By Estanislao Albano, Jr.
in the past, the performance of teachers was measured by the end results of their mentoring efforts and sacrifices. The principals and supervisors embraced their duty to ensure that indeed learning was taking place by visiting the classrooms to see for themselves if the children have acquired the academic skills they were supposed to attain such as reading in the case of Grade 1. The obsession with impressive reports had not yet gripped the entire DepEd then and educators did not yet shrink before the truth.
A teacher who retired in the mid2000s after teaching in Grade 1 for 33 years said she never passed a non-reader until her last two years when, according to her, DepEd enforced a rule disallowing retention of pupils. She alleged that even if they wanted to, Grade 1 teachers then could not pass non-readers because near the end of the school year, the principal or supervisors would come to check if all of the pupils could read or not.
She related that during their time, teachers who were doing good were recognized at the end of the school year and this was no mean feat because during those days, Grade 1 teachers would be plagued by their conscience if they passed pupils who could not read. Because of the automatic assumption that if there was someone who could not read in the class, the teacher was remiss in her responsibility, they did their very best to help reading laggards.
A retired district supervisor also told me that just like during their time, present-day pupils should be given tests at the start and at the end of the school year so that the teachers will be forced to exert their best. The measure of performance should not be the submission of accomplishment reports since “these could be faked” but it should be the academic performance of children, he said.
A national test administered in such a way that the results are credible is another means of accurately measuring the academic achievement of pupils. He elaborated that two ways of ensuring the integrity of the results is for DepEd people from other provinces administer the tests and for no one in the DepEd in the locality be involved in the activity. He said that even if it costs money and takes a long time what is important is that the results cannot be doubted.
“Incentive should be based on the advancement of the knowledge of the learners. Even if the government will spend provided if the examinations are administered properly and we really get the true measure of the proficiency level of children,” the educator said.
Ruth Salvador who retired as district supervisor of the Northern Tabuk District in 2004 said that back in those days, Grade 1 pupils who could not read were retained; that if there were Grade 1 pupils who could not read, the parents were informed and their cooperation was enlisted; that the teachers did a double job on such pupils because if he could not read, he could not move forward in all his subjects; that in such cases, school officials may also come in.
Based on these recollections of these veteran educators, making certain that all pupils could read in Grade 1 was a priority concern of the teacher and the school officials on the ground that, as Salvador said, the education process would stall if the pupils could not read. The overall result was that back in those days, reports mirrored reality and nobody went to Grade 2 must less Grade 7 without knowing how to read.
My first challenge is for the DepEd to revive the practice of school administrators and supervisors walking into classrooms to check if pupils could read. Just like before, they should call pupils to stand up and to actually read so that those who could not will be identified and the appropriate intervention applied on them. They should not swallow hook, line and sinker the word of the teacher or anyone that all the pupils could read until they have tested the latter themselves until they are satisfied that indeed they have acquired the basic education skill.
If the DepEd claims that this practice was never abandoned, then how come the presence of non-readers in intermediate and high school this school year and in the preceding years? Does the net have a yawning hole?**
