When I started teaching, I began to gradually comprehend the essence of education and recognized it to be the best social leveler. I can say that it is the very answer to poverty, corruption, hate, and ignorance especially in our country today. Many people believe that education is the knowledge of putting one's potentials to maximum use. Other people can also safely say that a human being is not in the proper sense till he is educated. If it really is what I deemed just like many people believe it is, then the study of the key educational issues in the Philippines is a significant endeavor that needs serious pair of eyes, ears and hands.
I think the problems and issues in our educational system cannot be an utterly fault of our government alone. It takes the whole country, government and private entities to work hand-in-hand to resolve these issues. Our government is trying its best to deliver relevant and quality education that is accessible to all, as etched vividly in the Constitution. But for many, it seems its best efforts are not good enough. And it is difficult to argue with these people, because of the eminent scenario of a dwindling quality and accessibility of education in which our country is facing right now. We always blame the government for the kind of system that governs us, but sometimes we tend to forget that we are part of that bureaucracy.
Education in the our country may be summarized into the following issues;
1. The Quality of education, 2. Accessibility of Education, 3. Government Budget, 4. Education Mismatch. Despite the efforts of DepEd, the facts still remain that the quality of education in our country is declining. There is also a big disparity in educational achievements across social groups. The socio-economically disadvantaged students have higher dropout rates, especially in the elementary level. And most of the freshmen students at the tertiary level come from relatively well-off families. There is a large proportion of “mismatch” between training and actual jobs. It’s the cause of the existence of a large group of educated unemployed or underemployed. Here, also to consider is the degenerating educational mindset of working abroad or of working for employment no matter what it takes, with no regard to other more valuable intentions like social work, inventiveness and entrepreneurship leading to public service and better self-actualization. Are these issues been unnoticed by the government or DepEd? If you are going to ask DepEd officials they would surely lay bundles of memorandums and programs based on results in educational planning and evaluation. And these are brilliant plans and programs intended for the commitment of delivering quality education that is accessible to all. The big question is, “Are these programs been implemented”, if so, “HOW?” and WHO are the people involve in putting these plans to action?
In my opinion, the problems and issues in our education system is deeply rooted to the people who are running the bureaucracy. It is distressing to say that corruption is the cause of these problems. Corruption is everywhere and I fear that it has already become a part of our way of life. But are we going to let ourselves be victims of corruption? Can we just let our hard-earned money be placed on the wrong hands? Can we afford to see our children befall for the kind of education they are getting? Government officials should focus their time and attention to the real problems of the country instead of spending their whole time arguing each other for power. They always accuse their co-officials of corruption, but what are they doing? Are they really doing something to eliminate the main problem? I don't think so. But then again, we cannot just simply point fingers because as citizens, we have our own role to play in society. As teachers, we can make a difference. And I believe it is not too late for CHANGE.
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