Tag Archives: Right to education

[From the web] Paalam, Ms. Education by Merck Magudayao

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Paalam, Ms. Education
by Merck Maguddayao
March 15, 2013

Ms Education by Agaw Trip Komiks

Merck MagudayaoNasubukan niyo na bang makulangan ng pamasahe? Yung tipong nagpa-xerox ka ng bulto-bultong readings tapos, shit, ganun pala kakapal yung pina-xerox mo. Yung tipong, nage-expect ka ng sweldo sa akinse, tas pagsilip mo sa atm mo, insufficient funds pa, at sa tatlong araw pa maki-clear ng bangko ang paycheck mo. At shit, sasampung piso na lang pala laman ng bulsa mo. Nasa Diliman ka, at sa Pasig ka pa uuwi.

Hindi birong makulangan ng pera. Kung mas makapal pa ang nakatagong business card, love letter ng syota, o mga naipong Form 5 kesa sa lamang pera ng pitaka mo, mapipilitan kang maglakad pauwi. Swerte mo kung may bike ka para di ka na namamasahe. Swerte mo kung ligtas mag-bike sa EDSA o Commonwealth. Malas mo kung ni pambili ng bike, wala ka.

Hindi birong makulangan ng pera. Una, pag wala kang laptop, kailangan mong mag-rent sa computer shop para maisulat mo yung finals papers mo. E paano yung pa-print. Maiha-hand written mo ba ang 10,000 word na thesis? E kung matyaga kang magsulat nang mano-mano, may pambili ka ba ng bond paper na pagsusulatan nun? Paano mo maipapasa ang sem kung ni pambili ng bond paper, wala ka? Kung pamasahe, wala ka. Pang-meryendang monay, wala ka. Mga nagmamalasakit na kaklase, wala ka. Mga aktibistang lumalaban sa karapatan mong mag-aral, nawawala na?

Sa nagpakamatay na freshman ng UP Manila na naibalita kanina lang, nakikita ko ang nilikha namin ng kartunistang si Mikey Marchan at ng Six Will Fix Campaign team na si Ms. Education, ang comic character na sumasalarawan sa maralitang UP student.

Nakikita ko si Ms. Education sa nakasabay kong kumain sa Istarbak noong 2007, ang unang taon ng tuition increase sa UP, kung saan nagtaas ang matrikula mula P300 per yunit, sa kasalukuyang P1,500 per yunit. Kasama ang isang kaibigan, kinekwento niya na ibebenta ng magulang niya ang kalabaw nila sa probinsya para lang makapasok sa Bracket C ng tuition, kung saan may discount at malalagay lang sa P600 kada yunit ang matrikula. Isang estudyanteng promdi na nakaasa sa kalabaw ang matrikula, at nagla-lunch sa isang mumurahing karinderya kung saan lasang pansit ang spaghetti at lasang spaghetti ang pansit.

Nakikita ko si Ms. Education sa dalagang nagtitinda ng Dried Mangoes nung nagpalipas ako ng oras sa isang bench sa AS Walk. Pang-tuition daw niya at kelangang maka-quota sa araw na yun.

Nakikita ko si Ms. Education sa mga batang nagtitinda ng danggit at tuyong pusit sa isang highway sa Pangasinan. Pagbaba mo ng sasakyan, marami silang papalibot sayo, sabay-sabay magpapataasan ng boses at magpapababaan ng presyo para lang mabenta ang kanilang “special” danggit. Para raw may baon sila sa eskwela kinabukasan.

Nakikita ko si Ms. Education sa mga dalagang nakatambay sa mga bangketa ng Aurora Boulevard sa Cubao kapag mga alas-diyes na ng gabi. Sisitsitan ka ng kasama nilang ale at aalukin ng panandaliang aliw. Ilan kaya sa kanila ang nag-aaral sa kolehiyo?

Sinasabi ng iba, kailangang malalim ang dahilan para magpakamatay. Ang sabi ng iba, mga hibang lang ang nagpapatiwakal. Hindi sapat na dahilan ang kawalan ng pera.

