The Making Of The Education President

CONTENDERS VII.LAR AND ROXAS TAKE ON THE ISSUE OF BASIC EDUCATION

The Making of an Education President EY CARLOS VAIANAO

-i3-*-s

Of(oulsg it willbe ifiesponsible for

us

to

tive Education outconet, Adopting an

truly institutionalize pre-5ahool edu(a-

say

that this is all they've qot or even that

onnibut Education Refom Prcgam,

tion (instead of merely relying on thoge

this

is entirely about their 2010 campaign

ldenti{ying fot that Purpose the Stra-

daycre centers funded by local govern-

tegic Conponents of such Proghn,

ments).Without a doubt all ol these are

Appropiating Funds fherefot and fol

excellent proposals.

offensive 8ut certainly, it will be lair to say

that thei. respective legislative agenda

should represent their own views on

Othet Putposes,

education, and yet what the voting public

Moreove[ this Roxas bill gives a lot of ex-

AnAd fo fniure

can expect from either one if he becomes

SBt'l 2366

president ofthe republic. So whetherthey

the Full Realization of tlle Constitutional

development, including a systematic way

like it or not. educators---€nd the general

Right of All Citi4ens to Quality Education

ofdealing with in-service training. lt offe6

public-must viewthese two

1rdaining for the Puryose'A No Filipino

a two-track secondary school cufticulum

child Lelt Behind Act of 2008."

that allows students to choose eithef an

We shalllook closelyatthese two proposals.

through high school{Co!ld this helplesli

bills as

illustrative of their respective education

Mllaf)

is

cellent innovations in teacher welfare and

agenda for 2010.

academic track or a trade track midway

Sutely, we can assume thatthe Iace is on

forthe top post ofthe land.With these

Lapus

THE ROXAS BILL

there

Education willbecome a major battle-

SBN 2294, the omnibus Edu.ation

ground for the coming presidential derby.

/ctof2008as

without a doubt,

i5 a good

thing. lt

it

ye'

education in secondary schools?).And

two pivotalbillS we can also a5sume that

This,

with institutionalizing Tech-Voc

Refom

proposed by Senator Mar

Roxas, is nothing but pure

genius,lt may

to begin with, the dght thing-Eduction should be one ofthe key socialissues our

perhaps be what education refofiners

next prcsident should address.

a piece

have been drcaming about for

is

that provision fora rolling budg€t

plan that legislates tive-year budget horizons for basic education----something many otthose in the know have been espousing for years,

yea6-

ol legislation that can rcspond to

And there's simply mudl much morc.

the myriad of problems that plague our

And it all begins with us finding

a

suitable

OI cou6e, I canl help but think that this

basic education system.

bill it $e handiwo* o{ tormer DepEd

candidate, one who can rcally make sense

of the issues and com€ up with viable so_ lutions to the manyproblem5 oI edutation in this

It is a strategic solotion to the oisis in

seoetary Butch Abad, a stalwan of the

basiceducation.

liberalParty (and *erefore, a close ally

colntry

and adviserof LP President MarRoxas). As omnibus legislation, it covers a lot

of

I

find nothing wrong with this.ln fact,

I

can this be the making ofan education

ground. But more than th€ wide-ranging

believethat it is a c ear demonstration

president? We should al'hope

coverage ofthis bill, what is truly good

of a politician's leadership abilities ifhe

so. The

that it offe6 great so utions to

indisputable tfuth is that we need a leader

aboutit

who truly Lrnderstands what it means to

our problems in basic ed.

offergood insights and be relied upon to peform such a delicate task as (eating

A lot of Roxas' propositions arc not new

an omnibus education reform act forthe

This may actually be a good thing, since

entire nalion-and do it well.

is

b€ an edLlcation president.And we are

definitely desperate forone by 2010.

can be surrcunded by people who can

TiIE PROPOSED BII.LS

it means he mightvery wellbe on the

Roxas'Senate Bill 2294was filed late

adding two more years to baiic educa-

l\,lay whileVillar's Senate Bill 2366 came

tion to followthe globalstandard 12-year

0ne basic issue against transforming

out earlylune oIthis year (lntercstingly.

cycle. Alsq his bill pushes for the use of

our 10'year basic education package

the press release for Villa/s bill came out

the mother tongue as medium of instruc-

into a | 2-year cycle is that it wil! not be

earlier than Roxas').

tion lor all subjects in the firsl three years of sdooling, again in linewith lhe global

acceptable to th€ public. A5 wai the case wilh lhe infamoos Bridge Program (which

standard. ll cove6 on-aite

required an additional year ot school

(not rice distribution!).

priorto high school for underperforming

ghttfack. For instance, his billproposes

SgN 2294 lP.oxasl is An Act Mandating Aftainnent of Globa y ConPeti-

rdool te€ding tud it attempts to

And it is tfuly well-crafted l€gislation.

