When promising education

(photo credit: bluerlyn.com)

WHEN politicians and their wannabes promise in these elections that they will prioritize education, what exactly do they mean? Because if they’re promising more of what our current public school system is getting, we’d like to politely inform them where they can put those promises.



Currently this is how it is. School children attend class for less than five hours a day. This is at least two hours short of the world-wide standard. It is also a proven and undisputed fact that the more hours a student spends in, the more learning he or she will achieve.

In the US, prior to recession, government instituted highly successful after-school programs to extend the learning hours at the option of the students or their parents.

In the past few years here are some of the policies implemented by the Department of Education:

the diminution of hours spent learning history, the removal of science classes in primary grades, thus diminishing the amount of time spent for other classes that will have to absorb teaching the principles of science, the increase in number of years a student must attend school, but increase only in vocational courses for the added years.

The clear trend being established here is to orient children towards skill based, vocational courses, the better to export labor. Science courses teach us not only the principles of biology, physics, chemistry, but also how to think logically, creating hypotheses, proving, disproving. History teaches us that the things we do now live on after us, for good or for ill.

It gives us shared experience necessary for national identity and nation building. The loss of these subjects deprives the students of more exercises in clear thinking.

And this gives us pause While we understood this kind of policy during Gloria Arroyo’s occupation of Malacanang, it is puzzling for this administration to continue in this vein.

This kind of educational policy for public schools deprives the poor of further opportunities to better themselves and widens the gap between social classes.

The rich can afford schools that will allow them to stay in class longer, learn more, be more logical, and thus be more mployable, better able to aspire for higher education. The better educated get more options, ad naseuam.

At any rate, we would like to call the attention of our senatorial and congressional aspirants – what do you intend to do about this?

By: Atty. Trixie Cruz-Angeles
(Source : PSSST! Centro)






To know more about Trixie Cruz Angeles, check out: I AM TRIXIE CRUZ