Endless slide
The news just gets drearier on the education front. In a study released about two months ago, an education advocacy group reported that only two percent of high school students nationwide are fit to enter college, and that only a dismal six out of every 1,000 sixth grade elementary school graduates are ready for high school. Last week another group reported that only 62 percent of grade school graduates actually make it to high school. Of that 62 percent, how many will manage to get a college education?
Of approximately 13 million elementary school students, 12 million are in public schools. Those schools suffer from an acute lack of everything needed for a good education, from the most basic school supplies to classrooms and qualified teachers. The few remaining qualified teachers continue to leave in droves for better paying jobs overseas. Each school year the student-to-teacher ratio becomes worse.
Problems bedevil even private schools despite rising tuition rates. The depletion of the nations pool of qualified teachers is felt by both public and private schools. The consequences are evident in the results of assessment tests for graduating elementary and high school students. Despite passing scores that are so low they are laughable, too many students still flunk the tests. When the government changed the public school curriculum and amended the system of computing grades, about a third of high school students flunked and were forced to either take remedial summer classes or become repeaters.
Education is supposed to offer a ticket out of poverty. Free elementary and high school education raised hopes for millions of impoverished families. The program, however, has foundered from a chronic lack of funds, aggravated by circumstances that have compelled thousands of the nations best educators to bring their skills overseas.
The result is a nation that is rapidly losing its competitiveness in the global economy. The education department is rushing to implement reforms within its limited resources. Groups aware of the magnitude of the problem are also moving to reverse the slide in the quality of Philippine education. They will need all the help they can get
Of approximately 13 million elementary school students, 12 million are in public schools. Those schools suffer from an acute lack of everything needed for a good education, from the most basic school supplies to classrooms and qualified teachers. The few remaining qualified teachers continue to leave in droves for better paying jobs overseas. Each school year the student-to-teacher ratio becomes worse.
Problems bedevil even private schools despite rising tuition rates. The depletion of the nations pool of qualified teachers is felt by both public and private schools. The consequences are evident in the results of assessment tests for graduating elementary and high school students. Despite passing scores that are so low they are laughable, too many students still flunk the tests. When the government changed the public school curriculum and amended the system of computing grades, about a third of high school students flunked and were forced to either take remedial summer classes or become repeaters.
Education is supposed to offer a ticket out of poverty. Free elementary and high school education raised hopes for millions of impoverished families. The program, however, has foundered from a chronic lack of funds, aggravated by circumstances that have compelled thousands of the nations best educators to bring their skills overseas.
The result is a nation that is rapidly losing its competitiveness in the global economy. The education department is rushing to implement reforms within its limited resources. Groups aware of the magnitude of the problem are also moving to reverse the slide in the quality of Philippine education. They will need all the help they can get
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5:30 AM
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