BETTER THAN BAND-AID

As a young child in the old days, I ran around so much and thought I was one of the boys though I am a girl. And it gave me a natural high when I got ahead of them in the race. But you see, it is not every day that I win against my male playmates. I come home with soil on my hair, muddied, and even with minor wounds and cuts.

I remember that when that happens, I usually turn to Band-Aid to mend those cuts and wounds. Wait for a few days and the pain seems no more.

But with the lowly state of Philippine Education these days, no more band-aid can be of use to cure such malady.

To say that only one public school out of 187 participants has earned a minimum mark during an assessment done in 2022 by the Program for International Student Assessment is something that the country and its people should not sweep under the r ug.

And no matter what we do, it seems like all efforts are rendered futile. No topical treatments could have a lasting effect on this dilemma, as it grows gangrenous over time.

Why? Such an impoverished state for education in the country? I remember during college foreigners came flocking to the country to study English and even pursued courses that are attuned to honing smarts in Science and Mathematics. I have Korean classmates and Indians too; asking them often, why they chose the Philippines.

And they will answer “The education here is quality despite being cheap (tuition).” And, amazingly, they see the value of education here in the country. We massively produce foreign professionals of top caliber but our very own students today are markedly lagging.

To troubleshoot the problem head-on, I guess we should look past the “crust” of the wound and unravel the root cause of the matter.

How did we ever get here? Once as a student, I remember flunking Math during my fourth year of high school; it was a horrendous experience on my part. I would not even want my parents to know if there was only a way. I cried so hard thinking if I did not pass the subject it would be quite a shame not only for met but I would also drag my parents to misery.

Saying to myself, that my parents worked hard more than that of the proverbial beast of burden, then I would just give them just that. But, I was not even lazy then, I have study time after school it’s just that maybe I love Math but the subject does not reciprocate my feelings.

Usually, the teacher would call on your parents then, and mine would have bowed heads when they talked to my teacher.

Though petrified with the subject, I would join more study groups and avail myself of free tutorials given by the teacher so I could learn a bit more.

It was not my mother and father pressuring my teacher to give me a passing mark that helped me finally go up the stage and graduate. Before no parent would lash out towards a teacher when their child failed a subject. That is because it is deemed inappropriate.

My parents taught me to be responsible; to be accountable and responsible for low marks. I learned from them that I must go through challenges because they will make me grow. And indeed, I did. I passed with all the efforts I still can give. And I can say, I am proud of what I earned even if that is not a 90 mark. It was a result of sweat, blood, and tears.

However today, I think that there should be deeper introspection. There had been a lot of changes in the present curriculum, hence, also having the “Matatag Curriculum.”

But, beyond introducing a new one, I guess the roots of it all are not yet uprooted. First, we ask ourselves, do we welcome “failure” as a part of rectifying wrong practices? Second, though we know exactly what went wrong do we not shrug our shoulders in denial? Third, do our students pass at the ground level using truthful merits without going here and there and tattle when they don’t get what they want from us? Fourth, do we still teach them to be responsible for their work and studies?

We may register good grades and superb MPS but are they close to the truth? Because if we don’t do things with integrity, the ugly reality will have its sharp, filthy teeth jutting out… and no band-aid will ever cover up the deep-seated wounds that ooze out pus and gangrene in this system of education that we have.

-oOoThe author is SST III Francisco G. Nepomuceno Memorial High School