By Estanislao Albano, Jr.
The other Saturday, Mike Malamnao, a friend since the 90s, fellow employee since he came to the City Hall in 2004 and a kompare since I stood as one of the sponsors during the wedding of his daughter Frances last December 28, sat down to discuss the non-reader problem. I asked for the meeting because during an earlier conversation where the topic cropped up, I sensed his deep concern over the unfortunate current reality in our educational system. I thought that his brainstorm to request the Sangguniang Panglungsod to intervene via legislations such as a resolution enjoining elementary schools in the city not to allow illiterate pupils to graduate is a step in the right direction.
The moment we settled down, Mike declared that a reading class in high school is stupidity because children are supposed to learn reading in Grade 1. During the earlier conversation referred to, I mentioned that there are now reading classes in high schools for Grade 7 non-readers and frustration level readers to be taught how to read. He recalled that at the Calaocan Elementary School in Calaocan, Rizal, Kalinga where he started his education from 1974-1978, there was a time set aside for reading in Filipino and in English. He is not certain though if the activity was a separate subject or not. Apart from the exclusive reading time, there were two other activities which had the effects of baring the reading skills of pupils and of forcing those with reading deficiencies to exert their best to attain the skill which Mike distinctly remembers. There is the memorization assignment where they were given poems to commit to memory at night and recite the following day. Beginning in Grade 3 or Grade 4, there was also theme writing which again is impossible to do unless one could read. Their Grade 1 teacher went one on one with pupils having reading difficulties and at times assigned the good readers in the class to guide them. He is certain there were no non-readers when they were in Grade 4 although there may have been slow readers.
In reaction, I relayed to him what I heard from some teachers that memorization and theme writing have been dropped from the DepEd dictionary. It appeared that Mike was not aware until then of the innovations in our educational system.
I then asked him to imagine if they would have been able to learn to read as fast as they were able to had the current crowded curriculum been in effect during their time. I shared to him the story about how the late teacher Felino Dulatre had disregarded the prescribed curriculum and focused only on the 3Rs on the reasoning that after pupils learn the basics, it would be easy for them to learn on their own and how Dulatre’s pupils shone in inter-school academic contests. In reaction, Mike simply asked what good is knowledge in other subjects if the pupil does not know the 3Rs.
Still about Dulatre’s diskarte, Mike and I agreed that defiance of DepEd in favor of the education of the children is wisdom.
Mike is at a loss how come teachers consider accelerating the entire class along with the non-readers an accomplishment even as he entertained the belief that the erring teachers are bothered by their consciences because they know what will happen to the children. He mused that the current brand of education is more interested in quantity than in quality. During the earlier conversation referred to, we learned that some teachers are induced to pass the entire class including the undeserving because dropping two or three pupils would result to a performance rating of poor.
We then discussed what actions could be undertaken to stop the practice of accelerating non-readers the output of which are still premature to reveal. Suffice to say that the desired result is for children to learn to read in Grade 1 so that they will be able to cope with subsequent lessons. We both saw no reason this cannot be done now because it was done before.
**