Pero paano pag may pangarap ka? Ambisyon na maiahon ang pamilya sa karukhaan. Ambisyon na sa magiging mga anak mo, hindi nila maranasan ang nararanasan mong hirap.

Sa atrasadong mundong ito, kung saan nakabatay ang iyong pagkatao, ang iyong dignidad, ang iyong survival, sa kakayanan mong bumili ng mga bagay-bagay, aba, tila mas may ginhawa kung mawala ka na lang na parang bula. Ba’t ba mag-aaral pa kung may mga taong kumikita ng bilyon-bilyon sa pamamagitan ng pagpapahirap sa nakararami? Ba’t ba kailangang magkadiploma kung ang halaga lang nito ay pagpapahirap sa iyo bilang isang kontraktwal na empleyado?

Paalam, Ms. Education. Ang lipunang sinusukat ng numero, ng abstraktong estadistika, ng pera ay sadyang miseducated. Malamang, sa kinaroroonan mo ngayon, walang TOFI at STFAP.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/merck-maguddayao/paalam-ms-education/10151295816737085

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[Blog] Hail to the Daughter of the World: A Tribute to Malala by Jose Mario De Vega

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Hail to the Daughter of the World: A Tribute to Malala
by Jose Mario De Vega

Malala-Yousafzai-008 guardiandotcodotuk

Malala Yousafzai. Photo source guardian.co.uk

Mario De VegaI join the moral world and the international humanistic community in welcoming Malala Yousafzai back to us.

Last week, it was widely reported that this brave young Pakistani girl was discharged from the hospital after recuperating from gunshot wounds for quite some time.

Bravo to this courageous child!

She valiantly fought two great wars and both won gloriously and convincingly!

First, she stood against the tyranny, the sexism, intolerance, madness and the fanatical views of the Taliban. The whole world knows how she passionately struggled and fought firmly for her inherent right to education, to improve herself, to develop her knowledge for purposes of ultimately cultivating herself.

She does this not only for herself, but also for all the Pakistani children like her, especially the young girls.

The evil forces of hate and violence, mortal enemy of equality, humanity and enlightenment responded in the only nefarious fashion that they knew: first they threatened our young Malala repeatedly and when they saw that she won’t relent fighting for her cause; they shot our little angelic warrior!

Those idiots thought that by killing Malala, the right to call for education, the demand for equality and the march of reason would stop. The Taliban by virtue of this dastardly act has clearly shown to the world not only the depravity of their characters, the barbarity of their actions, but also the idiocy of their minds. Those animals never thought that even if they succeeded in killing Malala — her ideas and principles shall continue to reverberate all across Pakistan and all over the world!

Those animals may kill a person, but they can never ever kill an idea!

In the immortal words of Kahlil Gibran:

Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.

Our angel saw it through: she cheated death and shamed the Taliban to the maximum! Hurray!

It is in this great sense that Malala’s boldness, her defiant act of standing up against the Taliban earned her the love, respect and admiration of the world over.

As Malala herself said in envisioning a confrontation with the Taliban:

I think of it often and imagine the scene clearly. Even if they come to kill me, I will tell them what they are trying to do is wrong, that education is our basic right.

Not only did she triumph against those terrorists, but she has also shown completely the bankruptcy and abnormality of that notorious group’s ‘philosophy’.

She taught a lot of people, opened not only their eyes, but most importantly their hearts and minds with regard to the harrowing and horrible plight of children, such as her in Pakistan. Indeed, her gentle yet utterly strong fortitude have shaken the world.

The whole international community wept when it learnt of the barbaric act committed against her. The people of the world forged in unison and in solidarity to her and her love ones and prayed collectively for her prompt recovery.

Hail to this brave Daughter of the world! Bravo to this courageous little warrior of education, equality and enlightenment!

Her youthful humanity has proved to all of us once again that the unexamined life is not worth living and that the only good and noble life we can have is a life that is devoted to the advancement and promotion of the general welfare and well being for the benefit of the common good!

