My SONA Thoughts: EDUCATION

As promised, here’s another SONA thought of mine that came out swirling in my head. According to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo regarding education…

School buildings, teachers etc.

Nagtayo tayo ng 95,000 na silid-aralan, nagdagdag ng 60,000 na guro, naglaan ng P1.5 billion para sa teacher training, especially for 100,000 English teachers. Isa sa pinakamahirap na Millennium Development Goals ay iyong Edukasyon para sa Lahat pagdating ng 2015, na nangunguhulugang lahat ng nasa edad ay nasa grade school. Halos walang bansang nakakatupad nito. Ngunit nagsisikap tayo. Binaba natin ang gastos ng pagpasok. Nagtayo tayo ng mga eskwela sa higit isang libong barangay na dati walang eskwelahan, upang makatipid ng gastos ng pasahe ang mga bata. Tinanggal natin ang miscellaneous fees para sa primary school.

Financial assistance and the no uniform policy in public schools:

We assist financially half of all students in private high schools..

Undergraduate and post graduate scholarships:

We have provided 600,000 college and post-graduate scholarships. One of them Mylene Amerol-Macumbal, finished Accounting at MSU-IIT, went to law school, and placed second in the last bar exams–the first Muslim woman bar topnotcher. Congratulations.

Technical education and skills training:

In technical education and skills training, we have invested three times that of three previous administrations combined. Narito si Jennifer Silbor, isa sa sampung milyong trainee. Natuto siya ng medical transcription. Now, as an independent contractor and lecturer for transcriptions in Davao, kumikita siya ng P18,000 bawat buwan. Good job.

The Presidential Task Force on Education headed by Jesuit educator Father Bienvenido Nebres has come out with the Main Education Highway towards a Knowledge-Based Economy. It envisions seamless education from basic to vocational school or college..

It seeks to mainstream early childhood development in basic education. Our children are our most cherished possession. In their early years we must make sure they get a healthy start in life. They must receive the right food for a healthy body, the right education for a bright and inquiring mind—and the equal opportunity for a meaningful job..

And the possibility of Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SATs) in our education system:

For college admission, the Task Force recommends mandatory Scholastic Aptitude Tests. It also recommends that private higher education institutions and state universities and colleges should be harmonized. It also recommends that CHED will oversee of local universities and colleges. For professions seeking international recognition—engineering, architecture, accountancy, pharmacy and physical therapy—it recommends radical reform: 10 years of basic education, two years of pre-university, three years of university.

Our educational system should make the Filipino fit not just for whatever jobs happen to be on offer today, but also for whatever economic challenge life will throw in their way..

For this part of the SONA, this is good to hear from her. Why? Because there are government efforts to strengthen the education as a fundamental part of our society. However, I just dont agree on the practicality of no uniforms in public schools. Di kaya mas malaking gastos yun sa part ng magulang?

On the other hand, I have the following suggestions / reactions in mind upon reading this part of the SONA:

1. Strengthening the science, math and english teaching here in our country. Supposedly, we should not focus only in English but also in Math and Science.

2. Provide equal opportunities in schools – que nasa pilot section ka or wala. I observed this pattern in schools (I am a student din naman dati) na most of the time, teachers are more focused on special and pilots sections of the school. The students who are in the lower sections are being left out. Dapat meron din silang equal opportunity – same as with the pilot and special classes. Example of this is that yung pilot sections lang ang nakakakuha ng advance classes, yung ibang section e hindi. Dapat lahat may advance classes. Dapat pantay pantay ang attention para sa kanila. Otherwise, this kind of pattern can breed to school elitism – feeling elite pag nasa special or pilot sections.

3. Career counseling should be started by 3rd year high school. The students should be aware by that time about the courses they want to get and the careers they want to work. Dapat ma-encourage din ang mga bata to further their specializations in their respective fields like taking masters and Phd’s. Providing more post graduate scholarships for the poor.

