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Teachers’ ‘incompetence’ affects education quality — DepED sec

BAGUIO CITY (Feb. 17) — Contrary to militant teachers’ and students’ organizations’ claims that the deteriorating quality of education in the country is due to the meager education budget, Department of Education Secretary Florencio Abad said one big factor is the quality of teachers.

In a forum with public school teachers at the Baguio City National High School last Sunday here, Abad declared that despite the shortage in books, desks and other school facilities students could learn if the teachers were creative enough. “Kahit nagtuturo ka sa ilalim ng acacia, kung resourceful ka…”

Abad said that the below average performance of majority of students all over the country should first be addressed before a higher budget for education can be approved. He said that conducting more training programs to improve teachers’ efficiency is one way to improve the academic performance of students.

In an interview with Nordis, Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) coordinator Irene Nabunat criticized Abad’s pronouncements. “Matagal nang resourceful ang mga teachers,” she said.

Nabunat explained that teachers have long been very innovative and creative. She said that for decades now teachers have since exhausted a thousand and one ways of teaching efficiently despite lack of desks, books, classrooms and many other facilities. She reiterated that though the teachers’ salary is not enough, they buy their own teaching paraphernalia like chalks, pens, cartolina and manila papers to make visual aids for their students. On top of this, she mentioned that many teachers are overloaded.

“Dala sa kakulangan sa classrooms, marami talaga ang nagkaklase sa ilalim ng puno ng acacia at kung saan-saan sa school grounds pero kapag umulan alangan namang ituloy ng guro ang klase at magpakabasa ang mga estudyante,” Nabunat added.

In addition, National Union of Students in the Philippines-Baguio-Banguet (NUSP) chairperson Kristopher John Panem stressed that the very low percentage of pupils and students passing diagnostic exams all points to the decreasing budget allocation for DepEd.

Panem added that in an article published in a national daily, the government spent P10.00 per elementary pupil and P35.00 per secondary student last 2004. “Sa ganitong kalagayan, hindi na nakapagtataka kung maraming estudyante ang bumabagsak sa mga diagnostic exams,” he stressed.

In an article by Bulatlat.com this week, it was reported that compared to the budgets of state colleges and universities (SCUs), the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) remains “the learning institution most favored by the government”.

According to same article, a PMA cadet is subsidized daily with P8,219, while a student from the state PUP has a measly P43 a day. # Kim Quitasol for NORDIS

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