The Philippine Star’s Editorial (http://bit.ly/90hqBA) last October 5, 2010 talks about Teachers day. According to the article, the career of being an educator is beginning to lose its luster.
When I was a kid, I used to hear the joke that goes, “If you want to be a domestic helper in Hong-Kong, take Bachelor of Science in Education.” -this seem to be quite true, especially nowadays. With the very little compensation they(us) get, some choose to make a career-shift. Exchanging the honorable(but obviously low-income) job, to a lowly, but higher paying job as a domestic helper.
I remember the Smokey Mountain song, “Mama”. It never fail to make tears fall down my eyes. It talks about a daughter longing to be with her mama who has been gone since she was five.
Anyway, here’s the lyrics:
“Mama she wrote me a letter
Saying she’s gonna be fine
Please take good care of your sister
I’ll be home in three years time
Mama it seems like forever
You’ve been gone since I was five
They say you were a good teacher
In the same school where I can’t
survive
Mama’s a maid in London
I want to believe that she’s fine
She could be lonely in London
I want to know why she had to go
I need her, I want to be near her
I’ve got to be with her
And see to it that we’re together
once more
My English teacher she told me
She wants to be where you are
Mama she’s leaving her family
To earn all the money she wants
London, Vancouver, or Hong Kong
Governess, housekeeper, or nurse
What is to happen to all of us
children?
With mothers who travel so far
Mama’s a maid in London
I want to believe that she’s fine
She could be lonely in London
I want to know why she had to go
I need her, I want to be near her
I’ve got to be with her
And see to it that we’re together
once more
Once more…”
Another reason why it has lost its luster is that nepotism, that is prevalent in government institutions, is now also in government funded educational institutions. This is very sad. How can a better and more qualified teacher get the more out of her/his own teaching career when someone who has “connections” get promoted over her/him?
And also, over population has something to do with this lack of luster. Quoting from the article:
“..public school teachers have been staging mass protests and complaining about being among the most overworked and underpaid in the bureaucracy. Over the years the teachers’ workload has increased with the continuing boom in the student population, with no commensurate salary adjustments.”
How can we deliver quality education if the current ratio of teachers to students is something like 1teacher:50/60students. It also produces classroom shortage. Where will you put those students if you only have a few classroms?
The government plans to cut the budget for education + the church calls RHB “anti-life” and calls for Congress to junk the bill = shortage of classrooms and quality educators and, you’ve guessed it, over population.
Some countries really invest on education. How can you get the most out of the population? Make them literate! According to Confucius in his analects, when they visited a province, they saw that the place is greatly populated. His chariot driver asked him what will they do if the population is great. “Make them prosperous,” he said. And the chariot driver asked what will be done after that. “Educate them,” was Confucius’ reply.
Yes, the government gives free education(that’s their job) through the public school system. But how can the students survive the whole school year if their families can barely make both ends meet?
The head of the family has an unstable job. The mother is unemployed as she has to take care of her 6 children. To make matters worse, she’s pregnant with their 7th child.
If that is how a typical family in a slum area is like, how can we move forward? Overpopulation can lead to higher demand. And how can they look for a job to sustain their family’s needs if they are not supplied with skills and knowledge needed? And some, because of being unemployed, they have nothing to do at home. They don’t have a television set to while the time away because they can’t afford one, or they don’t have electricity. So what will they do? Time for some afternoon delight, I guess.
As for my opinion, what our country needs is a better educational system. The government should invest more in the education sector. And passing the RHB will be a big help.
