|
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Mayor wants teachers fired over poor test results
CEBU CITY -- Mayor Tomas Osmeņa wants parents and students to demand for the replacement of some public high school teachers, saying they were to be blamed for the poor performance of most schools in the city in the National Achievement Test (NAT).
The NAT is an aptitude test to be taken by first year high school students to determine their readiness for the year level they are in.
Of the 499 public high schools in Central Visayas, only the Cebu City National Science High School (CCNSHS) made it to the top 50 in the exams conducted last August.
And of the total number of students who took the NAT, only a little over two percent garnered scores higher than the 75 percent passing mark.
Osmeņa wants the problem addressed immediately, saying the problem on education is far worse than the peace and order problems here.
While the mayor can be proud of CCNSHS, which ranked second in the region, he is also alarmed over the 36 other high schools, which ranked only between 57 and 495.
"I think there are many causes here but basically, it's teacher-related. This is a bigger problem than peace and order because the future of the children is compromised," he told a news conference.
Do something
Frustrated over the situation, Osmeņa had the results of the test published in a local daily.
"I'm hoping the parents will get angry and change the school officials, if necessary, and demand the training or replacement of teachers and principal. Ayaw lang ang mayor intawon because I'm the one who brought this out," said Osmeņa.
He added that the report published Monday is meant to let the parents know where their children stand so as not to give them false hopes.
Osmeņa obtained a copy of the results from the Department of Education (DepEd) central office.
The results showed that students from schools in the mountain barangays performed better than those from the urban barangays.
Bridge Program
Students who failed in the NAT are "strongly advised" to shift to the Bridge Program being implemented by the DepEd, said City Schools Superintendent Leonilo Oliva.
The Bridge Program is a one-year remedial program to improve a student's grasp of English, science and mathematics.
Oliva said trends show that those who went through the Bridge Program performed better.
But Oliva told Sun.Star that, unfortunately, only a minimal number of students who failed in the NAT opted to take the Bridge Program, which they could have taken when the third grading period started.
"Parents cited pride and shame on the part of their children as reasons (for not taking the Bridge Program). Of course, it is definitely an additional cost because it means letting their children go through first year all over again," Oliva said.
Many factors
Oliva also said the teachers should not be blamed entirely for the results since the following have also been identified as factors-congestion problems, lack of facility, learning environment and extra-curricular activities.
"The teacher is just one of the many factors but we also can't generalize that all of them are not performing well," he told Sun.Star.
For one, he cited that there are principals and teachers who are more focused on gaining recognition for their school through extra-curricular activities.
These school officials, he added, would rather focus on soliciting for funds to support non-academic programs.
Students in urban areas are more exposed to vices, malls and Internet cafes and are also easily distracted since they have more extra-curricular activities than students in rural areas.
Still thankful
To address this, Oliva said Education Secretary Edilberto de Jesus is coming up with a plan to determine which activities should forego and which should be continued.
Nevertheless, Oliva is happy with what Osmeņa did "so the teachers will be challenged to do better."
Even before the paid ad came out, Oliva already required school principals to explain the results of their respective schools.
Osmeņa, on the other hand, said that much as he wants to fire the 10 to 20 percent lowest performing teachers and principals, he will leave this for the parents to decide so as not to be accused of arrogance.
He also criticized the DepEd and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) for failing to solve the problem and for putting too much emphasis on seniority in the appointment of the teachers.
"I don't see any program of the DepEd in addressing this. If the teachers can't perform, they should be changed. We have to insist that teachers who can perform take over more senior positions even if they are new, but they won't allow it. That's why CSC should be thrown in the garbage can," he said.
Solving the problem
Oliva added they also cannot easily dismiss the teachers from service since certain CSC rules and procedures and the Magna Carta for teachers have to be observed.
Just like other government employees, public school teachers can only be dismissed if they get two unsatisfactory ratings in a year in their performance evaluation.
Oliva told Sun.Star that what he intends to do is to "focus more on the teachers this time."
He intends to meet with the principals this Thursday during their year-end evaluation to map out how they can focus on the academics than extra-curricular activities. (LCR/RCT)
(December 21, 2004 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
