“PHILIPPINE EDUCATION, DETERIORATING OR NOT?

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Written by: Cupid

Education is the highest attainment of every Filipino family. It also serves as a great
honor and accomplishment, especially to the average earner parents that they can reach their
children up to college and earn a four-year degree diploma. Education is also the foremost
background in terms of looking for a standard livelihood. This is the reason why many parents
struggle to send their children to schools from primary education up to higher education, for their
children to get a decent job soon.
However, I have read an article on the internet stating that there is a grain of truth that
education in the Philippines is deteriorating little by little. I got frustrated when I knew this
disappointing event occurs in our educational setting because like the author of the article I have
read, I for one is also a practitioner of the same field of the profession though I’m still a student.
Like the author, I’ am also upset when I read have the following facts that she had stated in her
article.

According to Ms. Ophelia S. Lumogda as how it was stated in her article…

.. In the National School English Library Survey, 1997 approximately 30-50%
of students do not meet the identified standards in reading and writing. Other
research findings consistently show that there are about 10-20% of students with
ongoing literacy problems. Many students exhibit average intelligence but ongoing
reading and comprehension difficulties. In this existing problem, all teachers play a
critical role in helping students to information and ideas in the text; nonetheless, the
teacher has a crucial role in this process. He is tasked and posed a tremendous
challenge for the student reader to actively participate in what he/she does in reading
class.
In the elementary schools in the Division of Manila, the reading test scores
reveal that only one-sixth to one-third pupils can read independently, at the desired
grade level. By the end of the elementary cycle (Gr.6), over one-third of elementary
graduates were identified as “frustrated” readers, another one-third were
“instructional” readers. Both levels are below the desired reading level at the end of
the elementary cycle. (Juan Miguel Luz, 2007)
She also cited that the literacy level of the students specifically in the reading
skill is very poor and it follows that a student who cannot read, has difficulty to
understand the lesson. Hence, his academic performance is affected. Other facts
presented that education in the Philippines is deteriorating is because of the National
Achievement Test result. (Lumogda, 2011) She also mentioned that statistically
shown in international test results consistently show Filipino students lagging way
behind practically everybody else in the world. In the 2008 mathematics exam, for
instance, embarrassing to say that we came in dead last. Education in the Philippines
 is critical and needs urgent reformation. And further added that this key issue in
Philippine education needs to be looked closely and should be resolved. (Lumogda,
2011)
Lastly, she noted that she believes that it pays to refresh ourselves the code of
ethics of our teaching profession specifically article IV( The Teacher and the
Profession)
which she quoted

Section 1: Every teacher shall actively help ensure that teaching is the noblest
profession and shall manifest genuine enthusiasm and pride in teaching as a noble
calling.

Section2: Every teacher shall uphold the highest possible standards of quality
education, shall make the best preparation for the career of teaching and shall be at
his best at all times in the practice of his profession.

Section3: Every teacher shall participate in the continuing professional education

program of the Professional Regulations Commission, and shall pursue such other
studies as well improve his efficiency, enhance the prestige of the profession and
strengthen his competence, virtues, and productivity to be nationally and
internationally competitive. Through these, we will be conscious of our roles as well
as in our commitments in our teaching profession.

After I have known this, these are the few questions that linger in my mind. With the kind
of problem we are facing now, what can we do to address this issue? How can we re-tracked our
educational system to the right tracked? Or do we just allow our education to keep on
deteriorating? These are just the least of questions I can think of. In everything that Ms.
Lumogda cited in her article, I just thought that she has a point. As educators, I believe that we
should not be contented of just being nationally competitive but as well as being internationally
competitive. I know that Filipinos have the guts and the wits to rise above all our global
competitors. As far as I can remember, we have done it once in the Marcos regime and I don’t
think we can’t do it again. All we need is just a little push, one step at a time.

Whether we like it or not the future of Philippine Education lies in our hands as what Ms.
Lumogda said. This is an urgent matter that we need to address and the sooner we act the sooner
we can resolve this problem. On the contrary, I have noticed that the Philippine government is
more focused on the business itself instead of doing something to improve our educational
system and teaching our students a world-class education. I just hope that the government and
those in authority will realize this sooner before everything crumble. Let us all put in mind that
regret does not come first.

- V.D. Ramasamy, 2014