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Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Oledan: Lip service
By Radzini Oledan
Slice of life
IMAGINE 75 percent of elementary graduates who can no longer read independently.
Or the situation where less than one percent of fourth year high school students pass the mastery test and only 43 out of 100 first graders are able to graduate from high school while only 14 are able to graduate from college.
Imagine no more. This is the current condition of our school children, as reported by the Department of Education.
The dropout rate is alarming. For every 100 children entering the first grade, 15 of them would not reach the second grade, an indication that attrition starts early.
Worse, those who can graduate are found wanting in the reading and writing department.
The DepEd lamented the "dismal failure" of public school students to meet the "acid test" in learning as gauged by "national standardized tests."
What it failed to indicate was the inutility of the DepEd itself to train students and ensure quality education for all. It failed to also highlight the dismal lack of classrooms, textbooks and even teaching staff.
It failed to consider that facing the so-called acid test of meeting the national standardized tests alone necessitates thorough support from government itself.
The DepEd should not expect children to excel academically when it continues to regard facilities and technology support for education as "expenses" rather than investments.
The state's low regard to the budgetary allocation for education can speak for itself.
When it cannot even translate Quality Education For All painted in the rooftops of public school buildings into reality, then there is a real problem.
DepEd is problematic in itself. Most of the teachers are handling subjects in which they do not have any expertise. For instance, 73 percent of those who teach Physics are non-Physics major.
This factor was cited by DepEd as a reason for the low achievement test in the areas of Science and Math.
The report also indicated that only one in five graduating elementary students showed mastery in all required competencies based on a test given last May.
For high school students, less than one percent had mastery in basic subjects.
There are several factors in which DepEd officials could cite to cover their failure to provide quality education.
The children themselves cannot be blamed. They are just a product of an institution that pays lip service to education.
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (October 25, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
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