It has been over 50 days since President Aquino took office, and all roads lead to October 5. In many ways, Aquino is pushing for a “brighter” 2016. As we are ushered into the second half of his 100 days, October 5 marks the target date when a more detailed articulation of his promises on educational reform shall be released. No doubt, supporters, naysayers, and students alike have long since awaited to hear of the future educational landscape that our government envisions.
Headed by former Education Undersecretary, Juan Miguel Luz, Aquino’s ten-point agenda was devised by the Liberal Party’s education reform team. The program tackles a slew of issues ranging from student financing, textbook quality, medium of instruction, and educational infrastructure itself.
Termed K-12 (Kindergarten plus 12), much criticism has been cast upon Aquino’s plans for a globally competitive twelve-year basic education cycle as opposed to the current ten-year one. Some urge the government to not waste resources—which may cost about P100-billion—into a whole new system but simply revise the current one—for example, zero-in on relevant subjects and do away with unnecessary ones.
The twelve-year switch is a secondary task, according to University President Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, SJ. The real task is to reduce the amount of students dropping out of schools, and until then, the two-year extension should be put on hold. Considering our country’s 9.0% (ca. 2007) dropout rate—approximately four times more than neighbors, Hong Kong and Singapore—Fr. Nebres might just have made a statistically accurate point.
Furthermore, the poor state of Philippine education puts those interested in pursuing studies abroad at a disadvantage. Unit requirements by foreign universities are well above what is offered to our students. Thus, possibilities are nipped at the bud for our graduates simply because of a deficiency in class units. But as legitimate as this issue may be, there is a more urgent question that must be answered: is this renovation a necessary improvement, because more may not be synonymous to better? There are more pressing issues such as the alarming teacher-to-student ratio, and our limited budget allotted for education, that have needed attention since previous administrations. It is clear that the pursuit of improving basic education is, ironically, also a task of going back to basics.
In many ways, October 5 is a veritable D-Day for every Filipino’s future learning. Given that the government wants to keep up with the world by way of standardization, this plan has to be brilliant—noble, even. Under the scrutiny of the public, Aquino has to prove to critics that this is both a pragmatic and beneficial choice. The administration must not lose sight of the big picture—basic education has problems with basic issues. Plans to overhaul the institutional structure should be complemented by improving quality—increasing quantity is useless without increasing quality. The true test is not in the plan’s eloquent and compelling delivery, but in its faithful and thorough execution. A change is definitely at hand—and October 5 is when we allegedly begin the repair.
