Miseducation - SKETCHES by Ana Marie Pamintuan

What does "asinine" mean? Since the only asses we have in this country are the figurative kind, maybe it’s hard to find a point of reference for the word. Perhaps that’s the reason the synonym of "asinine" was listed as "salty" in a reviewer for the National Elementary Aptitude Test or NEAT, which sixth graders must take next month to proceed to high school.

Since it’s the Christmas season, I’m trying to be kind to Palinsad General Merchandise, the publisher and distributor of this reviewer which is available in book stores. I don’t know if this publication was reviewed by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports, whose officials must be busy picking the latest model SUV for their own use.

But it’s hard to be kind when you see a reviewer for our grade schoolers that’s so littered with errors of grammar, fact and spelling they can’t all be mere typographical mistakes.

* * *

Here are some examples from the first section, on spelling: "A water raises device" (answer: pump); "Things that used is school" (book); "A comedian use in a party" (clown); "A volcanic quake" (choose from the following spellings, all wrong: erruption, irruption, iraption, irroption, eroption). What, no "Eraption"?

In the vocabulary section, the synonym of "coy" was listed as "aggressive"; a "multifacated (italic mine) genius" was a "man without word of honor" while potable water was described as rain water. My brother theorized that perhaps the writer of the reviewer thinks potable water is rain water you gather in a cistern or, why not, a pot. And can you guess what a "papal benison" is? The choices are: blessing, menu for pope, attire, gesture, deer meat. And the answer is (congratulations if you guessed it) deer meat.

I’ve seen textbooks for our public schools that are just as atrocious, but this one is supposed to be a reviewer for a national aptitude test. The luckless who haven’t had the benefit of a good education may take all the items here, including the errors, as gospel truth. On the other hand, I worry that those who pick the correct answers in their NEAT will end up being marked wrong by people who don’t know better.

* * *

It’s not just this NEAT reviewer that’s worrisome. When you go to a book store, skip Harry Potter and leaf instead through the local textbooks for our elementary and high schools. It’s not just the grammar but the facts that will make you wince.

If we have competent teachers who can spot mistakes in substandard textbooks, maybe DECS personnel can get away with worrying more about commissions than the contents of the books used by millions of students nationwide. But DECS officials are the first to admit that we have an acute lack of qualified teachers and other school personnel. If students can’t have qualified teachers, students and teachers alike should be guided by textbooks with accurate facts and correct grammar in either English or Filipino. But if students get substandard textbooks and substandard teachers, what kind of education will they get?

It’s miseducation, which is nearly as bad as illiteracy. That’s the nation’s human resources going to the dogs, in an age where knowledge is crucial for national survival. The gap between those who can afford a good education and the majority who can’t is getting wider. 

Why should we worry? Because we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in right now if we have an informed electorate. Since the people wield the power in a democracy, we must give priority to the people’s education – quality education, from nursery to graduate school.

In our current situation, it’s impossible to tackle this problem. You can’t expect political will in this department from a man who takes pride in having reached the nation’s highest position despite being a college dropout. And with him as an idol, how can you expect the youth to aspire for a good education?

It’s enough to make you feel hopeless in this season of hope.

* * *

ONLY IN RP: Everyone is groaning about the traffic mess. During the Christmas season, can’t public utility firms avoid new street diggings? Can’t additional traffic aides be assigned especially around malls and public markets, and be put on duty even until 11 p.m.? Do we have to put up with this chaos every December?