Again, to quote her own words: My purpose is to serve humanity.

Welcome back Malala, keep it up, we all love you and will always be with you in your noble quest and cause to serve mankind and humanity.

Jose Mario Dolor De Vega

Lecturer
College of Arts
Department of Philosophy
Polytechnic University of the Philippines

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[In the news] Youth group slams Aquino for pushing K+12 education -PhilStar.com

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Youth group slams Aquino for pushing K+12 education
By Rainier Allan Ronda, The Philippine Star
June 06, 2012

MANILA, Philippines – The Aquino administration’s Kindergarten+12 basic education curriculum reform program is bound to fail with inadequate funds allocated to education, a youth group claimed yesterday.

Youth Against Debt (YAD) said the government should adopt the international benchmark for government spending on education, which is six percent of the country’s gross national product (GNP) to provide adequate funds for the K+12 program.

“It is very sad that while this government asserts international standards to implement K+12, they choose to ignore the international benchmark for government spending in education,” Erika Erro, YAD spkesperson, said.

Citing data from the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), Erro said the country would have incurred an accumulated debt of P3.56 billion from 1986 to 2011 if it abided by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) standard of six percent GNP provision for universal quality education.

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[People] 2011 Right to Education Situation: Philippines (1st of 3 series) by Renato G. Mabunga, Ph.D.

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By Renato G. Mabunga, Ph.D.

Introduction:

The 1987 Philippine Constitution speaks elaborately of the right to education.  It vows to “…protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels, and… take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all… (1987 Philippine Constitution, Article XIV).  In principle, the Philippines takes cognizance of the normative characteristics or elements by which the right to education is founded namely: quality education, accessibility of the right and non-discrimination.  By being so, bonded itself to the obligatory nature in realizing the right both legally and politically.

The Philippine, as a state signatory to various instruments providing normative contents to the right to education, is bound by all these treaties and declarations to provide legislative as well as administrative frameworks for the realization of this right.  It must concretize its commitment to promote, protect and fulfill human rights in its development plans.

Politically, according to the Right to Education Project (2008), right to education is also an enabling right.  It “creates the “voice” through which rights can be claimed and protected’, and without education people lack the capacity to ‘achieve valuable functionings as part of the living.”[i] The state is therefore, impelled to muster political will for the realization of this right.  This is the framework by which we shall revisit the state of Philippine Education in the year 2011.

P-Noy’s Education Reform Agenda:

Year 2011 is a witness to a heightened debate on reforming the Philippine Education System.  It also marks the initial implementation of the Administrations Education Reform Agenda.  In February 2010, Benigno Simeon Aquino III, before the gathering of more than 500 University presidents said: “My education team has designed a way to go from our current 10 years to a K-12 system in five years starting in school year 2011-2012.  Kindergarten to Grade 12 is what the rest of the world gives their children.  I will expand the basic education cycle in the country from a short and insufficient 10-year cycle to a globally comparable 12-year cycle before the end of the next administration.”[ii]  He urged both private and university leaders to join him in the achievement of his 10-point reform Agenda for Education, namely:[iii]

1. 12-year Basic Education Cycle:  expanding basic education cycle, from a 10-year cycle to a globally comparable 12 years for the public school children.
2. Universal pre-schooling for all: preschool is required to all public school children as their introduction to formal schooling by 2016.
3. Madaris education as a sub-system within the education system: full basic education for all Muslim Filipino children adaptive to their culture while providing a sound curriculum in English, Filipino, science, and math. Madaris education, with subjects in Arabic language and Islamic values education, can be integrated in our public school curriculum as additional subjects.
4. Technical vocational education as an alternative stream in senior high school.  Reintroduction of technical-vocational education in public high schools aimed at linking schooling to local industry needs and employment.
5. “Every child a reader” by Grade 1”.  By the end of the next administration (SY 2015-16), every child passing pre-school must be a reader by Grade 1.
6. Science and Math proficiency:  Schools buildings and infrastructure for science and math in schools to fan the field towards producing more scientists, engineers, technicians, technologists and teachers and to be more globally competitive in industry and manufacturing.
7. Assistance to private schools as essential partners in basic education: Expansion of government assistance to private education to provide alternative learning institutions for children.
8. Medium of instruction rationalized:  Becoming trilingual nation: Learn English well and connect to the world; learn Filipino well and connect to the country; retain dialect and connect with own heritage.
9. Quality textbooks:  Textbooks will be judged by three criteria: quality, better quality, and more quality. Poor quality textbooks have no place in schools.
10. Covenant with the local governments to build more schools: building of schools in areas where there are no public or private schools in partnership with local governments, as well as address the persistent classroom and teacher shortages. Schools must have smaller populations so that teachers, students and parents can form a real learning community.

