Friday, July 19, 2013
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Open High School Program reports 44% increase in enrolment
Open High School Program reports 44% increase in enrolment
by:
Noli Magsambol III
SAN PABLO
CITY, LAGUNA—The Department
of Education (DepEd) reported on September 3, 2012 that the Open High School
Program (OHSP) exhibited 44 % increase in enrolment this year. From a total of
42 students last year, OHSP enrolees are now 77. The OHSP administrators expect
this number to increase as the program still accepts applicants.
OHSP
coordinator, Mrs. Richelle Q. Omaña, attributes the rise in enrolment to
financial constraints. She said that students prefer enrolling in OHSP rather
than regular schooling because they can save money for fare and some finances
in school like activities and other academic related works.
OHSP
is a secondary education program that is designed for students who are unable
to attend regular school primarily due to physical impairment, work, financial
difficulty and physical distance between home and school.
It
operates in accordance with the provision of Batasang Pangbansa (BP) 232 or
the Education Act of 1982, which states that the state shall provide the right of every
individual to relevant quality education regardless of sex, age, creed,
socio-economic status, physical and mental conditions, racial or ethnic origin,
political and other affiliation
The
OHSP conducts lessons through modules approved by the DepEd-Bureau of Secondary
Education (BSE). These are distributed by program administrators on their
seminar before the official start of classes.
The
DepEd-BSE promotes the OHSP through print and broadcast media. It also calls
for the support of Local Government Units (LGUs) in promoting it to their
communities.
At
the barangay level, officials encourage people to enrol. Chairman Efren
Janolino of Barangay San Gabriel, for example, said that the program is really
of great help in providing quality education to his residents, especially those
parents who can’t afford to send their children to school.
One
of the OHSP beneficiaries, Angelica Sangcap, shared how the program helped her
as a student. “Due
to physical illness last year, I was not able to attend regular schooling and
OHSP provided another chance for me to finish my senior year,”Angelica
said.
OHSP
administrators are now thinking of ways on how they can improve their
educational system to attract more out-of-school youth, high school drop-outs,
and elementary graduates. This is to help people in achieving a quality
distance education regardless of their financial status.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Reading Education in the Philippines
Reading Education in
the Philippines
Posted on Monday, February
27, 2012
Filipinos
have been fighting for their rights to education. Our forefathers struggled
just so they would be allowed to read and write – to be educated. Today we have
much more freedom than our lolos and lolas. We now have more sovereignty
to study and learn. However, not every Filipino has the ability and capacity to
cherish this freedom to read and write. Many factors constrain others from
fully enjoying the said right.
In the Philippines,
education, particularly, reading education is impaired by poverty, technology,
and lack of motivation and inspiration. Many Filipinos are unable to read
because of their socio-economic status. Some families do not have enough money
to send their children to school; thus the children grow up without knowing how
to read and write. Some families are a little bit blessed that they are able to
send their children to a community/public school; however, their children learn
basic reading in a very slow pace since such school does not have enough
teachers and enough up-to-date reading materials in good condition. Indeed, not
all Filipino families have the capacity to enter a well-funded school with
competent reading teachers and lots of books to read.
In addition, reading also
constantly competes with modern technology in the country. Instead of reading
books, novels, or stories, some children choose to play online games nowadays.
Instead of grabbing a book, some children opt to grab DVDs and sit all day
watching movies. Moreover, reading education in the Philippines is also weak
because of the absence of internal and external motivation among children.
Filipino youth do not choose to develop their love for reading because they
never saw their parents touch a book, as well. Parental motivation needs to be
developed to improve reading among Filipino youths.
Fortunately, some Filipinos
have the initiative to promote reading, especially among the young ones. Some
of our legislators have drafted and passed laws that promote reading. Various
colleges and universities, such as the University of the Philippines, offer
education courses that train future teachers to teach and encourage reading not
only in the English subject, but within the content subjects (e.g. science and
math), as well.
Many organizations also
provide programs that aim to help Filipinos develop their love for reading. The
Read-to-be-Smart project of Smart Communications that encourages a
community-based promotion and development of reading skills; the Reading Link
for remediation and enrichment of readers of UP; and the summer training
program for teachers of UP, MILES, are just some of the programs in the country
that encourages reading education.
Other organizations that
promote the same advocacy include the Reading Association of the Philippines,
International Reading Association, and Global Volunteer Network.
