Commentary : Values Education at every opportunity

The results of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS, formerly known as the Third International Mathematics and Science Study) held in 2003, which the Inquirer published recently, starkly illustrate the decline of the quality of Philippine Education.

In that study, the Math and Science scores of fourth grade students from the Philippines were barely enough for 23rd place among 25 participating countries. Our fourth year high school students in turn placed 40th in a field of 45 countries in Math, and 43rd in a field of 46 in Science. TIMSS data have been collected in 1995, 1999 and 2003. The United States will next collect TIMSS data in 2007.

The crisis facing Philippine education is already out in the open, but learning outcomes form only part of the picture. What about the school's inherent role in the formation of positive civic values among our youths.
You see, private foundations and NGOs, including the FWWPP, have made substantial donations to help meet the quite enormous resource gaps that our public schools face every year. In 2004 for instance, Corporate Giving for Education was estimated at P1.2 billion.

Unfortunately, all this philanthropy loses luster when our schools still turn out unskilled graduates who have a vague appreciation of citizenhood and a weak understanding of democratic principle.

In fact, better resources alone do not necessary mean quality education. Remember Lope De Vega High School? Despite the lack of facilities, the students of this Samar high school topped the most recent National Achievement Tests because the entire community committed itself to making quality education its top priority.

This resonates strongly with the FWWPP mandate which is, to paraphrase the late Ambassador Narciso G. Reyes, "not a mere change of regimes, but rather a systemic change, a real social transformation."

Dr. Cruz reasoned that opportunities to imbibe positive civic values should permeate throughout the learner's entire experience in school and, ideally, should be reinforced at home. In fact, the new Basic Education Curriculum, more popularly referred to as the Makabayan Curriculum, calls for precisely this. Every subject (i.e. English, Math, Science, Filipino and Makabayan) is treated as an avenue for introducing concepts like honesty, integrity and respect for the rights of others. In his book, "The Basic Education Curriculum in 17 Easy Steps," Dr. Cruz shows examples of how the teacher can do this.

If a child brings a deck of cards, the teacher doesn't have to frown, she can use the cards to teach her pupils numbers. If a child brings a comic book, that's a chance for the teacher to teach narrative. If the child brings a dirty toy, why, they can have a lesson in hygiene and when cleaned, the toy becomes huggable.

One innovation that the FWWPP will be introducing for the coming school year is the local mobilization framework developed by Joel Pagsanghan. Billed as Education Revolution 2006, this framework hopes to initiate the idea of performance-based support, where the school community sits down and plans for its own success.

Many corporate foundations have items like books and serviceable computers that they would like to donate to public schools. However, they hesitate to do so because they are not sure if these would actually be used to improve learning outcomes. Their apprehension is quite real; there have been quite a number of instances where donations like this end up not being used by the school at all because no one in the faculty is qualified to teach computer concepts or there is no item for a qualified librarian.

On the other hand, a school community implementing Education Revolution 2006 stands a better chance of unlocking these resources because it can show to the resource holders that it actually has an education-focused strategic plan and the particular resource sought is contingent on this plan.

For example, it makes sense that a particular school solicits donations for books if its teachers have activities that promote a love for reading. Ms Neni Sta. Romano Cruz of the Sa Aklat Sisikat Foundation designed and set up an honest to goodness children's library in Sampaloc Site Elementary School which she and her husband Efren adopted two years ago. She then helped the teachers of that school implement a simple reading program using the books she donated. In this context, book donations are a necessary resource.

As you can see the support (i.e. the books) is based on performance (i.e. implementation of the reading program). In effect, the school community's need is "demand driven." From the resource holder's perspective, this is not a simple dole-out; it is a reciprocating activity that will generate tangible results (i.e. pupils who are better readers).

The possibilities are limited only by the school community's collective creativity.

Dr. Cruz pointed out that Education Revolution 2006 lends itself well to promoting positive civic values, not the least of which is a sense of community. By showing to potential donors they share the aims of this advocacy, the school community is sending a very strong message that it is firmly committed to providing its youth with a future filled with the opportunities that a good education brings.