Quality in Quantity.

By: VJ Ramzel A. Pedron

Contact number: 09354768026 / E-mail: ramzelpedron@yahoo.com
Twitter: @ramzel_phenom15

Definitely, education is a powerful tool, for it can spark change for yourself or in
the community. Recently, our Department of Education implemented a new
system of education which would add two more years of study for Secondary
education. Although many people, including Sen. Antonio Trillanes, are skeptical
on the implementation of the said program, I still believe that this will help our
country achieve prosperity through education. As a political Science student, I
am advocating for the advances in the field of education.
But is there a need for this program? Yes. In a data provided by the Commission
on Higher Education (CHED), the college dropout rate reached at an astonishing
83.7%. This means that only 16.3% of the Filipino students are able to finish their
degree in a university or college. With this given fact, we can infer that only few
students can finish college. In this case, the government can address the
problem by adding two years in high school, so that students who cant afford to
pay expensive college tuition fees may be as job competent as their college
counterparts.
Furthermore, students can readily be employed because they will be graduating
at the age of 18 - The age required in hiring an employee. This thing is assured
by the government by entering agreements with business organizations and
chambers of commerce. CHED, in cooperation with the Department of Labor and
Employment, also pledged that students will be given consideration in pursuing
higher education and/or having a job. This creates assurance to the public that
the government is working to improve the quality of education in the country.
Second question to be asked should be the benefits of the said program. There
are many advantages that we can harvest if we promulgate this program. First is
the contextualization and enhancement of our curriculum and teaching program.
With the new system, the Department of Education modernized the curriculum to
adapt to the changing times. They also adopt the mother tongue-multi lingual
approach for the students to better understand the curriculum. This is made to
secure the quality of education that our secondary schools will offer. It will also
ensure that the students learn lessons not only for today, but for the future
generations.
Also, the system would prepare the students in the practice of their chosen
specialization of study. Students will be exposed to diverse practical areas of
learning through immersion or the Earn-while-you-learn program. With this,
students may be able to apply the skills they learn from school to the various
industries throughout the country.

Lastly, our country will have holistically developed individuals. As a result of the
aforementioned changes in the educational system, our Department of education
said that a student completing a course in a Philippine secondary school will
develop knowledge about the following aspects: Information, Media and
Technology Skills, Learning and Innovation Skills, Effective Communications
Skills, and Life and Career Skills.
An investment in knowledge pays the best interest, and while we recognize that
there are flaws in our educational system, I personally believe that this should
not hinder us from attaining developments in the field of education. Those who
disapprove the pursuance of this valuable program are articulating that there are
more difficulties arising from this matter, and that there are many more
problems that should be solved before we implement the said agenda. The
government through the Department of Education have addressed the issue of
shortage in educational materials by planning to add 66,800 classrooms,
62,441,000 textbooks, and 2,573,212 seats throughout the archipelago. The
DepEd also engaged in partnerships with different universities and colleges to
use their existing facilities and teaching staff. This ensures that during the
transition period, the reduction in enrollment in these colleges and universities
may be offset. This is an indication that the government is really serious in
addressing the problems and that they will ensure the promotion of quality
education in the country. Also, the fact that the government is working for the
educational enhancement system is a precursor that they are standing for the
benefit of the people and not the other way around.
It is in that regard that our present charter provided for provisions giving highest
priority to education. As the representative of the people, the government shall
create a social order that shall give equal opportunity to quality education. This
is the mandate that the Department of Education stands for and it is where they
embody the K-12 program. This program seeks to provide quality education to
the entire nation, the equality as established by the constitution. Provided this,
we can infer that the K-12 program is legal and constitutional and that it creates
equality towards men.
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
The government in providing world class quality education shall deal with the
different struggles of education by providing new knowledge, giving support to
the undertakings of the country for educational innovation, and affording
opportunities for the sector of education to seek the best quality of education.
This ladies and gentlemen, is the true essence of democracy.
In ending this, I would like to impart you a quote from John F. Kennedy from
which I get inspiration:
The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination
of truth.