Sources:
Lina
B. Diaz de Rivera. “To teach reading is to spread love.” Inquirer.net. (Posted
on Jan. 29, 2012). Retrieved on February 9, 2012 from http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/136293/to-teach-reading-is-to-spread-loveMaximum A. “The Philippines: A Reading People.” Hubpages.com. Retrieved on February 9, 2012 fromhttp://maximuma.hubpages.com/hub/The-Philippines-A-Reading-People
Yolanda Sotelo. “Catching the reading ‘fever’.” Inquirer.net. (Posted on Feb. 28, 2010). Retrieved on February 9, 2012 fromhttp://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/learning/view/20100228-255883/Catching-the-reading-fever
Real Challenge in Philippine Education
Real challenge in Philippine education
By
Ambeth Ocampo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:42:00 01/17/2008
Filed Under: Education, history
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:42:00 01/17/2008
Filed Under: Education, history
Sen.
Edgardo Angara delivered the Sixth Jaime V. Ongpin Annual Memorial lecture at
the Ateneo Professional Schools in Rockwell Center to a full auditorium last
Wednesday. With the theme ?Education is Our Future,? he spoke about the need to
nurture Science, Technology, Engineering, and Innovation (STEI) in Philippine
education through massive government funding, institutional linkages, and
public policy, thereby jump-starting our arrested development. Compared with
other countries, we have fallen behind in this area, but that was not the
depressing part of the lecture that ended with the optimistic line, ?the future
is within our reach.?
That
education is important, that education is essential to our development as a
people and a nation is an accepted fact. But the data presented by the senator
on our present standing in STEI was horrendous. We have lagged a long way since
Anacleto del Rosario demonstrated the use of electric light in the Ateneo
Municipal in Intramuros in the late 19th century. In a dark age largely
illuminated by candles, kalburo, gas and Jesuits, the first light bulb in the
Philippines blazed for a few seconds creating a sensation in Manila. But what
did Filipinos do with that enthusiasm? Did we develop electric light? We did
nothing.
References
to technology in the correspondence of our heroes provide engaging reading. For
example, when Jose Rizal made his first trip abroad in 1883 and took an
elevator in Marseilles, he wrote home and described his first ride in a lift to
his bewildered sisters in Calamba, who could not imagine what was this box that
brought a passenger up and down different levels of a building without walking.
Then we have Marcelo H. del Pilar who had a telephone installed in the
editorial office of La Solidaridad, and wrote home to describe how his voice
could travel long distances, which was beyond the imagination of his wife
Tsanay in Bulacan. Emilio Aguinaldo was one of the first Filipinos to ride a
submarine and an airplane, and it is unfortunate that he did not record his
impressions.
Airplanes,
elevators, cell phones, the Internet and space travel are part of our lives
today. We just have to look back to appreciate the change, to realize that the
gap between science fiction and reality is fast closing
While
I agreed with most of the points Angara made in his long but solid lecture, I
felt the real challenge lay much deeper, and was only hinted at in the lecture.
Our real challenge is improving the present state of basic education. If we
enumerate all the problems of Philippine education, we will take days of
delight in self-flagellation that ends nowhere. Rather than complain, I teach
at the Ateneo de Manila University and the University of the Philippines, if
only to do my bit in the effort to shape our future. Looking at my students in
the classroom, I stare literally, eyeball to eyeball with our future.
It
was unfortunate that no reference was made in the lecture to the 1925 report of
the Monroe Commission on Philippine Education because while this may seem like
an archival document, reading is humbling because we still confront the basic
problems they identified in 1925. There are two ways to look at the Monroe
Report. One is to praise the Monroe Commission for its foresight, because like
clairvoyants they were able to see our present problems 83 years ago. The other
way to interpret the report is to accept the sad fact that Philippine education
has not changed very much since 1925. As I keep telling people, do not blame
history for seeming to repeat itself, we are to blame because we repeat
history.
Education
has always held out hope for the future because it creates an idea or illusion
that it is a means for upward mobility. Education provides the means to go up
the social and economic ladder based on merit and achievement. Education is
seen as a means to break the status quo. Education tells us that things do not
have to be the way they are. This may explain why Filipino parents push their
children to earn university degrees despite our recent placement test results
that reveal that less than 10 percent of graduating high school students have
the aptitude for a university track, and that most of our graduates are better
suited for entrepreneurial or vocational futures. It is unfortunate that some
parents see the placement tests as discriminatory, and something that goes
against the right to higher education. But then we must match desire with
aptitude.
That
we need STEI is not an issue. Rather we must improve our basic education -- our
elementary and high school levels -- to prepare young people not just for STEI
but for whatever career they have the skills for. While it is good to aspire
for a university education, it has a negative side. This desire for higher
learning has spawned a lucrative industry in diploma mills that should be
closed. Then there are the unusual and redundant number of state colleges and
universities that have sprouted like mushrooms all over the country. While many
of these SUCs are doing well, these should not blind us to the fact that we are
spreading our resources thinly rather than, say, investing heavily in the
University of the Philippines and supporting existing campuses outside the
Diliman Republic.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
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