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Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Malig: Quality education in public schools
By Jun A. Malig
AMONG the at least 17 bills filed by Pampanga 3rd district Rep. Jesus Reynaldo "Cong Rey" Aquino in the House of Representatives is House Bill 01990, otherwise known as "An Act Establishing a System of Public School accreditation by the Department of Education (DepEd) for all the Nation's Public Elementary and Secondary Schools."
The bill seeks to improve the deteriorating quality of education in public elementary and secondary schools in various parts of the country. By setting up a system of accreditation for public schools, Rey hopes to enhance public school teachers' abilities in conveying knowledge to their students. Such scheme would especially do well with the participation of respected institutions like the University of the Philippines or other similarly esteemed organizations. By the way, accreditation means recognizing an educational institution's conformity with accepted standards. It is the recognition given by the accrediting agency or body to institutions that satisfy standards of educational quality.
Accrediting bodies establish basic standards designed to reflect the qualities of a sound educational program and review the performances of teachers and the knowledge-absorption of students at elementary, secondary, and tertiary schools.
Reliable authorities in quality education are important in accreditation system. Accrediting procedures usually involve establishments of standards or criteria of academic excellence; development of measures to enable institutions to perform self-evaluation to determine if they meet the established standards; and the accrediting body's performance of on-site review to see if the schools pass the standards. Accreditation also involves publication of lists of schools that have met the requirements and the periodical evaluation of accredited schools to find out if they continue to uphold standards of educational quality.
Rey's bill, if approved into law, would definitely be a plus factor in the great effort to improve the worsening state of public education system. As I pointed out in one of my past columns, the quality of education relies mainly on the quality of teachers who should not only be knowledgeable in the subjects they teach but should also be skillful in the art and science of teaching - which is to effectively make students absorb the knowledge being transmitted to them. Quality education never depended on the length of years of schooling. It does not depend on the prices of textbooks. It mostly depends on the teachers and the methods they use in teaching.
Through accreditation, public schools would be obliged to conform to required standards. Public school teachers would be forced to improve not only their skills but also their knowledge on teaching and the subjects they teach. Eventually, the students would benefit from the program. Of course, the scheme would also be rewarding on the part of the teachers because they would surely become better educators.
A credible system of accreditation for public elementary and secondary schools would be a few steps ahead of the once controversial pre-high school "bridge" program of the DepEd. With private sector involvement and incorporation of school policies on uniforms, discipline, etc., such program would definitely contribute in the improvement of the country's education system.
Another legislative measure that also deserves commendation is HB 00110 that seeks to institute a program for continuing education of college teachers in both private and public universities and colleges for the purpose of improving the quality of tertiary education by means of upgrading the capability and competence of teachers. The bill, authored by Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, compels teachers to undergo training programs that shall focus on proper teaching methods and areas of continuing education.
(October 5, 2004 issue)
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