Read full article @ renatomabunga.wordpress.com

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[Press Release] Amid the Crimes in the Internet, Kids in Zamboanga Go to School Thanks to Facebook

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One Less Filipino Drop Out: With studies pointing to one of 10 Filipino students dropping out before reaching college, Kristiyano-Islam Peace Library scholar Vergeil D. Enriquez, who is taking computer science at the Western Mindanao State University in Zamboanga City, is not joining such statistic, thanks to a Manila-based family which offered to answer for the scholarship needs of 34 Kris scholars this year after learning about the plight of poor Christian and Muslim kids through Facebook. Enriquez (left) smiles as she and her parents count the money given by Kris Library Administrator Aida Natividad.

Thanks to Facebook  – coupled with concerned netizens of the World Wide Web — 34 poor Christian and Muslim kids in Zamboanga City are going to school as scholars this year and thousands more will get to read books, use free computers and study in a private library in a far-flung place hardly reached by the Internet.

Sharing Computer Knowledge. Kris Library Scholar Sitti Marra Azib (standing), a second year student at the Manicahan High School, teaches a friend computer basics at the Kristiyano-Islam Peace Library (Kris) which is being helped by concerned people all over the world who follow the progress of the library and scholars through Facebook.

“It’s ironical that what Mark Elliot Zuckerberg intended to be a dating site has turned into a socially beneficial engine now powering the education of very poor children who would have dropped out of school had their sad plight not be known to kind-hearted individuals in Manila and far corners of the world – courtesy of Facebook and the Internet,” said Armand Dean Nocum, founder of the Kristiyano-Islam Peace Library (Kris), a non-government literacy advocacy group.

Nocum came out with the statement as Metro Manila has been hit recently by serious crimes to include murder and rape resulting from contacts of people through Facebook and other social networking sites.

Nocum admitted to having considered pulling out of Facebook after his own Yahoo site has been hacked Tuesday and from where messages have been sent to friends about him needing money because he was stranded in Spain.

“I realized the Internet has done more good than harm to our advocacy to bring education to poor kids in Mindanao. Recently, a donor I met through Facebook a donated P50,000 to enable us to put to school our first five college scholars and 29 high school and elementary school students in Zamboanga City.

Nocum said that since making his 10-year-old advocacy known through the internet through his personal Facebook page the and Kris Library website (http://www.krislibrary.com) over a year ago, he had received almost US1,500 donations from friends and relatives from the US, Ireland, Canada, Hawaii and all over the country.

Pictures Says All in Facebooks: It is pictures like this of Kristiano-Islam Peace Library scholars Joan Pangan (left) and Kathleen Resola graduating with top honors that convince Kris supporters from all over the world that their help to poor kids in far Manicahan, Zamboanga City is being put to good use. Beamed through Facebook, the smile and medals say it all to Facebook netizens who support Kris Library.

He said the funds helped complete the half-finished Kris Peace Library which had been helping provide for the research needs of poor children in 10 far-flung barangays and sitios in Zamboanga City since 2008; built three restrooms so the female students doing research in the library will not hold on to their bladders for hours before reaching home through muddy fields; and construct a computer and livelihood rooms there.