4. Strengthening the fundamentals of READING AND WRITING. These are the most basic yet taken for granted by the students today. Sa sobrang taken for granted, some of them resorted to copy-pasting SONA reaction papers from bloggers. Just take a look into this Barrio Siete post by La Kapitana where some of the student-commentators are UBER KAPAL NG MUKHA MAGDEMAND NG SONA REACTION KAY REYNA PARA KOPYAHIN! LECHE! Mailalagay ko ang mga yan sa Pinoy Leche Files ko!

I recognize the government effort in our education system. Education, being one of the social institutions, needs attention and continuous upgrading so that our younger peeps will get quality education and decent jobs in the end. Though the quality of our education is not top-notch, I can say that we got a good one. Decent naman kahit papaano.

Pero paano kung mga ganitong klaseng comments ang makukuha mo from the students themselves?

janice says:

July 29, 2009 at 7:27 pm

wew..n loka ako sa in u..para kaung perfect d nmn..

hmmmpppzz

grabe nmn kau.. pra kaung d nag daan sa pagiging estudyante.
my GOD huh kakaloka kau..

senxa if we ask n sana may REACTION PAPER n agad para copy paste nlng nmn.. kc po we are too busy. d nmn sa tamad wala lng talaga time to make a reaction paper like for us kahapon lang cnabi now n ung deadline are we that intelligent enough n u teachers would just ask us tapos kinbukasan agad ung deadline…

were not perfect tao lang po kami may limitasyon din like u..hmmpzzzz…

sana may consideration din po kau. d sa gusto nmn ng walang ginagawa or spoon feed n agad it just so happen n we badly need it. if i know kau rin nuon ganyan ginagawa nyo..

nasa quatation nga ” sa mata ng bata lagi un ang tama” ahehhehe ganito rin kau nuon un nkita nmn e d ginagawa rin nmn..

wew.. grabe kau mang lait if i know wala never mind nlng..grrrrrrrrr n turingan p nmn kaung professionals. kong ganyan ako pag laki n wag nlng..aahahahah

janice_XD

And here’s another one from that lazy student again:

janice says:

July 29, 2009 at 9:24 pm

ahahahah lol..

wag nmn masakit ung mbatukan ka..

kaw kaya batukan ko?

joke..

supportive nga kau. on the other hand ur turturing us..huhuhu lol d lang nmn isang subject ung dala nmn ah..marami rin.. wag nyo nmn kami e degrade agad d kami bobo nag ka taon lang na we need it kc presured. marami kaya kaming ibang subject and we are not focusing into only one. lol..gets mo?

my point is sana wag nyo e compare ung generations nyo to our generations because we are created differently ok? d nmn pwede kong wat ung gusto nyo un din ung sa min? hmmpppzzzz..

sana nmn maintindihan nyo n may limit din kami..

it’s me XD again..lol..

At may humabol pa…

PJ says:

July 29, 2009 at 9:12 pm

i need reactions tungkol sa SONA. pls!

Oh yes, the spoon feeders, the copy pasters, the whiners. Mind you, Janice, whoever you are, your teacher will be angry once he or she sees this post of yours. Or perhaps your mom will scream and scold you. Remember, all eyes are on the internet now. Shame naman for your school to see you, their student, acting like this. Aruroy.

And then pag nakagraduate na walang laman ang ulo e sisihin pa ang gobyerno, the school and teachers kung baket di makakuha ng matinong trabaho. Question is, sino ba ang gumagawa ng grades nyo? Di ba kayo din?

Reaction paper na nga lang e kinatatamaran pa. Gawin pang excuse ang busyness. Mag-time management ka kaya? At itutulad mo pa kami sa iyo na nangongopya. Haller?!? Wala kayang internet noong time namin. Kung meron man e masyadong mahal ang rent at limited lang. We do research by the books, Janice not by online surfing then copy-pasting reactions from bloggers.

The government, teachers, lecturers and professors are trying their best to educate our younger generation. Nakakalungkot nga lang na makita na they are trying to improve the state of education pero ang mga estudyante naman ang ayaw magimprove and mas ginusto pang maging spoon feeder.

More to come peeps. I am not done yet. Haha.

Photo credits: udleditions.cast.org

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Tags: gloria macapagal arroyo, News, Politics, SONA, state of the nation address