I HAVE long since been a fan of the 1987 Constitution. Article XIV, in particular, is worthy of continued perusal. This Article deals with Education.
Section 1 says:
‘The State shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all’.
Well said.
The issue of quality education is vital.
We look to the leadership of the Secretary of the Department of Education to engender quality education in our schools.
The time has come, I believe, to examine whether this leadership is up to the task.
In June 2022, BBM offered his vice-president, Sara Duterte the position of DepEd Secretary. His first reported instruction was to request Duterte to provide her observations on Republic Act 10533 – dealing with K-12. I have not seen her response to this request. In my opinion, views on K-12 from whatever source, both positive and negative, would be welcome. If necessary, amendments may be promulgated.
Duterte has, instead, provided her opinion on the merits of mandatory ROTC.
These are views that are compatible with her role as vice-president.
We are not seeing any pronouncements from Duterte which confirm her suitability as Secretary of Education. My belief is that since BBM recognizes that he should spend a substantial amount of time on foreign affairs, and that this necessitates considerable foreign travel, then he should be able to hand over responsibilities for ‘holding the fort’ to his vice-president. After all, over 32 million voters recognized her appropriateness for this role.
Hence, I believe that Duterte should step down from her role as Secretary of the Department of Education.
Who should take her place?
The short answer is that I don’t really know.
I believe, however, that DepEd-6 regional director Dr Ramir B. Uytico is worthy of consideration. He recognizes some of the problems. For example, the return of face-to-face classes in the region is accompanied by low basic literacy among K-3 students. I am sure this is a nationwide problem, and that Region 6 is probably no worse than other regions in this regard.
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What should be done?
I believe that it is highly desirable to conduct examinations in reading comprehension to all students. This is not to try to catch people out but merely to assess the degree of seriousness of the problem.
It is demoralizing for students to spend much time in face-to-face classes if they do not really understand what is going on. So it is imperative that students must experience some level of success. This may mean that it has to be recognized that many students are not able to demonstrate competence at their grade level. Hence some students should not advance a grade level for 2023-2024 scholastic year. This may not be popular, but the alternative is for students to continue to not be able to handle the work associated with their grade level.
Students need to experience success!/PN