“It seems weekly blow-by-blow pictures of the construction work really convinced donors that we mean well. Pictures of kids and scanned writings of their appeal for help because their parents can no longer afford to pay for their continuing schooling also convinced our sponsors to sent help, thus making it possible for us to increase our scholars to 102 thus far,” Nocum said.

He also said that postings of videos of Kris scholars relating the ways Kris Library had helped them, pictures of them beaming with medals as they graduate as valedictorians, salutatorians and with high honors also inspired people to help.

“Most of our donors gave books, chocolates, toys, printers and used computers for free use by the students because through the Internet, they believe they have already gotten high degree of closeness with our scholars,” said the Manila-based Nocum who communicates with his staff and Kris beneficiaries also through the net even if there is yet no reliable line from Manicahan.

With growing support through the Internet, Nocum said Kris Library has expanded to Quezon City and had committed help establish Kris Peace Libraries or donate books to the Typhoon Ondoy and fire victims living in a resettlement site in Montalban, Rizal; kids who swim to school in Layag-Layag, Zamboanga City; and poor kids helped by the Claretian Missionary Order in Tungawan, Zamboanga del Sur.

“Amid all the computer hacking, robbery and other crimes done through the World Wide Web, there is love and caring in Facebook and in the Net,” said Nocum, a former journalist.

PRESS RELEASE
June 17, 2011

REFERENCE:
Arizza Ann Nocum
Kris Peace Library Manila Administrator
(02) 3522313/7030040
09178127932/09195897879

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[In the news] Demolition at San Juan village resumes after brief standoff – Nation – GMA News Online – Latest Philippine News

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Demolition at San Juan village resumes after brief standoff – Nation – GMA News Online – Latest Philippine News.

Tension gripped a village in San Juan City anew Friday as residents faced off with a demolition team ordered to take down the shanties there.

Residents of Corazon de Jesus village confronted members of the demolition team and refused to let them destroy their houses, radio dzBB‘s Glen Juego reported.

However, the tension eased after the residents and the demolition team reached a compromise of sorts where the demolition would only demolish the houses of residents who agreed to be relocated.

Some 287 houses in the area were initially scheduled to be demolished, the report said.

The area where the demolition was to take place will be the site of the new government center and City Hall. – VVP, GMA News

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[Blogger] Hegemony in Philippine Education: Rejoinder on K-12 Challenge – Dekonztruktschon

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What hope do we have for these children who will spend 12+ years of education?

Rod Rivera

By Rod Rivera

Dekonztruktschon

While I wrote of the impact of K-12 on tertiary education in the Philippines, it is interesting to reexamine the positions I asserted and the suggestions I gave within the context of postcolonial world order and the promotion of national interest. Over the unnoticed dark cloud of hegemony in global education, Phillippine educators and advocates of nationalistic and culturally relevant education should be able to see the silve

r lining to provide the utmost quality of education for the Filipino students over the quantity of time spent in it the extended program across curriculum.

First, the Department of Education (DepEd) had made a sound and informed decisi

on to adapt the K+12 program as an effort to align it to global standards. DepEd was able to clarify and justify this principled decision as to its costs and benefits to the government and the public, with a sound framework and rational perspectives. Local education stakeholders, then should commit their support to the program and to guard that its thrusts be realized as formulated. While the program framework guarantees to a

bide by the constituonal definition of  an educated Filipino, this interest must be strongly promoted and protected since the program is a willful subjection to existing hegemonoy in global education.

I am reading hegemony coming from a strong global emphasis on the number of years on basic education. The trend which resulted from the craftiness of countries of poli

tical and economic power imposes submission of other countries to some forms of international accords. In this situation, we have to restructure our educational system without abandoning national interest. Education that is emancipating for the people must be grounded in the context of our culture. Further, it should operate to achieve the ideals of our nation for our promotion and development, beyond that of fulfilling international requirement.

The other hegemony I sense results from ignorance  on such kind of developm

ent. Politically, the public has not been made so aware of the costs and benefits of implementing the K12 program. Except of standardization in the context of global competetiveness, nothing more is being communicated to the public. The DepEd is positive in its gradual implementation starting this school year, but teachers have to be made aware of wha

t the curriculum is like. Foremost, this should have been set, but the K12 discussion paper does not tell this. On the first year of its gradual implementation, what is to be expected?

