We are aware of these laws you mentioned. Sadly even with these empowering laws, DepEd’s culture seems to thwart its application. Perhaps you can help empower the communities. Be a teacher! Better yet be a Pinoy teacher in the Philippines and not in some third world corner of the US of A!

(I taught in some third world corner of the USA too and I can speak from experience)

You ask “So how do you measure the effectiveness of an educational system? ”

The answer is simple. If Filipino society has been transformed by education,then it has been effective. I sound so Rizalian here!

You also write “Sabi nga sa Tagalog, ano ba ang problema ninyo kung in demand ang Filipino?”

This is what is precisely wrong with the Filipino system. This demand for Pinoys isn’t transforming our whole society for the better. We are condemned to dependence on remittances.

You also write “the debate on the use of English or the dialect continues.”

Is Cebuano a dialect of Ilocano? Your use of the word dialect betrays and elitist view that some languages are inferior to the standard language. SHEEESH. If a Bisaya speaks Cebuano to an Anac ti Batac and the Anac ti Batac talks back in Ilocano, I bet you there won’t be any meaningful communication. Cebuano, Ilocano,Tagalog,Hiligaynon, Waray, Maranao, Pangasinan etc are DISTINCT LANGUAGES OF THE PHILIPPINES AND NOT DIALECTS!

Also Leytenian and you think in the old paradigm that if you provide classrooms, books (in a foreign language)etc learning will improve. One of the eye openers of the centennial lecture was this isn’t completely true. This strategy has surely given improvements in corruption.

You place the learner at a lower priority than the curriculum. Tell that to the parents of rich kids who send their kids to OB Montessori!

The mother tongue bills in Congress (Gunigundo bill) would make it possible for students to learn basic competencies in their regional language. After which learning other languages (like English) and the National Language will be introduced. Filipino will still remain the National Language. It is hoped that this bill will spur the development of our regional languages.

If you ask (like I did) Visayans, Ilocanos,Itawes, Tausugs etc what they felt when they were learning Tagalog based Filipino in the early grades, they told me that it was like learning a foreign language. Hirap sila. They asked me if I learn their language in school ,would I feel like I was learning a foreign language?

I answered, “Parang Japanese na rin ‘yon” I studied 3 years of Nihongo with Japanese and Ilocano teachers. While my Ilocano senseis were well trained to teach Japanese since they had intensive training in Japan, the Visayans say that their Filipino language teacher was also Bisaya and also had a hard time with the language since their were not trained enough!

BTW, I have to emphasize that Filipino is not “easy to learn” as some in Pinoy elite often write in letters to the editor. I wrote a scathing letter to Justice Isagani Cruz about this. They justify this to maintain the English only policy in education. This betrays their disconnect with their heritage and again emphasizes their view that Philippine languages are inferior to that of their colonizer.

I have one blog entry about a Filipino science teacher who was so frustrated in the Philippine education system because they are not given resources to become effective teachers.

He applied for teaching in the US and he was assigned in Galveston. When Rhante Lubrico first went started teaching at the the Ambassadors Preparatory Academy, it didn’t have any science labs or microscopes. Worse, Lubrico held classes in a trailer.

But take Filipino ingenuity, he was able to make do for whatever resources or lack of it to shine in the US educational system.

In fact, or teachers are regarded as efficient learning facilitators.

So how do you measure the effectiveness of an educational system? by the proficieny in English of the students even if they did not major in English or Language? Is it in the drop-out rate which is more economic-related? Is it because the thrust is more on responding to the needs of the global labor market thus causing brain and brawn drains in the Philippines. Sabi nga sa Tagalog, ano ba ang problema ninyo kung in demand ang Filipino? Does that not tell you that the graduates are good, work attitude and skillswise?

Is it in the international competition involving math and other contests?

What about this?

Seven Filipino students have earned perfect math scores and made the country one of seven overall champions in an international competition, an official from the Philippine team said in a statement to media.

I did not find this in the headline of a Philippine newspaper.

Lastly, I hate reading an article about deterioration of PHilippine educational system from a foreign observer whose analysis was only based on the essays of self-deprecating “Education Experts” who do not even know the difference between a curriculum and a course outline. SHEESH.

This system is hierarchichal and with our Asian culture of deference, schoolteachers defer to their superiors, who defer to their regional superiors who defer to the Manila bureaucracy. Thus very little initiative can be done at the local level. The DepEd reform initiatives aim to do away with this. Bautista reports that some innovation has been made and teachers have begun to manage their own schools the way it fits their social realities.

Again, because you are not aware of the passage of the Rep. Act 9155 in 2001 reorganizing the Dep-ed
which transfers the implementation of policies and principles of governance of basic education to regions, districts and learning centers. These offices can translate these into programs or projects to suit lhe local needs.

I am glad to see that one educator mentioned about building schools and procurement of supplies.

Most of the discussions about educational system reforms are only focused on the language used as medium of instruction; the debate on the use of English or the dialect continues.

Language used is part of the curriculum which includes two elements, namely the courses or subjects offered and the SPECIFIC LEARNING PROGRAM where the teaching, the learning and the assessment materials and books are described.

While many are advocating for the use of the dialect in the area, they forget that the instructional materials used are still written in English so that the learning process is left to the capability of the learning facilitators (teachers) to translate the English words and or scientific names into a non-existent equivalent terms in the dialects spoken.

Japan’s books and instructional materials were written in Japanese but the translation took centuries and the need to send scholars to the West just for that purpose.

But now Japan, just like China recognizes the importance of English language in global economy so that beginning 1988, they started hiring English teachers from the West to teach their educators.

