AMID reports on the reading proficiency issues of pupils, the Department of Education (DepEd) should make public the detailed report on the reading inventory done by the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory in every region. And on top of calls to review the K-12 program, there must be an honest assessment of our educational system.
The development of our students is a national concern, thus DepEd should not to be onion-skinned on the issue and truthfully identify and address the factors that contribute to the declining quality of Philippine education. The agency must avoid the simplistic tendency to put the blame on the teachers’ capabilities and dedication to teach pupils how to read, but to look at the whole situation instead.
One problem is the less time allocated to honing the reading skills of students with the inclusion of more learning areas in the Grades 1 and 2 curriculum of the K to 12 program, compared to past education curricula. Under the K to 12 program, 40 to 50 minutes is allocated for each of the seven subject areas compared to one hour for each of the five subjects before.
Primary education teachers lament the insufficient class hours dedicated to honing the reading skills of students, which they are compelled to make up by conducting special reading classes outside of regular class hours. This is unlike before where primary education gives significant attention to the 3Rs—reading, writing, and arithmetic.
Teachers have little elbow room to make adjustments based on the learners’ needs as DepEd sets the daily lesson log, budget of work for each subject everyday, and competencies that students are expected to acquire, based on which teachers’ performance is evaluated. Amid these, DepEd further presses teachers to be “more innovative and sacrificing.”
There’s also the many government deficiencies in creating an enabling working and learning environment for teachers and pupils. These are hindrances to developing the reading competency of learners. Large class size and inadequate textbooks and other learning materials are contributory to difficulties in teaching pupils how to read.
And with the K to 12 implementation came a host of paperwork and non-teaching duties that take teachers away from their focus in teaching, while teachers’ compensation does not measure to the volume and value of their work.
They always say that quality education necessitates quality teachers. How can we have quality teachers if they were always interrupted in their primary focus?