1EP\EMBER.\)\OEER 2008

J

17

-grulilHtlcJl,

students), parcnts were less than willing

Ithank rhe li6t thing

to suffer anolher year of sdooling for

the Villar bill is it5

theirchildren land you can betyour life

Chtld lefr Sehlnd Io the uninformed, it

teacher i{more dildren go to s.hool

thatthe children themselves were even

may appear to be the perfect name for a

because of this proposed law, it allows

landmark law in edu(atjon.The problem

citizens to volunteerto teach, even if they

less exuberant about

that proposall). This

that!

amiss wirh

nane-,Vo

Filip,ino

lhe billeven made attempts at innovation. Perhaps

to respond to the n€ed for more

brought down DepEd to its knees, with

i5

that it isjust thal-GeorgeW Bush's

have not obtained units in education but

then Secretary Edilberto De Jesus agree-

controversiall/o Chlld left Eehlrd ldon't know if it! j!n me, bur lfeelthere's

background and experience.At the same

right io propose another

something utterly wong here. l'm sure

time, college students enrolled in ROTC

year of schooling prior to high schooi,

the Senate Prcsidentand his staff have

classes can opt to serye as

the best ofintentlons, but did they haveto

chers and earn cou6e credits (Needlessto

plagiarize the name ofthe billfrom some

say,

with an ingenious solution-implement this particular provi-

othersovereign state (and while they can

concerned Teachers will have something

argue that they never heard of Bush's

to say about allthis).

sion of a 12'year basic ed cycle six yea6

Licl8, this wilonly mean that they are

afte. the law has been signed (thereby af-

50 out of touch

ing to make Bridge optional (of couBe,

while

DJ was

governmentjust

didnl

willto implement

have the political

such a plan).This new

Roxas billcomes up

with internationa I trends

have relevant knowledge and adequate

volunteertea-

Im sure our{riends attheAlliance of

lhe billprovides forthe establishment of

fecting onlythose kids who are not even

in education)? ls this tacit admission that

in schoolbythe time this tou(hy issue is

we are in plain truth stillthe liftle brown

also requires at least one central elemen-

mandated by law).

brothels ofourAmerican allies? And isn't

tary schoolor national high school in eve-

this a form ot intelledualpiracy? Couldn't

ry

Furthermorq the billeven provides mat-

lhey havejust come upwith another

And it makes mention ofmobile librariet

ching grants for loaalschoolboards and

name (Were lheytoo nalve tothink itwas

the Internet, television, com ics and a host

rewards for volunteerism. And it louks

okay to simply imilate thisAmei(an brand

of other non-traditional interventions.

science laboratories in allhigh schools.lt

prov,nceto operate

as a

night school.

at the very difficult issle of perfornance

and pass it off as their own? Or did they

standards, requiring diagnostic te5t5 for

think that the public willbe too naive to think so)?

lor lor his
Th€n, of coorsq therc is the more im-

youth, we m0st also admonish him for the qualiry of his proposed legislation.

Grades 3

and6 to determine who will

proeed to d|e next school level witholt special leam'ng assistance (and one can only gue5t why the bill

spedficlly

But while we must praise the good sena-

portant matter of actual content. At first

sure, everyone's in agre€ment that all

.equires these tests to be independently

glance, it may appearto be in the right

kids sholld be in school.one wondert

administercd by a third-party non-govern-

place--it k an attempt to legislate the re-

however, how this can be at all legislated,

mentalinstitution).

duction of non-pafticipation and dropouts

considering the harsh realities many of

in the basic education levels.owing to

those who are out-of-school face each

It is, to saythe least, an excelient billfor

our country's masgive out-of-school youth

day

the serious education reformer. lt covers

population, any effort to improve the sit!.

a lot ofground and it addresses the right

ation is defin itely someth ing we should

issues with

tie right responses, and just as important it provides a comprehensive

apprau0.

strategi( solution instead ofthe usual

The bill mandategcompulsoryattendance

It howeverfalh shortofdefining surh a

shortsighted tactical response5.

o{children for both elem€ntary and high

system, opting to require DepEd to come

school.0n top of that, it mandates the

Up

prohibition of employment of children

with the Department ofthe Interior and

ol compukory

LocalGovernment).

