Punchline
Pinoy’s education at its worst
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
THE exceedingly bright policymakers at the DepEd kept their fingers crossed as they excitedly monitored the progress of the opening of classes across the country 3 weeks ago.
They were excited because it was the day their brainchild of a baby, the K+12 (kindergarten plus 12 years), was taken out from the nursery to take its first step in the real world. But the reality check came just as quickly when members of the Manila Kindergarten Teachers Association (Makita) and the Manila chapter of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) trooped to the DepEd central office to decry the government’s premature implementation of the K+12 program.
While the policymakers were inclined to dismiss the protest, they later learned that the protest was just a tip of the iceberg. Many schools across the country found themselves in a major damage-control mode. There were simply not enough teachers and classrooms for the primary level and their situation was aggravated by the lack of classrooms and trained teachers for 1.9 pupils enrolled for kindergarten and prep classes. That problem only accounted for the serious lack of infrastructure needed for K+12.
The bigger monster that the K+12 created in its premature implementation was its impact on the government’s limited human resources.
As the protesting teachers manifested succinctly: “We are teachers, not carabaos!”
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The two groups pointed out: “We are not against the implementation of kindergarten. [But the program] will not produce quality kindergarten education [if it involves] two sessions of classes, or six hours of straight teaching, bigger class sizes, lack of well-trained and underpaid kindergarten teachers, lack of classrooms, facilities and instructions.”
The complaining teachers also cited the situation of some 38,000 teachers who continue to work as contractual employees to staff the kindergarten classrooms, with many receiving only P3,000 for one shift.
They noted that a yaya (babysitter) is paid P4,000-P5,000 a month for taking care of one child and yet the government believes the services of a “K” teacher who looks after the education of at least 45 students is only worth P3,000,” the disillusioned teachers complained.
Indeed, I fear that the future of our next generation is at even greater risk than it ever was because some excited genius wannabes in government, they who never attempted or succeeded in managing a sari-sari store, think that “great” ideas and concepts are all that matter for this country to be great.
But that is not all what’s in store for our country’s future generation of leaders who will be covered by the K+12 program.
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The government said today’s children will evolve into more studious individuals if they are taught in the mother tongue (language spoken at home) from Kindergarten to Grade 3! Their basic (and flawed) hypothesis is that children in the regions speak the same language / dialect and, therefore, classroom instructions can be better understood and appreciated if these are communicated in the regional language. Hello?
It seems the policymakers lived in Metro Manila all their lives that they have come to believe that all languages are communicated as they would in Tagalog. Haven’t they heard that our communities today are multilingual and do not necessarily speak one and the same language in their homes?
Imagine Pangasinan language (as mother tongue) being used solely for instruction in the province. What happens to the Ilocano and Tagalog and English-speaking families in the province? Empirical data already show that many of today’s students already fare miserably when tackling their Pilipino subjects yet we expect tomorrow’s students to be more learned when taught in their “mother tongues” early on, then switch to Tagalog until high school.
Even assuming that their hypothesis is correct, will the government ever have enough resources to produce books and materials in various languages across the country? Will there ever be enough teachers competent to handle “K” and prep classes and still proficient in their mother tongues to teach the children?
I say, let’s line up all the extremely bright policymakers of DepEd at the Luneta and have them shot by a firing squad before they transform our future generations into a confused, half-baked lot with nothing to show to pass licensure exams that require proficiency in English.
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BASTA MAY CORRUPT, MAY MAHIRAP. I’ve always thought Pangasinan boasts of intelligent, eagle-eyed legal luminaries who can detect a fraud a mile away. They who can quickly discern implications of a court order and swing into action should they sense a misstep in the carriage of justice. Or so I thought.
Today, wonder of all wonders, nobody in the provincial board, not even the provincial legal officer finds anything wrong with the “legal” documents that purportedly prove the legitimacy of the Meridien Vista Gaming Corporation’s operation of a network of jai-alai off-fronton betting stations in the province. Even police chiefs, with their legal backgrounds, quickly express their concurrence with the “manifested” legality of the jai-alai betting stations notwithstanding reports of the stations’ fronting for jueteng operations.
I am, therefore, dismayed that even Vocal Alfie Bince, the man who stood up to question the circumstances that led to the mushrooming of jai-alai betting stations, is now forever silenced like a sleepy cat, refusing to pursue his own resolution seeking an investigation of Meriden’s operations. One can only surmise what led to the surprising change in his demeanor on the issue.
Mr. Ang’s “jai-teng” has already worked its “magic”!
And what does PNoy have to say? Still lost in his “Basta walang corrupt, walang mahirap” fantasy.
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QUIXOTIC GONZ? Last weekend, the Pangasinan Press Club now headed by our irrepressible columnist Gonz Duque did what the club should have done over the past decade – to raise the standards of journalism practice in the province. Note: It’s about journalism, not government or political public relations practice. In sum, Gonz wants today’s serious practitioners to imbibe ethics in their news reports and commentaries.
But as Gonz himself had anticipated, his plans were scoffed at by the not so discrete notorious conmen disguised as media practitioners who relish the habit of adorning themselves with press cards around their necks with the intent of intimidating politicians with these.
To set the tone of his administration, he chose to break the tradition of inviting politicians as guests at the club’s induction of officers last week. For his induction, he invited a non-politico – Judge Emma Torio! The norm is to invite politicos who are literally made to pay for their dinner and appearance by footing the bill for the food and drinks served the club’s members during the event. It was this onerous practice that placed the club in a very bad light over the years, so bad that many politicos avoid being interviewed knowing an unsolicited interview would cost them some.
No doubt it will be an uphill fight for a serious reformist like Gonz but I have no doubt as well that his efforts will leave indelible imprints in the minds of both the notorious and the idealists in the practice.
The PUNCH is squarely behind Gonz in his seemingly Quixotic mission. I underscore seemingly because he might just succeed given the encouragement he is getting from the true-blue journalists’ block.
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