Featured Post

3 Cost Effective Ways to Solve Metro Manila's Traffic Problem

Image
The Facebook page of ANC 24/7 is asking for its reader's suggestion on how to solve Metro Manila's traffic problem. This got me thinking, "what is the best way to solve Metro Manila's traffic problem?" It's easy to make suggestions, what's hard is the implementation and the cost of implementation. So what is the the best way to solve Metro Manila's traffic problem and the most cost effective solution? Punitive Fines Add caption First of all, any implementation will definitely cost money, a lot of money. The cause of the traffic mess is the people themselves so it's only right that those causing the traffic problem should be fined and the fine should hurt. That way, the fines will pay for the cost of enforcing the law. The fines should start at P500 and goes up every week if you don't pay it within 15 days. To enforce this and prevent people from ignoring the fine. It will be tied to their driver's license or car registr

Philippines Transition to K to 12 Education Program

There's been a lot of confusion, anger and frustration with the Philippines change to the new K to 12 education program that is going to be implemented this year.

Currently, the Philippine educational system is based on 10 years of basic education. Six years of elementary and four years of high school. With nursery and kindergarten being optional.

According to the Official Gazette

The K to 12 program is Kindergarten and 12 years of elementary and secondary (high school).

The model that is currently being proposed by DepEd is the K-6-4-2 Model. This model involves Kindergarten, six years of elementary education, four years of junior high school (Grades 7 to 10) and two years of senior high school (Grades 11 to 12). The two years of senior high school intend to provide time for students to consolidate acquired academic skills and competencies.

What is Senior High School?
  • 2 years of in-depth specialization for students depending on the occupation/career track they wish to pursue
  • Skills and competencies relevant to the job market
  • The 2 years of senior HS intend to provide time for students to consolidate acquired academic skills and competencies.
  • The curriculum will allow specializations in Science and Technology, Music and Arts, Agriculture and Fisheries, Sports, Business and Entrepreneurship.
A full 12 years of basic education will eventually be required for entry into tertiary level education (entering freshmen by SY 2018-2019 or seven years from now).


Parents are angry with the added cost of 2 more years of education. Students are angry because they have to stay in school longer. I can understand completely how they feel. I would feel the same way too.

Here's a copy of a letter sent out by St. Jude to parents on how they plan to transition to the new system.


I have friends who said that instead of doing the stupid K to 12 program, the government should improve the quality of education instead of implementing this hare-brained idea. They go on to say that they would be willing to bet that their children who are in the current 10 year program are smarter than those students who go to 12 years of education in the US.

However, they seem to forget that their children are going in private schools where they are paying well over P50,000 a year and comparing them to students in the US who are going in public schools. Not a fair comparison. Of course their children will be smarter. You get what you pay for. If they compare their children with those going in private schools in Singapore or Japan, then it's a different story.

While it's frustrating for students and parents to add two more years, I believe this is the future of education if we want our children to be more successful. Part of the reason is this, when you have children graduating high school at age 16 or 17, most of them have no idea what careers they want to go into. I know I didn't at that age. Add to the fact that when I entered college, we had 2 years of minor subjects like English and Filipino which I thought was a complete waste of time. Instead of learning what we should be learning for our chosen field, we wasted a lot time and money for something I thought was completely useless.

It also didn't help that by the end of my 2nd year of college, I decided I really wanted to study something else entirely.

The new 2 years of senior high school program which will help students choose a specialization will give them enough time to decide what careers they really want. Of course, not all students are created equal, some will know early in life what they want to become but some won't. Those who know early will see the additional two years as a nuisance while those who can't afford college or don't know will have time to save money and decide what they want to do.

The nature of education is changing. We are in a global society and Filipinos are migrating a lot. Since our school system is not the same as the international standard, parents and children sometimes encounter problems in how to integrate their children in their new school.

It's not a problem if you have a child in elementary. For example, if you have a child who is 9 or 10 years old and is in Grade 4 in the Philippines, when they move to the US or Canada, they go to either Grade 4 or 5. Public education in these countries are based on the child's age.

However, if you have a child who is in the 4th year of high school in the Philippines who is 16 years old who expects to go to college next year. When they migrate to the US or Canada, they have to take Grade 10 to 12 plus ESL (English as a Second Language) before they can get to college or University.

The reason is because they don't allow students who is not turning 18 that year into college (unless your child is a genius or has taken all the pre-requisites for their course).

I know that even if the Philippine government added 2 more years of education that nothing will change unless they improve the quality of education, but more education is actually better as it will give children and teachers more time to master certain subjects. I also believe that continuous education and upgrade is essential in today's environment.

People will not always agree with this view especially those whose family is rich and own businesses. What does additional education add to their children when their children are going to be the boss anyway? However, not everyone is going to be a business owner.

I cringe every time I see a Filipino college graduate coming from an unknown provincial college who can't even write or spell properly when they are applying for a job. Their resumes alone makes me wonder how they were able to graduate. But that's a question of the quality of education and not the additional years of school. I'm just saying.

During my parents time, if you have a high school diploma, that's usually good enough to get you a job. In my time, if you graduate with a college degree you are employable. If you only have a high school degree, don't even bother looking for a good job because the only job you'll get is a janitorial job (nothing against being a janitor). Today, a Master's degree or an MBA is almost equivalent to a college degree. You'll have a hard time getting a high paying job in a multinational company unless you have that.

