Advancing education in the country

I’m glad that the public has substantially accepted the government’s program to add two more years to our educational system in the quest to make our country more competitive with our neighboring Southeast Asian nations. I had written about these steps to improvement in previous columns and my stand remains the same. Education is such an important building block for the nation we have to be able to move with the times and make improvements wherever necessary to ensure we give our people the best possible start in life.

I actually think it is about time we make some real positive changes to our education system and give it the importance it needs. After all, it’s the first step our youth take towards building a better future for themselves and their families (and for the country as a whole). I’ve always believed the government’s main responsibility to its people is to provide them with all the tools they need to build a good life. One of the main tools is a solid education. That and decent healthcare are, for me, the two most important things (though healthcare is a topic for another column).

Over the years, we’ve known that it was important to make education not only more accessible but more substantial for the masses because the percentage of those getting quality education in the country was so much smaller compared to those who were not. Accessibility is a big concern because obviously so many of our countrymen can’t afford to send all their children to school. What usually happens is that they can only send one or two and hope that these children make it through and are able to build a better life for the whole family.

Considering that we’ve known for years just how important education is, educational reform has still been very slow. Finally last year we began to hear about important changes that were set to take place over the next few years. The first was the changing of the school calendar to match the international school calendar for a September-June school year, like most international schools and institutions abroad. This is already something several private universities are beginning now and I think it will only be a matter of time before other schools adopt it as well.

The second change is, of course, the adding of two additional school years to the basic education program, making the system K to 12. This gives students more time to learn skills they can use in securing jobs and helping them better prepare for college whether it’s here in the Philippines or abroad.

While many people initially expressed their concerns over implementing a K to 12 program – the main ones being added costs to parents and the possible loss of jobs for college professors – I had to agree that the addition of these extra school years would go a long way when it came to better preparing our students in the long run. It would also do a lot in ensuring that we become internationally competitive and give our students the same chances that students who graduate in other parts of Asia and the world get when they graduate from high school.

In the end, that is the most important thing when it comes to improving education – giving our students the very best chance they have to getting good jobs and building better lives. I pointed out in previous pieces that I felt that we were lagging behind our Asian neighbors when it came to fulfilling employment opportunities abroad. While we have the added bonus of being an English-speaking nation and having a democratic style of government, the high poverty rate, lack of proper education, and diminished working opportunities still hound the country.

This is why so many of our countrymen seek better opportunities elsewhere. And while I wish we could provide for our countrymen here at home, if they are going to look for work abroad the least we can do is be sure they have as competitive an edge as possible when seeking employment. I think the K to 12 program is one step in helping ensure that. And I was happy to read that the Department of Education is helping address one of the problems that the additional two school years will cause by prioritizing the 23,000 professors who will lose their jobs as a result of the program implementation.

The STAR reported that DepEd understands that once the new program goes into effect in 2016, thousands of professors will lose their jobs as high school students complete two more years of school before entering college (if at all). They’re making plans to prioritize the hiring of these professors for the senior high school program should they wish to apply. I truly hope they do and I hope the government also works on properly providing just compensation for their services.

The wheels of education reform are finally turning in the country. I truly hope these changes lead us to better and brighter futures for the younger generation.