The competitiveness of Filipinos in the worldwide arena is indisputable. A recent study has shown that Filipino migrants and workers are not only the most talented but also most educated of all the major migrant groups around the world. Much of it can also be attributed to our attachment to western culture and our mastery of the English language. Nevertheless, the challenge still remains for us to continue being competitive given a world that can radically change overnight and technology that triples every decade.
K-12, the underappreciated new curriculum of education, is a means towards achieving the end of harnessing the skills of the future generation.
Had the world been unchanged for fifty years ago, the topic of changing our children’s curriculum will have been but moot and academic. Yet, the world is more interconnected than before. You’ve got information traveling in the speed of light from one end of the globe to the other, and the rules of economics paving way to the possibility of employment opportunities to third world countries for jobs overseas without even the need for travel. These are things which are unimaginable in the past. We are given the choice to opt for the status quo or move forward. A wrong choice, however, will determine the future not only of our economy in the economus mundis, but also the future of our children.
What is so pressing about K-12? The primary and most important reason is competition. The world is a macrocosm of what we see in our backyard. A student who studies a lot has the greater chance of landing a job when he/she finishes. A student who graduated from a prestigious university that gives credible training has a competitive advantage over someone who comes from a college where grades can be bought and learning is not a priority. This is also the case in the global neighbourhood. Our competitive advantage as Filipinos is the low cost of living here which makes investment in our country a reasonable substitute to capital investment in a first world nation. However, the Philippines is not the only country with low cost of income. India, for one, offers lower salaries of employees and a more tech-savvy workforce than Filipinos. And cost of living as a competitive advantage is not a sustainable one. Inflation can easily drive prices up if the salaries of individuals grow over time. Therefore, we should be offering something that brings our workforce at par with the rest of the world. K-12, while a small step, brings us an inch closer to bridge the gap. With the vocational element of the curriculum, more people get equipped with training which normally can only be offered in a college of university. This means we have another selling point to give to the world. Our skills become our advantage.
Secondly, K-12 opens the possibility of inter-cultural learning. A sad fact about Philippine education is that it’s not accepted in other countries like Australia, the UK or the United States. These countries are always looking for that missing two years in education which they find essential before one can land a respectable job. As a result, those who wish to study overseas have no choice but to take those extra years even if they shouldn’t have to. This is a sad and humiliating reality for most students abroad. K-12 brings dignity to our educational system and saves many Filipinos who venture on studying overseas not only time and money, but also relearning stuff which they already know. In the coming ASEAN integration as well, this means the Philippines can benefit and participate in best practices sharing among its fellow member-nations, and this facilitates more international students in the country and more possibility for Filipinos to study overseas.
Lastly, K-12 closes the gap between theoria and praxis. Theoria or theory is what our pupils and students learn in class. This is their multiplication table, their trigonometric formula and periodic table which each student learns in the classroom. However, even the brightest student in the earlier curriculum are only bright and outstanding in theory but not in practice when they leave high school. This gives students shock when they enter college. Sadly, this turns many students off college because they couldn’t cope up with the demands of college or university life. Or, this makes a lot of students mediocre in their college studies because they lack the maturity the extra two years could have formed them. The extra two years are a period of integration for students. It serves as a bridge of preparation for them to actual practice for a career of their choice. Praxis or practice, thus, begins before they leave high school, and even if they do not choose to continue to tertiary education, at least they have been equipped with the practical knowhow and the maturity to face the real world.
The opposition comes from many who believe the extra years in the K-12 program is practical and anti-poor. We, Filipinos, should think broader and bigger. Equipping the workforce is a good start to end poverty. Equipping people with skills would mean greater possibilities for job creation. Parents should look at things in a greater perspective. Elementary and high school education is more than a right of passage; it is an investment to our children’s future. And there can never be too much education for anybody, because more learning means more possibilities for individuals to achieve more of their potentials.
By: Bryan B. Buenaventura | T-I | Cabcaben Elementary School