It's a different world, our children needs the tools to compete. Our education system has to change and improve with the times, we need to start building children that is prepared for the future. A future whose foundation is built upon math, science, agriculture and business. We have to stop educating children just to say they graduated from college with no useful skills. We need children who are also learning life skills and technical skills to help improve their lives for their future and their family's future.

What are your thoughts? I would love to hear from you in the comments section.

Comments

Anonymous said…
The lack of proper consultation with parents and the need to study quality of education versus quantity of schooling years should have been engaged in. The Kto 12 program especially the summer bridging program being considered by St. Jude Catholic School should have considered the plea of parents to further dialogue, discuss. Administration should have been wiling to LISTEN AND OPEN THEIR MINDS TO SUGGESTIONS. Since this is a program that will affect countless children, administrators should have deferred the summer bridging program. gone are days when authoritarianism ruled our country. there is not better option over sensitive decisions such as this as PROPER COMMUNICATION AND EFFECTIVE DIALOGUE. Hope St. Jude Catholic School Administrators get to look at the big picture!
Anonymous said…
Education is one of two primary aspirations of Filipinos, with the second one that is having a home they can truly call their own. Nothing is more painful among Filipino families wanting to lift their life situations and financial condition than finding it difficult to get access to GOOD QUALITY EDUCATION. As Dr. Raul Fabella mentioned in the Opinion Column of Businessworld, the Kto12 can easily equate to wasteland since by lengthening the schooling years does not necessary translate to more effective knowledge and skills enhancements My view follows Dr Fabella's line of thinking; actually no extension in the number of years of education can compare to strengthening the curriculum , making it responsive to the requirements of the job market; harnessing the training skills of faculty and preparing the minds and hearts of children to maximize the learning experience of each day in the classroom. Calling on the Department of Education and National Government to further study the K to 12 Program for private schools. There is a need to defer its implementation given the many issues being raised with regard this new government direction. A glaring misguided scheme is St. Jude Catholic School's summer bridge program. St. Jude School should retract the Summer Bridge Program as this will only expose the many pitfalls it has -- with faculty members and curricula across grades FOR EXPERIMENTATION SPECIFICALLY NOT READY TO TAKE ON THE MANY RISKS THE PROGRAM PRESENTS. It is never too late . . . .
Anonymous said…
I have always thought of school administrators as well as faculty members, on one hand, and parents. on the other hand as CLOSE PARTNERS FOR THE MORAL AND ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT OF ALL CHILDREN. To ensure that children grow up to become responsible, smart and God-fearing citizens, School administrators should be attuned to the call of parents to make the school a conducive place for learning. l schoolchildren, There can be no substitution to having a clear and unbiased concern for the students with quality education as the primary and foremost concern for the benefit of the youth and the country as a whole. Hope St Jude Catholic School Administrators heed the cry of parents for dialogue and consultation.
Anonymous said…
"the school goes proactive and some went bonkers"

We're not in the business of education, why not leave it to them? the door is always open, why waste time going against the flow? problems of the few with the rich (own business) mentality....they dont need the extra 2 years coz their children doesnt need to compete with global work force. Paano naman ang nakakarami? why compare k-12 with the US...we're in Asia, we should compare our curriculum to our neighbor countries such as Japan, korea, singapore et al. whats wrong in learning more skills? it'll help our kids to cope with life's complexities. in all asian countries, we top in pampering.

sjcs should be more valiant in their advance learning module. make sure they employ (or re-train)Competent educators who will guide ( hollistic approach ) their students with curriculum change. there is no room for old school politics. we have to secure our childen to become globally competent.

bridging program is a tool for updating and enhancing the student's competency level as it also reflects the School
System. Competence should start from within for everyone to emulate.

Cheers!
Anonymous said…
Education should be the concern of everyone! It is not only administrators who should be concerned about it -- its effectiveness in molding children according to global standards -- but also parents who desire to have only the best academic and values training for their children at the most optimal rate (where value or quality for money invested should be apparent).

Everyone, rich and poor has the right to education! Even the rich has to be assured that they get proper and quality education since more often than not they need to learn how to grow their businesses further.

Mind you, extending the schooling years by two years does not equate to more learnings and higher or greater competencies. Quality is what parents and administrators should be after not Quantity of School Years. The summer bridging program of St. Jude (an optional program) is so short-sighted that instead of supporting the K to 12, it will even compound the inequities and incompetencies of school children who took the bridging program and skipped a level and those that did not in the same class. How can faculty members deal with this situation effectively? This multiciplicity of skills required of teachers handling varying competency levels will be another major concern. It is my fervent hope that St. Jude Catholic School had rationalized its curriculum program for the summer bridge and the whole of the K to 12 implementation. God bless us all . . . . . .
Anonymous said…
K-12 is bullshit! Dapat isipin nila this is a burden for parents. Lalong maprolong and burden ng mga magulang. Paano pa naming masasabi "Hay...matatapos na rin ang gastos at ang paghihirap"....At anong quality education? Quality education tapos walang mga classrooms? Very funny nga. Mga hindi nag-iisip!!!!!!!!!

Popular posts from this blog

Family Planning TVC 2014

Is Piolo Pascual Gay?

Philippine Business Monopolies