Education and Research
(June 15 - 27, 2003)
by Raul L. Cordenillo
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Raul L. Cordenillo |
Attending an international seminar on education policy makes one
reflect and look more closely at one’s educational background. I
say “more closely” because this is an exercise that I regularly
undertake every time I go abroad to represent the country in a seminar
or a conference. This is my way of ascertaining whether I am at
par with my counterparts in other countries or not.
I have always been of the opinion that my education, though quite
good by Philippine standards, is wanting. I received my primary
education from a Catholic school in Capiz and my secondary, tertiary,
as well master’s education from the premier state university,
the University of the Philippines. Having studied all my life
in the Philippines, this self-assessment is actually an assessment
of the quality of education in the country.
In general, I deem that much work needs to be done in ensuring
that the country’s educational system meets and continues to meet
international standards. In particular, the country needs to establish
a system or systems of mutual recognition of degrees with other
countries, i.e. the degrees obtained in the Philippines would
be recognized by universities or employers abroad, which would
(forcibly) align current course curricula with other countries.
To a certain extent, much of this has been achieved already, particularly
for those professions that are much in demand abroad.
Although much effort is focussed on upgrading the tertiary and
vocational levels due to world demand, the quality of education
at the primary and secondary level, however, particularly in the
rural areas where there are few resources and teachers, is deteriorating.
As such, the government should step up its efforts at arresting
this troubling development especially that the country recognises
its people as its important resource. As we all know, Overseas
Filipino Workers (OFWs), which are recognised for their knowledge
of good English, talents and first-rate skills, contribute greatly
to the country’s Gross National Product (GNP) and stock of foreign
currencies. Without the appropriate basic education, however,
these Filipinos would certainly lose their competitiveness in
the world labour market.
The seminar on No Education: No Freedom, No Opportunity at the
Theodor Heuss Akademie not only confirmed my beliefs above but
also made me rethink some of my ideas, as well as introduced me
to different views on education. In particular, the following
is an enumeration of my realisations, as well as those that I
share with the group:
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It seems that education policy, although
recognised as important and vital for livelihood, does not receive
much political attention not only in the Philippines but also
in a great number of countries abroad. The challenge, therefore,
is to make politicians recognise and pay more attention to it.
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In general, everyone in the conference
felt that the quality of education in both the primary and secondary
level is stagnant if not declining. It was, therefore, agreed
that steps to address the needs of the educational system are
necessary.
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Everyone also felt that not much work
is done on addressing the problem of illiteracy. This is an
area where the Philippines seems to be ahead of the other countries
represented in the seminar. This is, however, no reason to rejoice
because if the current deterioration of educational standards
continues, this could lead to an increase in the country’s illiteracy
rate.
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In the tertiary level, there is recognition
amongst the countries that there is a prevailing mismatch between
the degrees of college graduates and the demands of industry.
In the Philippines, this problem is being addressed by members
of the business community, which have launched programmes that
signal to educational institutions what qualifications they
require from new graduates, as well as to those displaced workers,
who wish to be re-employed.
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The group unanimously agreed on the
need for life-long learning for all. It is interesting to point
out here that a number of participants felt that government
should step in and provide opportunities to encourage this.
A sharp contrast to my belief that the individual herself or
himself should work for and finance her or his continuous education.
This difference in approach could just be, however, my recognition
that the Philippine government could not afford such an undertaking.
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With regards to taking religion out
of schools, the group concurred that students or their parents
should be given the leeway to choose what religion or ethics
class their children should take but no one religion should
be compulsorily imposed on the students.
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In the excursion to the Training Centre
of Siemens at Erlangen, Bayern, we all felt that, indeed, there
is so much more opportunity for young people in Germany to learn
about new technologies and develop their technical skills. This
is something that big companies in other countries could possibly
emulate. In the Philippines, in fact, some firms have opened
their own schools, where they now source the needed workforce
for their operations.
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In the visit to the Bundeswehr Universität
in Neubiberg, one of the two German universities for the military
(the other one is in Hamburg), I was particularly impressed
by the liberal education that the officers received, i.e. not
just to follow blindly what the higher ranking officer tells
them. I deemed that this mindset could have avoided several
military-related problems not only in the Philippines but also
in other parts of the world.
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I was also quite impressed by the master’s
education programme for the vocations, offered by the Chamber
of Handicrafts in München. I reckon that this system lends more
credibility, as well as prestige to the vocations. In the Philippines,
everyone wants to get a college degree because this is seen
as prestigious and apt. On the other hand, going to vocational
school is not equally prestigious. I believe that adding this
system, which “professionalizes” vocations, could change people’s
perceptions and at the same time, upgrade people’s skills in
their crafts, thereby, improving their credibility.
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Finally, the group agreed that education
policy should pay special attention to developments in the global
arena, gender, the rural areas, as well as in arresting illiteracy.
Aside from the above realisations, I must
say that the whole seminar was above all an education for me.
My Spanish has improved incredibly, after having served as an
informal translator to my Latin American colleagues; my interest
in Latin dancing was likewise rekindled after regular sessions
at the Akademie’s bar; my German, of course, also improved especially
in München where we had to look for places to party, and; importantly,
my tolerance, diplomacy and international awareness was put to
the test after two weeks of being with 23 other people from 23
different countries (4 from Africa, 3 from the Mediterranean,
5 from Latin America, 6 from Central and Eastern Europe and 6
of us from Asia).
The group displayed such a strong sense of international goodwill
and camaraderie that I have never seen before and this I will
never forget. Seeing people from the former Yugoslavia sharing
good times together; the representatives from Israel and Palestine
dancing together, and; the whole group, working together and setting
aside differences made me feel that the world could really be
a peaceful place to live in. And this I conjectured may have been
made possible because we had a special interest in education.
I must therefore conclude that yes, without education, there is
no freedom and no opportunity, but also no understanding of one
another and no tolerance. I think this more than justifies the
need to get our acts together and get people educated if only
to make people tolerant of one another and thus avoid senseless
wars and disputes.
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