Not only did the government order laptops that were outdated thus of low capacity. The authorities supposedly in charge of distributing the same were unable to get hold of these to be given to teachers so they could be more effective in the distance learning system during these Covid times. This was due to the usual bureaucratic red tape and corruption that attends every government transaction.
But even if the teachers were able to get hold of the computers and learned how to handle these, would ordinary elementary or high school students been properly equipped to be receptive of distance learning lessons? Could they have been able to acquire the right gadgets?
As things are, public schools now are clogged with new enrollees as most parents can not afford private school tuition fees. Add to such the day to day expenses of a family, and they would even be facing difficulties just to give a student’s “baon”. How much more buying a laptop or even just an ordinary computer and shouldering the monthly cost of internet connections?
Already so many elementary pupils and high schoolers are going to school with half empty tummies. How can you learn in such condition? No wonder there are those who got into seventh grade or high school who could not even read correctly a sentence in English.
With the poverty of a big segment of our citizenry, no doubt the causes of our poor educational standing are complicated. So the solutions for these are also complicated.
More so if you factor in the results of the poor education that teachers now had received in college.
With these, thinking of how the younger generation can compete in a more and more competitive environment could make one teary eyed—“maka pasangit.”
But the solution first thought of by our education cabinet secretary is quite simple. Requiring students to go through ROTC.**