Education in the Philippines today: Turning crisis into opportunities
Crisis is an opportunity in disguise. So, when we say there is an education crisis, it means there are opportunities to explore.
As the Philippines continues to perform poorly in the Program for International Student Assessment due to problems in literacy and numeracy, there is a way to improve its ranking in the next evaluation. An opportunity that Filipinos may explore is how to foster a culture of innovation and invention, as our learners are scoring low in creative and critical thinking.
How can we dig up the opportunities to solve this perennial challenge? What are the opportunities in the education sector nowadays? As an educator, I recognize the challenges of low literacy and numeracy rates, climate change, malnutrition, mental health problems, and the high prevalence of sex-related diseases due to a lack of comprehensive sex education in the country.
Perhaps, we can start by reducing the academic workload of our learners and exposing them to technology-based learning. With the advent of artificial intelligence, these tools can also assist parents in guiding their children’s education. Teachers should not only be the only ones responsible for improving the numeracy and literacy of our learners; parents should also play an active role.
The bottom-up approach should be integrated as an opportunity to solve the problem. At the Department of Education (DepEd), each division should come up with its contextualized learning innovations that will improve the literacy and numeracy of learners. From that, they can develop a national policy based on the consolidated experiences of the school divisions that they handle. In this case, the department will be able to respond to situations on the ground before making an amendment that might overlook the contexts of our Filipino learners and teachers.
The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) and Technical Education and Skills Development (Tesda), should conduct an audit or assessment of learning in basic education. The continuity of learning may happen if these education sectors work hand-in-hand to improve the curriculum and its delivery.
The curriculum cannot be effective if the learning environment is continually disrupted by disasters. The DepEd, CHED, and Tesda should start working on the digitization of learning. Although the digital divide may be a problem, it could be mitigated or handled properly with proper allocation of funds and resources. With frequent interruptions of classes, self-regulation tendency of learners can be developed with the online tools or resources that can be maximized to ensure the delivery of quality education.
During summer, when the heat index necessitates a shift to distance learning modality, a blended learning approach should be prioritized. However, educators should practice streamlining learning requirements in support of the mental and emotional well-being of learners. Students and teachers are greatly affected by climate change as it leads to fluctuations in attendance and an increased dropout rate.
The curriculum should be streamlined to expose learners to practicing resiliency in completing their academic requirements. A comprehensive sexuality education must also be integrated into the lessons.
Education should not only be a privilege for children or learners who live comfortably. Learners’ health, as well as their social and economic situations must also be addressed, as these can affect their holistic performance. The education sector should also care for educators who have stayed and accepted the challenges to improve the quality of education in our nation. They must be well compensated and provided with continuous training, including international academic exposure, to help them become more creative and innovative in meeting the needs of our Filipino learners.
Robinson Valenzona,
National University Manila
