Editorial – The Manila Times
July 9, 2024
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has appointed Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara to what is probably one of the most difficult jobs in government — take charge of and transform the abysmal Department of Education (DepEd).
It is a department plagued by the underwhelming performance of our public school students in international educational assessments. The results of the last five years have shown that our young students are at the lowest rung in reading, mathematics and science. We are the laggards not just in these basic fields but in creative thinking as well.
Compound that with the lack of teachers hounded by the lack of funds and the slow bureaucratic process of hiring teachers, alleged corruption, weak infrastructure, intermittent Wi-Fi for online learning, and lack of printed books and e-books — and you begin to wonder why Senator Angara wanted the job in the first place.
Like the incumbent president, Senator Angara may have been inclined to take on the job to continue his father’s legacy. But while the elder Angara was a well-regarded former president of the University of the Philippines, the son was not. Though he does have multiple foreign degrees and diplomas and a good pedigree, which we really hope will help him turn the tide at DepEd.
The President’s marching orders are to focus on the basics of reading, mathematics and science, which align well with the subjects where our students performed dismally. But how to do these in the most practical terms? We can suggest some best practices.
One, investment in infrastructure and resources is needed. We must ensure that schools have adequate facilities, classrooms, libraries and technological resources to support learning. The private sector and international organizations can also be tapped for funds and grants in this aspect.
Our teachers are good — they passed the licensure examinations, after all — but they need to be returned to the classrooms. Far too many of them are seconded to work as clerks and administrative assistants, leaving our classroom sizes at one teacher to 50 students or more.
We also need to enhance teacher training programs to keep them updated with modern teaching methods and provide ongoing professional development opportunities. One doable thing is to shift methodology to other means — peer work among students, more student activities on critical thinking, presentations instead of quizzes that focus on rote memorization, and research projects within community concerns to forestall the use of AI.
We also need to regularly update our curriculum to be more relevant to current and future needs, including problem-solving and digital skills. The K–12 program seems to have failed to provide enough employment for its graduates; it needs a thorough analysis and a new direction.
More alignment with industry needs and a more practice-oriented pedagogy seem to be in order.
Education should also be accessible to all, regardless of socioeconomic background or geographical location. This includes improving access to quality education in rural and marginalized areas. We still watch on television gripping narratives and images of teachers who have to cross rivers and climb mountains to reach their pupils. Clustering of schools can help these, as well as the hiring of more teachers and a shift to alternative hybrid learning systems.
Investing in early childhood education can also have long-term benefits by laying a strong foundation for future learning. We also need to utilize technology to enhance learning experiences, such as online resources, digital tools and virtual classrooms.
We can also deal with the elephant in the room by implementing effective assessment tools to measure student progress and identify areas for improvement. The focus should be on continuous monitoring and evaluation, which should not be seen as negative, as we tend to do in our personalistic culture, but as an aid to educational progress.
Lastly, President Marcos told the new education secretary of the need to teach history. Modules on the West Philippine Sea can be integrated, as well as a dispassionate, evidence-based pedagogy on the senior Marcos’ years of strongman rule.
We wish Secretary Angara luck in this tough job.