By principle, the K12 program is fine-tuning Philippine basic education. This will be done by declogging the curriculum that it will be made more relevant and authentic to help graduates in their preparation for work integration. Yet, the hegemony of ignorance is causing misunderstanding, lack of confidence and anxiety particularly among college educators. It seems that the idea of gradual implementation is slowing the momentum for education stakeholders to sit and plan the curriculum. Maybe they are doing what they have to do, but it’s just that the curriulum is not ironed out yet.

This hegemony of not being so informed about the K12′s implication to college education manifests in the teacher’s and administrator’s anxiety. The consultative assembly of college education stakeholders, organized by the Commission on Higher Education, has not come up with its analysis or framework for action. One idea is that some  ”general education subjects in the college curriculum, may be transferred and integrated to the basic education curriculum”. Another idea is the tantamount consequence of K12 implementation to cause enrollment gap or lag for two years.

To allay the fears of college educators, strategic planning should anticipate and rule out implications as to the very principle of K12. If the program will be strictly implemented, the extended curriculum should not be moving down general education subjects from the higher education curriculum. This move contradicts the concept of “declogging” and “fine tuning”. Doing so is a double jeopardy for college education which in most case has a curriculum that is aligned to existing international standards. K12 challenges the basic education curriculum, but it has implications to college education.

The most obvious consequence would that be of the 2-year lag. I have discussed possible strategies for this in previous post. Before the impact, higher education can initiate offering pre-baccalaureate programs to give chance to those whose number of educational years are short to qualify globally. With such strategy, college education becomes more responsive to the global situation. However, providing pre-baccalaureate program demands a great deal of change in the higher education curriculum.

General education teachers will be affected. In providing pre-baccalaureate program, GenEd subjects will be moved to that. The next thing GenEd faculty should do is to create new program offerings for the revised college curriculum. This action will be for short term. The college general education curriculum may be reverted to its previous program or adapt the revised one. However, the decision should consider several concerns.

What the basic education curriculum, particularly on the last 2 years of high-school education, are comptency-based courses that have practical rather than theoretical context. It is not ideal to move the GenEd subjects in those years because it contradicats the very principle of declogging and fine tuning. The aim of K12 is to develop competent graduates, with skills and knowledge for them to engage in entrepreneurial endeavors or immideately land a job. The idea of having college GenEd subjects does not make sense at all, because GenEd subjects in college are preparatory for college academics reformulated to have value in lifelong learning and industry integration.

Now that K12 will be implimented coming this school year, participation in the decision making and planning must be heightened to include concerned. This is foremost done by breaking the hegemony of ignorance and non-disclosure of vital information. If we were far behind having lesser years of basic education, what then should we do is to look forward and beyond of what we used to give Filipino children and youth, right now for we have done this before.

K12 is a transformative challenge, we should all be accepting this challenge and working for its successful implementation.

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[Blogger] Who’s not ready for the mobile world? – Dekonztruktschon

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by Rod Rivera
Dekonztruktschon
rodrigo75.wordpress.com

Mobile computing is minicomputing with the cyberspace at the touch of your fingers. The trend has been charted decades ago, but underdeveloped countries are lagging and the price of getting connected remains unreachable for the masses. This keeps the divide between the technological have’s and have not’s to widen.

istockphoto_11775692-stick-figure-mobile-computing

istockphoto

In theory, the gap is supposed to be dismal as time passes. But what experts failed to see is that of the speed of innovation and the attitude of market towards technological change, and the rate of population increase from the poor sector. Those who can not afford access to the latest technologies, undoubtedly lag behind. If we compare students from a state university who rely only on technology that they can access in school, with those students from private colleges and universities, the difference is clear.