Basic educational system in Japan is patterned after Germany, France and US with the latter accounting for 40 per cent of the whole. They do not hide this fact, neither they are embarrassed to admit of copying the system.

In the meantime, the Philippines is going backwards by using different dialects which they could only use in their regions. Their world does not revolve in their region alone…and that’s what China realized when it opened its country to other world economies.

After curriculum (not necessarily in the order of importance, comes the learner.

In the manufacturing process, the learner is the material put into production. Use low quality and you produce same low quality product.

How can a learner be a good quality material?

First, there is the nutrition, the basic.

Most of our learners in the public school system come from the marginalized population sector. They suffer from nutrition deficiency.

Politically motivated or not, the nutribun project of Imelda was a response to that problem.

In the US, the children are provided with free food in the school. Those who can afford to pay are charged very minimum amount.

With the learner comes that family.

In Japan, the government has to pressure the parents to give more time for their children to study instead of making them help in their business or in their home.

In the Philippines, the children become part of the labor force at an early age especially in the underground economy.

I wonder what RA 9155 will do for parents who do not send their children to elementary education which is supposed to be compulsory.

But what’s in Leyte? “Sindangan Elementary School in Macrohon, Southern Leyte — the number one public elementary school in the Philippines based on the results of the latest National Achievement Test (NAT). The Department of Education (DepEd) conducts the annual NAT to measure the readiness of grade six students for high school”
The Edge of Reform? Children learn languages mostly from their peers. Why not use a model, please read this link.
http://sandyshores.wordpress.com/2007/08/28/the-children-of-sindangan/

I can’t find the youtube video of the school. The children were featured last year, 2007.

We just have to wait when the lectures are out in print or pdf files. Academics take ages to come up with the final paper! :-) UP Prez Emer Roman wants the lectures to come out early next year. They won’t get their centennial lecture honoraria if they don’t submit. I think that is enough incentive.

Completion rate is the proportion of pupils that finish the elementary grades with the number that start out in grade 1.

The speakers contend that learning difficulties using a language they have difficulties are a major reason why pupils drop out. This is compounded by the fact that there isn’t any support at home. The speakers support the idea that parents by supporting their kids learning in school, can make the difference as proven in the IMPACT reform program. But if the parents can’t speak the language of school instruction, what support can they give?

A Malaysian academic I spoke with three years ago told me that when Malaysia had an English policy in education, they had the same problem. The government thus made Bahasa Malaysia mandatory. This had negative effects (decreased competency in English) but it did increase literacy. Malaysia can now afford to promote English as a second language since their people have achieved competencies in their own language. This is precisely what Malaysia is doing. Promote English. It doesn’t make them less Malaysian.

But we have to remember that language isn’t the only reason why pupils drop out.

http://dilc.upd.edu.ph/index.php/themlec/231-when-reforms-dont-transform

ka-inis… lots of other cool stuff on the dilc website..

there’s something lacking in our country. I am always convince that the people managing our country do not fit the job descriptions. hay naku… nag tulog tulugan. ano ba! get your ass to work. my goodness. I will have a heart attack at an early age. It’s obvious. :)

what is the completion rate? is this just 1-dropout rate? is this to complete a tertiary education? or to complete elementary?

to clarify, the forum said that the causes of the low completion rate are:

“The question posed by the speakers is “:Why” and it seems this is linked with some problems in the society that is DepEd, the schizophrenic language policy and the slow progress of education decentralization. These BTW are all linked and have to be seen as a whole.”

if its possible, could you post an explanation why these are the reasons for low completion? the story thats in mind is that the kids are discouraged to learn because, say, they are forced to learn using a language they don’t understand. So they exit the system, since they aren’t learning anything. This is a factor that pushes kids from school.

Is this really the reason why kids exit school early? this feels untrue, and i’d put more weight on factors pulling them out of school, i.e. local economic conditions, etc.

what kind of story and evidence does the panel put forth to support their theories? thanks!

My question is separate from your main point, where you say the wrong language policy hurts learning, which ought to be largely uncontroversial.

In terms of mode of teachings, keep tagalog and English, just like what we used to do from pre-school thru highschool. English should be encouraged thru college as the primary mode of teaching. It is a Universal language to communicate to the rest of the world.It is one of our competitive advantage. I will consider it as an asset for any pinoy. Tagalog is easy to learn. It is our national language of communication within our country.

Spanish and other international languages should be an option but not mandatory in college. Learning international languages will depend on economic development within our country. For example, in Cebu we have so many Japanese and Chinese clients, a college student may choose to take Nipongo or Mandarin as a competitive advantage for future employment. Try learning Spanish, trust me you will not be hired within Southeast Asian Countries. China will not consider it as a must to have for employment unless will seek employment in Spain or South America.

Honestly, I don’t prefer Spanish to be added to any college curriculum. In terms of economics, Philippines seldom trade nor do business with Spanish speaking countries. Philippines is a member of APEC and WHO. These are governing bodies and entities for policies on international trade. For example: if we have to do an international trade contract, with China or Japan, the contract is translated to English. Same international contract in English if we do business with the Germans, Swiss, French or Spain.

Going back to our educational system, my take would be to focus on teacher’s quality of service, infrastructure ( school buildings), technology and students well being such as sports infrastructure in every schools. There should be a very good reason for our children to go to school. More fun and competition in sports or academics, just like old times. However, managing our educational system would be too big of managerial work from DEP-ED unless, task are delegated to local autonomy or Federalism. The original concept of education itself as a service, must be copied all the way to the local government. It is a uniform quality service with one policy, rules and procedure but will be implemented by different management level ( the copy cat concept) The end products and results would be a society comprising of highly educated and quality workforce.