Philippine Basic Education

Eighty posts are now on this site. And it all started with First Things First: A Commentary on DepEd's K +12 . This article, first published in Philippine Star, was my attempt to examine the elements introduced by the new K to 12 curriculum of the Department of Education of the Philippines. To aid the readers of this blog, it is perhaps time to collate these posts and to summarize the key messages. This blog describes Finland's approach in Solving the Problems of Philippine Basic Education . The article describes briefly the important elements of Finland's education reform and provides links to videos like " Highly Educated Teachers: The Key to Success ". Teachers are indeed on the front line. And in the Philippines, it is disconcerting that a columnist and former politician would even remark, " The parents have spoken. The program has started. Teachers should now accept the program ," while a more thoughtful  comment from a former DepEd regional offici...

http://pinoyweekly.org/new/2012/06/cooking-shows-at-k-12/ ni  Rolando B. Tolentino tala sa cooking shows at ang programang K-12 Napapanood ako ng cooking shows hindi dahil gusto kong magluto.  Natitiyak kong hindi rin edukasyong kaalaman ang dahilan kung bakit popular ang genre na ito sa telebisyon, na aktwal na magluluto ang manonood pagkatapos tumunghay.  Popular ang cooking shows dahil sa pagbuyanyang ng popular na konsepto ng “posibilidad.” Ang ipinapalaot na konsepto ng posibilidad ng networks ay isang anyo ng transcendence (o pag-igpaw) sa pang-araw-araw na buhay.  Sa cooking shows, ang pagtunghay sa mas masarap na ulam, elaborate na sangkap at preparasyon, First World na kusina kundi man setting (beach front, resort, restaurant), at modalidad ng pagkain (maayos na kubyertos, may napkin, matched na plato’t gamit). Kung ito ay travel cooking show pa nga, ang posibilidad ng paglalakbay sa ibang espasyo, lugar at bansa.  Sa programang  B...

by Pet Melliza/ the Beekeeper http://petmelliza.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/k12-better-called-k9/ One need not look far to conclude that DepED’s “K+12” be better renamed “K-9” if only to remind us of dogs. Youth and students, teachers and parents are up in arms against it. And for reasons. K+12 is useless.  Take the primary school at Brgy. Tubang, Maasin, Iloilo: it has a three-room building for all grades one to four. Only two are classrooms; the third serves as administrative office and stockroom. There are two teachers, each handling two grades.Tubang Primary School, two kilometers from the poblacion of Maasin, has 50 plus students. One teacher handles grades one and two, the other grades three and four. The two grades learn simultaneously in one sitting, not alternately. Each has its own chalkboard; pupils of one sit face back of counterparts in the other grade.The teachers, both females, say they are “used” to it anyway. “I juggle my time; I give seatwork to one grade whi...

Poverty forces low school attendance in 5 years http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Nation&title=Poverty-forces-low-school-attendance-in-5-years&id=53815 OVER A TENTH of children aged 6-11 years have not attended primary school while four in 10 aged 12-15 years have not attended secondary school for the last five school years, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) said, a condition attributed by an economist to poverty. The net enrollment ratios (NER) -- the percentage of actual enrolled students of an age group to the population of the same age group in a given year, averaged 88.93% for primary education and 60.23% for secondary education, during school years 2006-2007 to 2010-2011.... ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ DepEd Officials Say: “We Are Ready for K to 12” Press release from pangasinan.gov.ph "Regardless of the disagreement of some people...

By INA HERNANDO-MALIPOT June 19, 2012, 4:47pm "Teacher’s groups expressed reservations over results of a survey that said “majority of the Filipinos believes K to 12 will better prepare students for work and college education.” The Teachers' Dignity Coalition (TDC) and Ating Guro, a newly formed party-list group, said they found the results of the SWS survey conducted last March “dubious.” “We are also doing our own survey and it reveals that most of the direct stakeholders--the teachers, parents and students are not convinced with this ambitious program,” said Ating Guro chairman Arsenio Jallorina...." http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/362722/support-for-deped-program-doubted __________________________________________________________________________ It would be useful to remind ourselves of Sahlberg's observation of some of the key elements that were crucial for the success of education reform in Finland: “Resourcefulness: Young, talented and creative indiv...

An excerpt from an article from National Geographic article, "Scavenging for Charcoal Fuel in the Rubbish of Manila" http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2012/01/pictures/120125-charcoal-fuel-scavengers-manila/ Project PEARLS   is trying to help keep children in school, and improve the living conditions in the Ulingan community. The U.S.-based nonprofit is paying the school expenses of more than 60 elementary-school and 40 nursery and kindergarten children in Ulingan, and hopes to expand that to older school children. The group also delivers hot meals every Saturday morning to more than 100 children and elderly residents, and has built a day-care and learning center to replace a makeshift plywood structure perched above a polluted body of water. "Our ultimate goal is to eradicate child labor in Ulingan," said founder Melissa Villa, noting that children start working "as soon as they can walk" picking up nails from the burned wood. Villa...

http://weatheronneptune.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/self-defeating-nanny-state-meddling-exhibit-a-the-oversubscribed-courses-ban/ June 8, 2012 by Ben Kritz Among the various education-related news items that greeted the start of the new school year this week was one that did not seem to receive much attention: The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has  extended the moratorium  first imposed last school year on new undergraduate and graduate programs in five “oversubscribed” courses – Business Administration, Nursing, Teacher Education, Hotel and Restaurant Management, and Information Technology. These courses were added to a ban on maritime courses imposed in 2009 because,  according to CHED Director for the NCR  Karen Castañeda, there is very little demand in the job market for graduates of these courses. The moratorium was established by CHED Memorandum Order 32 of September 30, 2010, which explains the commission’s rationale in a little more detail: ...