GOVERNMENT described the opening of classes Monday as generally peaceful. It was. But that does not mean the seeming chaos wasn’t observed, specially in public schools. That is what makes enrolment in public schools a challenge. Congestion makes navigating a cramped surrounding taxing.
My two sons are now in a public school. Both took up elementary education in a private school but tuition continues to rise. Good that the Department of Education has increased the number of science schools in the country. Selected students can now avail themselves of quality education that is free and accessible.
When I graduated from City Central School in Cebu City, my batch mates and I took up qualifying exams for the scholarships offered at that time. I chose three, one for the then newly established Cebu City National Science High School, another for the then Cebu School of Arts and Trade and another for a vocational school in Bacolod. I passed all of them but chose Science High.
It was a wrong decision. I wasn’t fond of studying when I was in elementary school, which became my undoing in high school. In my first year, our class adviser visited our residence to find out why I was often absent from school. It was then that my family discovered I was cutting classes. My father got so angry he ordered me to drop out altogether.
It was after I enrolled in a private school the next school year that I discovered the value of study. I was in the lower section but soon started to excel, and our class adviser challenged me to be better than the students in the higher sections. That started a journey that would lead to redemption of sorts. I graduated valedictorian.
The class adviser in the private school I mentioned had a dislike for products of public schools. I would like to believe I changed that perception of hers. After all, good learning is not wholly dependent on the school although it is an important factor. Intellect and habits matter. In Science High, bad habits did me in. I could have survived there if not for those bad habits.
I have visited Science High a number of times recently, and I was amazed by the changes I saw there. The campus grounds are wider and more structures have been built. When my eldest child took the qualifying exams there, he blurted, “Ari lang ko eskwela, pa.” He passed but eventually chose the school near our place. In these days of traffic snarls, distance can be a turnoff.
The Science High in our town is cramped considering the number of students accepted there.But my eldest child eventually adjusted even with the size of some classrooms that had the students sitting on chairs lined too close to each other and with only a narrow space separating them from the teacher and the blackboard.
His younger brother is now with him and I am confident he would help him adjust. During the opening of classes, the students were herded to the newly constructed covered court for orientation. Work on the covered court is still to be completed even as the promise of building more classrooms have remained unrealized.