Why curriculum change is not enough to fix education in the country
Aside from addressing literacy, let us fix the system to improve education delivery.
The real ordeal in the Department of Education (DepEd) cannot be solved by changing the curriculum alone. Like politics, our education system is infected with dirty tricks, such that we’ve failed to retain excellent teachers due to malpractices.
With DepEd spending a lot on training because of the constantly changing curriculum, teachers are feeling burned out, prompting them to consider greener pastures for a better life balance and higher pay.
Fixing the department takes a lot of time and effort to somehow make it at par with our neighboring countries. Our literacy and numeracy can be improved if we start the changes in the system itself. Ethical leadership must be practiced and monitored. Local government units must find the funds needed to provide learners with the resources to excel in standardized tests, the results of which are often dependent on problems associated with poverty, equity, and opportunity.
This will prompt politicians to stop meddling with school politics; instead, they will be involved in selecting qualified candidates as their performance rating will greatly be affected if their locality performs poorly in national-based assessments. Let government leaders shoulder the problems in literacy, as their income is way higher than those of teachers. This will push them to fund educational activities that promote literacy and numeracy proficiency among Filipino learners.
The challenges they face include retaining capable teachers, as our government is running out of proficient and effective public servants. Demand high academic performances from educational institutions that sell diplomas for graduate and doctorate degrees for the sake of job promotion. Revisit the basis for being promoted as principal, which has now become a lucrative profession. In short, DepEd should engage with teachers and gather their suggestions and perspectives on how to improve the current curriculum and the education system itself.
Literacy cannot be fixed if teachers are more focused on how to climb the job ladder. Empower them with true leadership, rather than relying on higher educational degrees to reach the top. Provide them with high-quality training and retain the competent ones by offering support and career growth opportunities.
A conducive learning atmosphere—a school that is a bully-free community—is also essential. Students and teachers alike experience bullying and power tripping. Aside from low salaries, teachers often cope with a school environment that severely affects their mental and emotional health.
Today, we can leverage a lot of AI tools to improve the quality of education. But we cannot use AI to leverage the quality of leaders we elect to fix the system, the primary source of illiteracy in our country.
Robinson B. Valenzona
