By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
People are in pain due to the runaway prices of everything. Another is looming in the horizon but it will happen. It is still being finetuned by the henchmen of finance officials but the plan was already published in the dailies. This just might be a softening stage where the people are put on notice. So when the time comes for its implementation, it would not be so shocking.
As envisioned, free education would only be for those who are deserving. The others in state colleges and universities will have to pay.
Understandably as the country can ill afford free college education with the way things are– the widespread corruption. The removal of that from our society or keeping it at a minimum is hopeless.
The argument against scrapping it is, the effects would be disastrous. getting into SUCs would then be limited to kids of the rich like those at UP who could afford better education in the elementary and secondary levels. And before taking the entrance exams, they can afford review classes now being offered everywhere.
The counter-arguments is there are many kids of people who are not rich who somehow made it through the entrance exams of such schools.
It was because early on when they were still small kids, the thirst for knowledge was awakened in them, either by their parents or whoever were taking care of them, or the churches or communities they belonged to. In short, their awareness to learn from their surroundings got developed, A consequence of that is the desire to learn more, Such is often noticed by others who inspire them even more. Nature or God if you will also has a way of arranging things for such desire to bloom by being able to access institutions of higher learning that fit the circumstances.
A very big majority of parents are deficient in this. Many of them are poor who are more concentrated in the thought of being poor than on how to solve the problem. Whatever little money they have, they would spend it on vices instead of on things like children’s books for their kids. Or if they can afford gadgets like cellphones, they don’t even care about what their kids are watching on those. For all they know, their toddlers might be imbibing the first lessons on how to make money by committing a crime, or on how it feels good to puff marijuana or shabu.
I know of a couple who were not so well off but their kids are now in schools which are our version of the Ivy League. How did that happen? First, they developed in them the desire to go to such good schools. Then they left no stone unturned to find scholarships for them. And they found some.
Negative minded parents, however, are the opposite. They would be thinking day and night that they are poor and good education is only for the rich. Unconsciously, they are meditating or praying for that. So it happens. Ever heard of self-fulfilling prophecy?
Reverse the situation where parents would always be thinking of positive possibilities and these will also happen. Self-fulfilling.**