I teach in a private college where the facilities provided to the students are well updated. It is also noticeable that my students can afford advanced mobile computing devices with access to the Internet. When I ask them to prepare for oral presentations, they amaze me with their creativity and savvy use of technology. While I could tell them theoretically, what they can do more with technology, all I got is the theory but I lag in the skills of optimizing technology.
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[In the news] 300 colleges, universities hiking tuition this year | ABS-CBN News | Latest Philippine Headlines, Breaking News, Video, Analysis, Features

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300 colleges, universities hiking tuition this year | ABS-CBN News | Latest Philippine Headlines, Breaking News, Video, Analysis, Features.

Kaka-graduate lang ng high school ni Mary sa Ramon Magsaysay High School.

Excited na raw sana siyang magkolehiyo pero hindi ito matutupad ngayon. Hindi kasi kayang bayaran ng kanyang pamilya ang mataas na matrikula.

“Hindi ko pa matanggap ngayon na ganoon. Sobrang hirap namin,” sabi ni Mary.

Wala namang magawa ang nanay ni Mary sapagkat wala rin siyang trabaho.

“Sobrang hirap ng buhay namin. Lalo na ang asawa ko walang trabaho,” sabi ni Rowena, nanay ni Mary.

Ayon sa Commission on Higher Education o CHED, sa halos 2,000 kolehiyo at unibersidad sa bansa, 282 ang magtataas ng tuition sa pasukan.

Ang average increase sa NCR ay nasa 7.2% o P72 per unit.

Sa 10 units, halos P800 ang average increase sa tuition.

“Kailangang madagdagan ang sahod ng kanilang mga guro at ibang kawani. Kailangan din nilang ayusin ang kanilang mga facilities, mag-upgrade ng mga equipment,” sabi ni Atty. Julito Vitriolo, CHED executive director.

Sa NCR, halos 70 kolehiyo at unibersidad ang magtataas ng tuition sa lahat ng level.

Kabilang dito ang St. Luke’s College of Medicine na tataas ng 12%.

Tataas naman ng 3-5% ang tuition sa UE College of Medicine, Ateneo de Manila University at Ateneo Graduate School of Business, De la Salle University, Assumption College, Miriam College, OB Montessori, UST at UE Manila.

Siniguro naman ni CHED chairperson Patricia Licuanan na hindi magtataas ang lahat ng state universities at colleges sa buong bansa.

Para sa National Union of Students of the Philippines, hindi pa rin ito sapat.

“Ano bang plano ng ating government eh 80% na ho ng mga college students ang mga nag-drop,” sabi ni Einstein Recedes, presidente ng National Union of Students of the Philippines.

Hindi pa kasama rito ang mga tulad ni Mary na hindi na tutuntong sa kolehiyo.

Maghahanap daw muna siya ng trabaho sa isang fast food chain para makaipon. Niña Corpuz, Patrol ng Pilipino


[Press Release] Teachers call for a wider consultation on DEPED’s 12-year program – Teachers Dignity Coalition

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TEACHERS CALL FOR A WIDER CONSULTATION ON DEPED’S 12-YEAR PROGRAM

The Teachers Dignity Coalition (TDC) remains critical of the 12-year basic education program of the Aquino administration despite announcement from the Department of Education (DepEd) that the program will be implemented this school year.

“We are not convinced that this program will succeed. The DepEd should first persuade the legislature and the president to allocate more funds in education sector. The backlog on resource shortages should be addressed first before we talk about this ambitious program” said Emmalyn Policarpio, an elementary school teacher in Valenzuela and the group’s spokesperson.

The group calls for a wider and genuine public consultation especially with the parents, students and teachers who will be directly affected by the program.

“We believe that the DepEd has good intentions in pushing for this initiative, however, we would not agree that this ambitious program will work in the kind of situation we have in our public school.” Policarpio ended.

