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This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
Those concerned ought to listen, otherwise we will literally be left in the gutter in the next decade
The original editorial was translated to English using an online AI translation tool. An editor vetted and revised parts of the translation before publication.
It takes a strong stomach to read the EDCOM II Final Report — it’s documented evidence of the darkness that awaits a society that has squandered its future. It’s a true horror story and it’s our reality now as Filipinos.
Exaggerated? Read and weep. This is what the twin malaise of poverty and ignorance looks like. This is the face of decades of failed education governance.
According to the report, of the students who reach Grade 7, 88% are UNABLE to read at that level. (READ: 88% of students entering Grade 7 struggling to read at that level)
With 30% of students failing in proficiency in Grade 3, only a tiny fraction — .4% are proficient by the time they reach Grade 12. (READ: Not even 1% of Grade 12 students ‘proficient’ in their subjects)
Remember that number: 0.4%. It didn’t even hit one percent.
One of the roots identified by EDCOM 2 is the stunting of 23.6% of Filipino children — which causes “irreversible neurological damage.” In other words, our youth are losing brain power due to malnutrition.
The committee further found that the government’s feeding programs failed to reach those who needed them. That’s compounded by the lack of compliant daycare centers throughout the country. Our kids are handicapped from the starting line.
Rappler did a deep dive into the findings of EDCOM 2 via a series of articles by Acor Arceo:
- Mass promotion is an unspoken institutionalized policy in schools. (READ: Mass promotion: Students don’t learn, teachers are ‘shock absorbers’)
- Learning time is wasted on too many school events. (READ: Learning time ‘lost’ because of too many school celebrations, contests)
- The use of schools as evacuation centers should be stopped. (READ: ‘Walang pasok’ in disaster-prone Philippines causes ‘significant learning losses’
- Diploma mills are an obstacle to improving the quality of teachers, who need a Master of Arts in Education (MA) to be promoted.
- There is an infrastructure gap in (model-compliant) daycare centers that hinders the implementation of universal early childhood care and development (ECCD).
- The government’s student financial assistance lacks “efficient targeting and harmonization.”
- The DepEd, CHED, and TESDA are silos with fragmented programs, outdated organizational structures, and overlapping mandates.
There are so many details in the EDCOM 2 report — each one a compressed synopsis of a problem that is huge and complicated when unpacked.
But EDCOM 2 also brings hope. For three years, the committee produced comprehensive and meticulous studies on the state of education in the Philippines. It’s a testament to the concern and wisdom of the academics and experts who wrestled with the data and came to bitter but realistic conclusions.
But it goes beyond that. The report’s golden gift comes in the form of recommendations that need to be implemented by present and future leaders to repair our broken educational system. (WATCH In the Public Square: Last chance? Reforming PH education)
All rebounds start with self-awareness. Hopefully the EDCOM 2 reports will be a lifeline that will speed up the recovery of literacy in the country. Otherwise, we will literally be left in the gutter in the next decade — not only in the field of labor competitiveness, but also in the fight against disinformation, in facing the challenges of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and in overall growth as a thinking nation.
Our leaders simply need to listen. The question is, can they — given the turmoil created by power grabs and corruption finger-pointing? We can only shake our heads in despair. – Rappler.com
