Thursday, August 16, 2007 Editorial: Error-filled textbooks
SOMETHING very drastic and concrete must be done by the authorities about the error-laden textbooks distributed to the country's public schools.
It is truly dismaying to imagine the debilitating effects of this recurring textbook scandal on the already weak and inept educational system of the country. Textbooks are an indispensable tool in raising the level of education each pupil or student can attain.
A couple of years ago, hundreds of errors in textbooks were uncovered by a concerned educator in the private sector. The expose triggered an investigation by Congress but this simply fizzled out when the probe was overtaken by the election fever which almost always puts important legislative matters in suspended animation. But the probe and the ensuing media coverage have been able to prove the existence of such errors in the textbooks -- namely, errors in content, sentence construction, word usage and facts.
The expected clampdown by the government on the erring publishers did not happen. The rogue publishers were not even blacklisted from participating in future dealings with the government in the obviously multi-billion textbook publishing business. Makes one wonder who in government have been pocketing fat commissions dangled by get-rich-quick publishers.
It's no wonder then that very recently the same errors have cropped up in new textbooks distributed to schools this current school year despite the expose on the scam. Such a scandalous situation deserves the strongest condemnation from concerned parents everywhere who have to bear the brunt of having to spend precious money for their children's schooling only to realize that they are not getting the most out of their investment because of faulty textbooks.
Some wise guys in the Department of Education are proposing a solution to the problem, claiming that the textbook publishing "syndicate's" days are numbered should the government allow the introduction of a multi-billion peso cyber project for all public schools that will replace textbooks.
This proposal has to be studied carefully. Some cynics suspect it to be another possible source of graft at the expense of quality education in our public school system.