For details:
Emmalyn Policarpio, Spokesperson               0908-9933045

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[Blogger] K-12 Challenge to Philippine Tertiary Education – Dekonztruktschon

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The length of the road and time walking to school can be bearable, what is not bearable is the poor education they get to keep them poorer even after they get their diplomas. Photo source: rodrigo1975.wordpress.com

Dekonztruktschon

by Rod Rivera
Dekonztruktschon
rodrigo1975.wordpress.com

In simple terms, K-12 is a necessity to align Philippine Basic Education Curriculum to that of the global standards, by adding two years of senior high school to the current four year secondary education, and another year for mandated kindergarten. This as planned will push through the coming school year.

While many have touted on its impact to the basic education curriculum, to the economy, and to our bid in synchronizing our educational system to world standards, rare is the discussion on its impact to tertiary education. The urgent challenge that administrators need to think about is how to cushion the impact of this new cycle to enrolment. But of high  importance is the evaluation and re-engineering of the curriculum to address the changes in the cycle.

Starting next school year, the DepEd will implement the system to incoming grade one students. Based on the briefer that Department of Education posted online, the incoming high school will also be the first beneficiary of the free 2-year senior high school education which is designed to enable them to obtain the employable skills with their diploma. This scenario means that colleges and universities will face a lag in enrolment for two academic years between 2016-2018.

Implications of K12 Implementation

The aims of the enhanced K12 or K -6-4-2 have positive implications to improve the education that every Filipino student should get. College educators could attest to the fact of the lack of preparation that high school graduates receive when they enter college. Because basic education is free in the Philippines, this should not actually harm the many poor families in the country. What should everyone be aware about is the implementation of those aims to assure quality education.

The government should take every course available to guarantee that it meets the reported needs of the Department education for rooms, teachers, facilities and trainings. It should ensure that education gets its recommended 6% budget allocation as the UNESCO sees it fit.

The government will require completion of the 12 year basic education cycle on entry to college by AY 2018-2019. The urgent challenge then should be an opportunity for colleges and universities to innovate and reinvent while addressing the impact on student enrolment. Since, the rationale for implementing the K12 system cycle is to align our standards of education to that of what is globally accepted, then higher education institutions will have to take a proactive stance to this change.

The Philippine economy is much dependent on international labor and the remittance of migrant workers. Everyone just seem to want a job abroad, but with the Bologna Accord to be in full swing starting 2010, the chances for the Filipino workers to integrate in international labor becomes lean, particularly in Europe and North America.

This is a situation that should also be addressed, and this becomes an opportunity for colleges and universities to offer prebaccalaureate programs to provide students additional years of education. These programs that will be offered should guarantee students employable competencies or entrepreneurial know-how that can ensure them livelihood if they wish not to pursue a college degree.

(See table  http://rodrigo75.wordpress.com)

A proactive strategy that private colleges and universities will have to do is to give the last three batches of graduates from the old education cycle options to take a pre-baccalaureate, international baccalaureate, or associate degrees for two years before they take the four-year degree course. In this attempt, general education teachers will have to design academic programs and reengineer their existing programs for the change.

Apparently, private higher education institutions are oblivious of what to do, because the Commission on Higher Education has not laid its plans yet or provided the HEIs an outline of the college education curriculum. The DepEd Secretary, Br. Armin Luistro, FSC, secretary says that one impact of K12 implementation is higher enrolment because the subjects will be downsized and some others will have to be taken in High School.

This projection contradicts what K12 is supposed to provide Filipino students in terms of giving them the education that is comparable to global standards. A college graduate from the Philippines  is short of qualifications in other countries because of the 10 year cycle we have for basic education. Our degree programs in colleges are almost patterned to world standards. Hence, cutting down on the subjects or reducing the length of college education will result to the same dilemma.

There may be subjects that will be taken in high school from the present college curriculum. The challenge now is to offer more vital subjects for the the college students, advancing their knowledge skills to be better off when they start their career. The expected impact of K12 on HEIs willl be probably felt four years from now, but as informed individuals the academe has to set its course action by now.

With strategic actions from HEIs the impact of K12 implementation will be cushioned. Now, what teachers from the basic and secondary education should be reflecting about is how to make these 12 years of education meaningful and fruitful. The hopes of those kids who walk a long road to get some education should never be failed in those longer years of travails.

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