PDI feature wins at 20th Lasallian Scholarum Awards
A Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) article on the troubling phenomenon of grade inflation was awarded Outstanding Published Feature Article on Youth and Education in a Nationally Circulated Publication at the 20th Lasallian Scholarum Awards (LSA) held at De La Salle University (DLSU) on Thursday.
The story “Why are more students graduating with Latin honors?” written by PDI assistant Lifestyle editor and Super editor Pam Pastor, was published in the Lifestyle section on Aug. 18, 2024. It bested nine other finalists in the same category, including six articles also published by PDI.
The nominated articles from PDI were: “Child marriages in PH: It takes a village to also commit abuse” and “Tip to teachers: Group pupils according to their reading skills” by Jane Bautista; “DepEd needs about 4K guidance counselors” and “Hiring Gen Zs? They shun ‘toxic’ workplaces–survey” by Kathleen de Villa; “It’s back to Filipino and English, from kinder to Grade 3 classes” by Julie M. Aurelio; and “Teacher exodus alarms DepEd; Education cluster formed” by Melvin Gascon and Julie M. Aurelio.
There were also Inquirer finalists in the Outstanding Feature Story on De La Salle University category: “Relationships making things work at La Salle” by PDI’s Lance Agcaoili, “No need to wait long: Upper-middle economy status coming this year” by Inquirer.net’s Alden M. Monzon, and “‘See the Unseen’ wins the Philippine National James Dyson Award” by Tessa Prieto, also for Inquirer.net.
“Bahay, Eskwela” by Neil Mercado for Inquirer.net’s documentary series Look Through was a finalist in the Outstanding Video Feature Story on Youth and Education category.
“At this particular time in our history, we are honored to continue holding the Lasallian Scholarum Awards, the thrust of which is to tell stories on youth and education … We highlight the fundamental obligation of journalists, filmmakers, documentarists, teachers, educators and academics to search, discover, tell the truth,” said DLSU president Bernard Oca.
“We aim to give voice to our youth and advocate their education,” he added.
Rigorous screening process
Broadcast journalist and DLSU alumnus Rico Hizon, who hosted the event, said the merit-based awards involved a rigorous screening process.
“DLSU commissioned Isentia, an independent media monitoring company, to provide our screening committee with stories from print, broadcast, web-based media and student publications. The stories underwent an internal screening by an esteemed pool of faculty and communication experts … The final entries were then turned over to our external LSA judges, a board composed of respected leaders and prime movers in the country,” Hizon said.
This year’s judges included Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino Commissioner Arthur Casanova, National Youth Commission Executive Director Leah Villalon, university fellow Clodualdo del Mundo Jr., Bato Balani Foundation Inc. managing director Natalie Christine Jorge and DLSU faculty member Richie Yap.
The awards introduced a new category this year: Outstanding Feature Film on Youth and Education, which was won by “Firefly,” a GMA Pictures and GMA Public Affairs production.
Other winners
The other winners were “A Tale of the Lumad Schools: Trailing mounts of deprivation towards academic recognition” by Eunhice Corpuz, FEU Advocate—Outstanding Published Feature Article on Youth and Education in a School Organ; “The Cost of Miseducation” by Giselle Ombay, GMA News Online—Outstanding Online Feature Story on Youth and Education; “Silid-aklatan sa Lansangan” by Lilian Tiburcio and Jenica Villanueva, “DigiDokyu,” GMA Integrated News—Outstanding Video Feature Story on Youth and Education; and “DLSU’s Coffee Science Class Proves There’s So Much Behind Making the Perfect Brew” by Christa De La Cruz, Spot.ph—Outstanding Feature Story on De La Salle University.
In partnership with DLSU’s Student Media Office, Rappler’s Patricia Evangelista was also awarded Outstanding Media Personality.
The winners received trophy sculptures by Toym Imao showing paper planes making their way out of a box representing “the flight of ideas,” with reliefs depicting the five senses.
‘Learning crisis’
In his keynote address, guest of honor Karol Mark Yee, executive director of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (Edcom II), said, “This milestone reminds us of the power of storytelling and how important it is to use that power for three things: to expose truths no matter how upsetting they may be; to celebrate wins and stories; and to catalyze changes for and with our stakeholders.”
“In the context of our world today where everyone creates content, it is critical that media professionals and journalists, however young or old, are able to tell the stories that amplify the truth and inspire change,” he added.
He also declared that the country was facing a “learning crisis” and that a lot of change was needed.
He shared alarming findings from Edcom II’s assessment of the Philippine education sector showing, among others, that 97 percent of Grade 3 students in the National Capital Region, the top-performing region, could not solve division problems.
Yee cited other issues such as half of the public schools not having principals, textbooks not published and delivered in the past decade except for Grades 5 and 6 students, four out of 10 college students dropping out before graduation, and the increase in suicide ideation among the youth.
In Cavite, Edcom II discovered that one school had 4,000 students and only six classrooms so the children had to be taught in batches.
“Writing about education may not always be the sexiest and most appealing, especially to news outlets and the general public. But it is necessary, especially if it builds a constituency for reform that enables the advocacy to reach policymakers for the needed changes to reach our parents and teachers,” Yee said.
“It is no longer just our responsibility but a moral imperative … Our work must be a catalyst for change, a bridge between diagnosis and action,” he added.
