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Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume IV, Number 2 February 8 - 14, 2004 Quezon City, Philippines |
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Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume IV, Number 2 February 8 - 14, 2004 Quezon City, Philippines |
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Students
Being Punished for DepEd’s Woes - Youth Party To
improve the quality of secondary education, the Department of Education (DepEd)
recently issued a memorandum cutting down passing marks from 50 percent to 75
percent for high school students. Students
and teachers however do not agree that this is the correct solution to the
country’s poor quality of public education. BY
EMILY VITAL The
said policy took effect on the third quarter of the school year. Based
on DepEd data, the achievement rates of high school students in 2002 were very
low: reading comprehension, 44.24 percent; mathematics, 34.92; and science,
41.05 percent. In
the Third International Mathematics and Science Test (TIMMS) in 1995, the
Philippines placed fourth from the lowest ranking, beating only Kuwait, Colombo
and South Africa. While
China de Vera, Anak ng Bayan High School coordinator, agrees that there is a
need to improve the quality of secondary education, students must not be the
ones to bear the brunt. In a study by Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), only
ten out of 60 students managed to pass their subjects since the policy has been
implemented. De
Vera said, “This new system does not serve its alleged purpose of raising the
standard of secondary education.” Perennial
problems “If
the government is really sincere in this endeavor, it should instead focus on
perennial problems like poor facilities, lack of teachers and instructors, lack
of educational materials and classrooms,” De Vera said. DepEd
admitted the lack of 44,716 classrooms, 5.8 million chairs, 24 million textbooks
and 49,212 teachers for the school year 2003-2004. For
the last four years, only P2 billion was allotted for the construction of
classrooms. Only 5,700 classrooms
were built. DepEd
data in 2002 showed that 22 percent of elementary and high schools have no
science laboratories, 20 percent of classrooms have poor ventilation, 27 percent
with no proper lighting, 55 percent are without electricity and 25 percent with
no ceiling. The
average class size is 55. This
pales in comparison to neighboring countries. Thailand has 18, Malaysia has 19,
China has 24, Taiwan has 14 and Indonesia has 22. Moreover,
1,323 public high schools have no principals. There
will be no additional teaching positions under this year’s budget despite the
increase in total public school enrolment from 16.8 million in SY 2002-03 to
17.2 million in SY 2003-04 and projected 17.7 million in SY 2004-05. Education
budget De
Vera stressed that quality education can only be achieved if the Macapagal-Arroyo
administration prioritizes the education sector in the government’s budget
allocation. Enrolment
in basic education increases three percent every year but the DepEd budget has
an average annual hike of only one percent. Per capita spending in schools’ maintenance and other operating expenditures (MOOE) is insignificant.
“It
is thus not surprising that a teacher’s average loan may reach P50,109,”
said De Vera. Total debt of
teachers to Government Service Insurance System amounts to P15 billion.
In the 1999 Philippine Normal University (PNU) survey, 62 percent of 253,
777 teachers graduated from college over ten years ago.
Of this figure, only 37 percent attended any kind of training. Moreover,
only 13.9 percent has access to computers, 1.8 percent has access to the
internet. Only
5.3 percent of teachers had major in Math and 2.7 percent had Science major. De Vera said, “Unless these concerns are addressed, the state of secondary education will continue to deteriorate. Superficial solutions cannot do much.” Bulatlat.com We want to know what you think of this article.
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