainable coordination between HEIs for the promotion of national events is very much possible. The infrastructure created and maintained by the PRISAA can both be replicated and be further utilized if HEIs come to an agreement to adopt an academic wing to the national competitions of the PRISAA.
As motivation to adopt this proposal, we encourage all to exercise foresight in anticipating what the culture of intellectualism generated by an Academic Festival could do for that reinvigoration of scholasticism among students and enhancement of the quality of Filipino graduates. What may start of as a simple friendly competition may in time provide the impetus for the birth of future intellectual groups and melting pots for the nation.
C- Envisioning Future Possibilities International Academic Festivals.
Benchmarking with International Standards
To date there are a number of international scholastic competitions being held in different parts of the world. But these are not necessarily as comprehensive and impact generating compared to the model that we are to develop.
What we aim to establish, should we be able to promote the Academic Festival, is to silently engineer a new benchmark for gauging the potential of HEIs to train and develop academically and intellectually competent students. If we are to examine the current benchmarks used by the international community in gauging the top colleges and universities around the world, we would notice the scores are based on the physical and theoretical infrastructure of the institutions, the qualifications of their faculty and the professional success of their alumni. But no points are allocated for academic competence of the students while still enrolled.
The future of a National Academic festival in the Philippines is to develop the template for a possible international arena. The functional value of this would include among others the opportunity to promote friendly cross-cultural competitions and to develop a new benchmark in comparing the best of what HEIs worldwide have to offer.
At the PRISSA games for high school and elementary students at the People’s Astrodome last Wednesday, Mayor Al Fernandez and Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, the guest speakers, were an inspiring duo.
They gave the more than 3,000 youths present inspiration and an idea of how a community and a nation will become great — thru sports.
Sports teach healthy competition, wellness, fitness and sportsmanship.
Why do we need the sportly spirit? Well, just look and watch your government officials. They don’t know how to play the election game. Ayaw patalo.
This probably is most needed in the US, especially in San Francisco where Philippine associations have mushroomed here, there, everywhere.
Papaano, yong natalong presidente ng isang association, magpu-put up ng kanyang club din. Paktaylo!
(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/playing-with-fire/)
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