Unlock document.
This document is partially blurred.
Unlock all pages and 1 million more documents.
Get Access
Richard Williams aka ‘Prince Ea’ reflects in his critical spoken-word-poem on the
importance of education, the limitations and inequalities of the current school system in
the US and the blindness of educational authorities and politicians.
The voice, taking the role of a lawyer, who sues the school system, accuses that nothing
had changed for the past 100 years and posing the rhetorical questions if teachers would
“prepare students for the future or the past?” The voice demands for a more creative,
innovative, critical, interdependent and less standardized way of teaching that considers
the diversity of pupils and their needs.
The spoken-word-poem is suitable for a cross-curricular project on future education or a
classroom discussion on the strength and weaknesses of the current state of school
systems around the world. As the poem is used as an advert, teachers might discuss
product placement with their pupils.
Few would argue that the state of our education system has plenty of room for
improvement. However, developing a plan to take schools in the right direction
is easier said than done. The first challenge lies in identifying underlying
problems keeping students from learning today. This challenge, in part, is due
to the fact that the problems may change considerably depending on who is
labeling them, whether it is students, parents, educators or lawmakers.
Even before COVID-19 struck and caused problems for millions of families, the country’s
financial status is one of the top factors that add to the growing education issues in the
Philippines. Furthermore, more children, youth, and adults can’t get a leg up and are thus
left behind due to unfair access to learning.
Moving forward, such issues can lead to worse long-term effects. Now, we’ll delve deep
into the current status and how we can take part in social efforts to help fight these key
concerns of our country.
Crisis in Philippine Education: How is It
Really?
Filipinos from rich households or living in cities and developed towns have more access
to private schools. In contrast, less favored groups are more bound to deal with lack of
classrooms, teachers, and means to sustain topnotch learning.
A 2018 study found that a sample number of 15-year-old Filipino students ranked last in
reading comprehension out of 79 countries. They also ranked 78th in science and math.
One key insight from this study is it implies those tested mostly came from public schools.
Hence, the crisis also lies in the fact that a lot of Filipinos can’t read or do simple math.
Indeed, it’s clear that there is a class divide between rich and poor students in the country.
Though this is the case, less developed states can focus on learning if it’s covered in their
top concerns. However, the Philippines doesn’t invest on topnotch learning as compared
to its neighbor countries. In fact, many public schools lack computers and other tools
despite the digital age. Further, a shortfall in the number of public school teachers is also
one of the top issues in the country due to their being among the lowest-paid state
workers. Aside from that, more than 3 million children, youth, and adults remain
unenrolled since the school shutdown.
It goes without saying that having this constant crisis has its long-term effects. These
include mis- and disinformation, poor decision-making, and other social concerns.
The Education System in the Philippines
Due to COVID-19, education issues in the Philippines have increased and received new
challenges that worsened the current state of the country. With the sudden events brought
about by the health crisis, distance learning modes via the internet or TV broadcasts were
ordered. Further, a blended learning program was launched in October 2020, which
involves online classes, printouts, and lessons broadcast on TV and social platforms.
Thus, the new learning pathways rely on students and teachers having access to the
internet.
This yet brings another issue in the current system. Millions of Filipinos don’t have access
to computers and other digital tools at home to make their blended learning worthwhile.
