As I was about to start writing again about education, there are two education-related topics at ABS-CBN News.

Boo Chanco wants CHED to be re-integrated with DepEd. For all the details that he had stated, they do not support his conclusion. It all boils down to leadership, not on structure. You want substandard schools shut down? It can be done even without CHED-DepEd integration. The problem is that CHED is basically hostaged by the political leadership. Add lack of political will to mix, and you have an impotent CHED.

The short term solution is to remove the chair of CHED, Carlito Puno. After all, all the problems stated by Chanco are problems of investigation and/or execution. If he can’t do the job, replace him.

Medium term solution is to strengthen the commission by making it independent and immune from political intervention.

Long term solution is to have a single, coherent (redundant, I know), rational policy on education that addresses not only the “now” but also the “tomorrow”. If it means re-integrating CHED with DepEd, or making DepEd secretary concurrent CHED Chair, or having an education czar/commission, so be it.

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Then, Jarius Bondoc shares two stories coming from two teachers, giving testimonies to the fact that corruption exists in schools. I just want to add that those things happen in private schools, too. Commissions and the like are seemingly irresistable additions to a teacher’s paycheck.

It really is hard to maintain integrity when you are a teacher. As a former teacher in a tech/voc school with a salary that cannot even feed and house myself, the temptation of the fast buck at the expense of the students were aplenty. But I retained my sense of honor. Yet, as they say, honor will not feed your family. Again, we are back to the root of corruption – hard times. I don’t know why this government can’t seem to understand that. Telling the people to spend less on luxury is a futile effort – those who are hungry gets hungry because they cannot afford to eat, much less spend on luxury. Arroyo’s comment is at best a cruel cheap shot at the people that she believes elected her.

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Based on the recent National Career Assessment Examinations, 700K graduating high school students are unfit to enter college. I have itemized the relevant results based on the news report:

* Most of the students scored high on the technical-vocation and entrepreneurial categories.
* Only a small percentage of the examinees are qualified to fill executive and managerial positions.
* 22,267 students who belong to families with annual incomes below P150,000, the current poverty threshold, are among the highest performers in the GSA, with Very High to Excellent scores (98-99+ percentile ranks)
* 33,444 poor students also received very high scores in the technical-vocational category.

We Pinoys are enamored on the college diploma as the saving grace of the family. In a point, this is true. After all, the high-paying jobs require at least a college diploma (though some low-paying jobs require college diploma, too). If the NCAE compels students on what track to take, many families will be heartbroken. Browse/peruse job ads online and on the newspapers, and find a job that (1) pays at least Php10,000 and (2) requires at least two years in college or a tech/voc diploma.

That would lead you to call center jobs. Again, a problem – those jobs require a good proficiency in English. And I doubt if in measuring scores in the tech/voc categories of the NCAE they included English. That is another problem.

Also, even if a student is qualified for college, he and his family might not afford it. If a family earns Php150,000 a year, rule out the best private schools (unless he can get a scholarship, and those things are limited, if not rare). Rule out student loans. Personally, letting a student finish college deep in debt is dishonorable. UP charges how much per unit? Do they still count the number of appliances to determine if a student is poor? TUP is fast catching up with UP’s tuition. PUP remains the cheapest, but it can only accommodate that much number of students.

Based on the data:

* Strengthen the tech/voc education (which is another subject worthy of a separate blog post)
* Make English a major subject
* Make sure tech/voc graduates can find employment (job generation)
* Make tech/voc education affordable
* If feasible, establish college preparatory schools
* Adopt a ladderized tertiary education with full subject credits
* Enforce strict standards for tech/voc schools

These are mish-mash of short-to-long term ideas. Please feel free to add yours.