Category: Editorial

In a country where “no child is left behind” is a top priority, an educator can ask, “Where did I go wrong?” when learning poverty is still pressing.

Learning poverty in the Philippines was pegged by the World Bank in 2022 at 91% — which means around nine out of ten children aged 10 struggle to read simple text. This translates to the Philippines remaining among the poorest in learning in East Asia and the Pacific, with nine out of 10 Filipinos unable to read and understand simple, age-appropriate reading material by age 10, according to a World Bank (WB) report on the quality of education in the region.

The Department of Education, through its then Secretary Briones, launched its 3 Bs dubbed “Hamon; Bawat Bata Bumabasa”, a project that aims at strengthening the reading proficiency of every learner and to nurture a culture of reading which is requisite in all content areas.

“As an avid reader myself, I’d like to witness the next generation become well-rounded readers as well since reading give [sic] a multitude of benefits on well-being and the learning process. This initiative is another step of the Department to champion reading as a foundational tool for quality education,” Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said.

However, numbers still do not lie. The statistics still have had no relative improvement. What’s even worse is that this is linked to poor teaching quality. Teachers’ lack of mastery of what they teach and teacher absenteeism have contributed to the Philippines’ high learning poverty. This is what the New World Bank report found.

Data collected from classroom observations show that most teachers in the Philippines use ineffective or weak teaching practices, which “translate into poorer learning outcomes,” the report stated.

Another shortcoming of the Philippine education system is its weak teacher training programs. “While data suggest that a significant percentage of the region’s teachers are trained each year, new surveys in Cambodia, Fiji, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, and Vietnam indicates training programs do not employ practices linked to improved student learning,” the report also stated.

The report also found that slightly more than 40% of students surveyed in the Philippines, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Vietnam report, on average, that their teachers are sometimes or often absent. That presents another factor in the picture—teacher absenteeism.

Spending more on other priorities is robbing children of their education. While the Philippines is earmarking 17.5 percent of the total government budget on the schooling sector, this is a red herring at its best, because the government spending on education represented only 3.2 percent of the country’s wealth or gross domestic product (GDP).

We, in the strongest terms, stand for the legislation of allotting more budget for Education to augment the learning wealth of our future nation-builders.

The flame of hope in the hearts of young Filipinos’ struggle to remain ablaze amidst the issues on youth involvement that try to douse its light. In a survey released by the youthpolicy.org, 62% of the Filipino youth admit that they seldom take initiatives in nation building and 39.9% claim that they never even vote during elections.

Indeed, as the burning passion of our young people is being reduced to mere embers, we are called to reform our current constitution and welcome changes that would strengthen the representation of the youth in our government.

Unfortunately, young Filipinos themselves have little trust on the very people who represent them. When young people hear the name “Sangguniang Kabataan (SK),” they don’t think about the vast efforts of the organization in nation building, youth development, and political awareness. No, the name has become synonymous to beauty pageants, sports leagues and dance contests.

In fact, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles called out to the organization in 2019, saying, “All SK governments must do more than organize beauty contests in light of real problems confronting their generation.” How can we ignite the passion of our young nation builders if they themselves are wary of their own representatives?

Truly, it is not enough for the youth to be represented. They have to be represented well. Most local governments loosen their grip after electing SK officials and providing them with sufficient funds, not knowing that the most critical part comes after. It’s guiding them through the process that is often overlooked.

In 2017, Atty. Ferdinand Panes, director of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in Iloilo city states that SK funds are underutilized. In average, only 30-40% of SK funds are being utilized, and there are those whose utilization is only 9%.

If anything, these statistics show that our young leaders need proper guidance and support. They may be brimming with potential but it would all be useless if this potential is not directed into the right places. Thus, this is where the role of local governments and the call for a constitutional reform are most fundamental.

Currently, we bank on RA 8044 or the Youth in Nation Building Act to encourage the youth to participate in political issues. However, there are not enough laws to support its implementation in the grassroots level. Long gone should be the days wherein we settle for shallow activities branded as “campaigns for youth involvement.”

With this, local governments must nurture the young leaders under their care and properly guide them to the right way of spending their funds and initiating productive programs. They should provide workshops and seminars for elected SK leaders in order to educate them on how to properly advocate their causes especially during the current pandemic conditions. Youth involvement would only be possible if young Filipinos trust their leaders enough to speak for them and represent them.

In their vulnerable state, young people are susceptible to all kinds of outward influence. Their feeble hands may tremble at the thought of the gargantuan responsibility. Thus, it is necessary to uphold laws that would be their stronghold as they carry the future of our country.

Right now, maybe all that we can see are the sparks where there was once a burning zeal. In addition, the challenges brought about by the pandemic had slowed down the effort to re-ignite the embers of youth development in the Philippines.

Nevertheless, at rock bottom, we have no other way to go but upwards. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, let us pave the way to a better constitution that would well represent the ability of our young nation builders to rekindle the flame of their enthusiasm to be at the forefront of the initiatives in fostering youth leadership for a better Philippines.