THE usual challenges in the beginning of a school year often worries some both parents and students, especially when public schools are considered to be the "last frontier" for the young Filipinos to get an education. Technologies may have evolved but some of the common obstacles persist.
I thought, I am the last person to experience overcrowded classrooms, if not the lack of it, but it turned out it remains a reality to some public schools not just in Northern Mindanao but the whole country as well. I experienced sharing books with other classmates, in some remote areas children do the same up to now.
Good thing I experienced to have an adequate number of teachers back then, but there were stories of places where teachers remain a scarcity, let alone some good-willed individuals who would brave the hinterlands just to educate children.
The basic education landscape in the Philippines remains a challenge, despite government reforms through the programs being implemented in the Department of Education (DepEd).
I am personally optimistic of the K to 12, however, given the reality of how the system works at times, I am afraid it is in constant peril. That is why I can't blame some groups or people to be skeptic about the whole program.
Meanwhile, as the number of children grows adding to the country's population index, there are some privately-owned learning centers or institutions that seem to cater only a privileged-few since only they can afford expensive fees every year. Yet the irony is that some of the teaching force of some of these private schools prefers working in public schools for reasons that the compensation is better.
The education sector is one of society's basic needs, the more we need it, the more it has value. That is why DepEd received P367.1 billion from the P2.606-trillion 2015 National Budget, becoming one of the top gainer among government agencies.
The budget actually increased to 18.6 percent, as compared to P309.5 billion in 2014, and the said amount will support the current national government's thrust for improving people's access to quality education, including the successful implementation of the K to 12 Program.
But of course, beyond these figures are actual tales from the field, and it is for the people to say - especially in remote areas - if these billions of pesos directly went to the schools and benefited the communities.
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In my previous column titled, "Duterte-fied," last Monday, June 1, I mistakenly labeled Sec. Leila de Lima to be the "Defense Secretary" instead as the "Justice Secretary." Maybe my mind was in a little unfocused, because our dear secretary has been "defending" human rights issues as of late, while divulging of certain "progress" in relation to the investigation of the notorious "Davao Death Squad," and suggesting that Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has a hand of it and must be "criminally liable."
(Email: nefluczon@gmail.com]