Tuesday, October 02, 2007 Oledan: Myths and garbage By Radzini Oledan Slice of Life
THERE is a thin line between pushing for programs that promote the well-being of children, and of using the condition of children to promote political and economic interests.
The Department of Education, among other agencies, has been criticized for its anomalous transaction such as the purchase of textbooks and drafting of modules for teachers and students. Along with other agencies, it has developed strings of programs that benefits the interests of the very few.
The Cyber Education project is an effort to massively use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education. Now the line that is being pursued is that the suspension of the project would result in the delay of delivering high quality basic education to some 13 million school children nationwide.
The Cyber Ed project is designed to provide DepEd direct interaction with its intended clientele - the school children and teachers. According to the DepEd, the project intends to deliver the same high quality education direct to the classrooms and favors schools that are in far-flung communities nationwide.
This is amusing, if not totally comic.
The program presupposes that far-flung communities nationwide have access to electricity. This is stupid. The controversial project would purchase several computer units that would not be used by the students in far-flung areas simply because there is no available electricity.
The relevance of the on-line materials is also questionable.
Everyday, students especially in far-flung areas are like sponges that are made to absorb the perspective and different priorities set by several funding agencies.
This is evident in Mindanao where regional and cultural differences have taken the back seat in the implementation of programs for communities.
Several programs have been implemented in response to the need to increase access to education. Yet, the perennial problem of overcrowded classrooms; severe shortages in learning materials; shorter hours for classes and teacher-student interaction; heavy teaching loads for harassed and underpaid teachers; and an environment not at all conducive to learning have not been fully addressed.
Cyber education, textbook scams, cut and pasted modules that are not culturally sensitive and relevant. Printing costs, grease money, and other blatant form of resource wastage.
Thrash, all thrash! And it's not even limited to government transactions or programs.
