As they say, “Education is the most common way of having a much better way of living”. This is what most people, commonly the poor, tell their youngsters to escape from the fangs of poverty, like skipping a meal a day, going to school without money to buy for food, or worst is not eating for a day at all. I remember what my parents told me over and over again, especially in my school days “Education is the only treasure that nobody can steal from you my child”. But because of the problems we encounter today, specifically in our country, the right of being educated is somehow turning to a privilege given to just few.
Indeed there are a lot of children having their primary and secondary education for free, but mostly the number of children from first grade to the 10th grade is rapidly pulling downward in number, why is this so, when they are taking their education for free? POVERTY is primary reason. Most of our public school children are in the lowest level of economical stability. If going to school for ten years this past years (Before K-12) is like going to a battle without anything to protect you, how possible is it for a typical Filipino child to succeed taking up college to be more acceptable and prepared for the high standard job opportunities that might lead them to escape the fangs of poverty?
This reason causes most dropouts or early entrance to the labour force of the country. Sad to accept, but in reality, in our country with countless talented and persevered youth that we can say, might contribute to make and shape a better country are banned by poverty, making less privilege children to attain what they supposed to have as a right.
What should we suppose to do to help most number of youths experiencing this kind of situation? Support. In a way of encouraging the parents of relatives, neighbours and other fellowmen to let their children surpass this common problem in our society. We also need further help in terms of financial aid in our government, it’s good to know that there’s a lot of scholarship programs implemented in our country, but we can say that this help is not enough to support those other students who are not mentally capable of maintaining grades required of having such scholarship unlike those who can. Hand in hand, little by little, any small step of helping solve a huge problem is indeed a great step in helping a country close to our hearts, helping the people not far from our physical traits, if we are hospitable and kind to foreign people, it is not impossible to care and help our very own. We should not be just a member of this community. We must be an active member, making ourselves productive not just for ourselves, not just for our families, but also for the people surrounding us. Let us move now from here. Let’s turn it possible.
By: Roberto G. David | Teacher III | Limay National High School | Limay, Bataan