THE VILI.AR BILL The senate

Pfesiient's bill, on the other

TheVillar bili provides forwhat it terms as a "system of penalty" to ensure cornpliance by parents and guardians.

school age,

with cor-

responding penalties in terms

with such a system

(in consultation

offinet

hand, isn't as impressive.And il it k compared side-by-side u,/ith the Roxas bill, it

imp

otf icials violating this provision, additional

in the public schoolsystem

to my mind, downriqht mediocre.

administrative disciplinary action.

that this is not as easy as it sounds,And

it

ra I EDucAIo! L4AGAZ\NE

sonment, and in the case of public

But anyone who has had any experience

willtellyou,

everyone in DepEd will probably tellyou, this cannot be done (otherwise, they'd

rcstrictions on how they can spend theh

nation needs to really get us on the right

fespective congfessionai allotments (while

track. Butwill it pass?

much? Notwithstanding the value of his

billbecomes law the impossible task of

het at it. he should have ako included a provtion that requhes more rational

defining this system is !nfairly shoved

spending ol lhe Special Educalon Fund.

surely lead to more debates wellbeyond

up DepEd's way and what you have is

Well, perhaps il and when he becomes

the 2010 elections

legislation that failt.

president.

Simila y,Villa/s prohibition on employ-

Finally, there'5 lhis provision that talk3

actually get his 58 2366 passed despire its

ment of childfen of compulsory sdool

about corporate social responsibility,

obvious deficiencies. At the very least he

whereby tax incentives shallbe given to

will ertainly get media coverage for what

have done it a ready?). Thercfore,

ifthis

bound '

to come to naught in ib implementation.

donors of what the bill calls the

We must all realizethat poverty in this

Plblic School' Program. /am cdnfured

adopt

is he asking too

numerous proposak, each of them will

villar

age sounds good on paper but is

0f

a

as president

ol the

Senarc, may

(an be interpreted as his sincere@ncem for out'of'school youth.

country has reached horrilic heightr that

hVillar proposing to give incentives

no amount of legklation can solve the

that are akeady being given through the cwtent Adopt-A-School Program \RA

round. His proposed bill shows he k a

proposed bythisVillar

8525)? 0r is he proposing a new'Adopt

man who understands the issues, ll shows

even free basic

a Publi.

problem of chlld labor.At least, notas

bill.lftrlth be told, education k now a uxury

S.hool' Ptogtan?

Really, rcally

for many poor Filiplnos.And billionaire

he-or

howevel Roxas stilwin5 this

his brain

trust-has

a deaf-cut

plan.And should he become pregident,

Villar must realizethatthe realities on the gro!nd insist on child labor---+ven

In the end,

we can expectgreat things to happen in APPROPRIATIOI,IS

bagic education. Villar, on the other hand,

if !t/e define it as contemptible, immoral

appeaB amateurish with hi5 proposed bill

and illegal. WhileVillar! billwilltorce our

Eoth bills arc asking for mofe appropria-

and he doe' not come out as someone

children and their parents to prioritize

tions for basic education. Roxas is asking

who has a dear worldview of basi( educa,

eduGtion over employment, the reality

for P19 billion for

that the marginalized majoritywillbe

$e initial implem€n-

tion (At lhe very least he seems to be

tation ofSB 2294, plus anyadditional

oblivious to the educator's point{f-view).

compefled to ask-ryi//poor childten he

amount determined to be necessary fof

lhissaid, it does not mean that he can't

requircd to go to school be{ore or after

the implementation of its 10'year educa-

become an education president.lt simply

tion investment plan.Villar is asking for

means that he needs to lean rnore about

is

they

go to wotk?

P10

billion annuaily for l0 years.

basic ed

However, SB 2366 is notwithout merit.lt

iHavefaith-he's

a very

rmaft

person any\,vay).

does open up the dircussion on dropouts.

Obviously, rnore funding forbasic educa-

It does revive the discussion on child

tion is a qood thing, Howevef getting

0f

labor.And it does keep us talking about

these amounts approved by Congress is

electing a Philippine president in 2010 can

pubiic education. Ivofeovel itproposes

the real issue here. Perhaps w€ can expect

never be entirely

what may very wellbecome one ofthe

great things ileither one of these t^/o

country simply has too many problems

proponents becomes pretident.

to contend with that our leaders must be

most sensitive i55Lre9 in basic

education-

mandatory spending of 30% ofpork banel funds for education.

course, we must remember that

abolt education. our

wellve6ed in allof these vitalconcehs AI'I EDUCATIOiI PRESIDEiII ,ust the same I dare say it'5 now

I

don't lnow ifVlllar is really serious

At tfie end of $e day. one wondeE

il

about this bill-Doe5 he erpect if ro

lhese 1wo bil15 are mere politicalploys to

pa55?-but this lastprovision isa surefire

qet positive press for 2010.

way for the billto go nowhere- Peftaps,

Roxas-l, Villar-nilWhich now brings us to the

quertion-

What do Noli, Lorcn, Dick, Ping and BF

as Senate president, he can prove us

Roxat with his laudable 58 2294, may

wfong by having our esteemed legislators

be asking

agree to a proposal that will put more

tion relorm bill is precisely what thig

have in store for us in basic education?

too much.An omnibus educaAh,

ye,

the

plat thickens.

A

SEPIEMEER OCTOEEB

2OO8

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