Gherald Edaño
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I will not expound more on PISA or gloat you with facts on our education crisis except this one fact – our pupils have a 5.5 year of learning gap, which means, our Grade 6 pupils have a learning level of a Grade 1. This is a result of our misplaced value on education.
Not many Filipinos see the value of education today. Have you seen those trending videos of guessing games where some youngsters could not even give correct answers to some basic questions like where did Rizal die? Or what is the correct past-tense for certain words, or spell “cockroach”? Go find them in social media and people are loving it! These may be jokes or “fyp funny videos” or what they say “just content” but people will show you exactly what they are. There is an education crisis in the Philippines and as long as it Is something that generates good laughable content even though It Is a serious societal and institutional crisis, people don’t care!
A glance at social media reveals why. Filipinos watch all these social media personalities and influencers and very young people having significant success without completing their studies. These figures are earning more than many professionals. Remember that Kangkong Chips? And the “Diploma o Diskarte” debate that came after? When our youth see successful people succeeding not because of their educational accomplishments, that is when they cease to see the value of education.
Moreover, we are country with misplaced values — a country that patronizes people who are popular, who sets the trend not those who have accomplished impactful things like earning a degree or doing groundbreaking research. Pageants matter more than sports now. That itself, is a subconscious manifestation of our society having misplaced values on what we look than what we could be. When we have higher standards in pageants than we are with our leaders, do not be surprised that criminals with “face card” like Alice Guo or San Juan’s Boy Dila gets more screentime and attention than their victims.
It is Important to note that our generation has evolved. the previous generations value education so much because they came from post-war or post-revolution periods where the only way up is through education. But today, the way to the top has been democratized by the digital media. Many could now get a job even without a formal college education thru social media management, copywriting, video editing, or creative content creation. Businesses can now evolve thru online trading. The emerging jobs today require little or micro skills that does not necessarily require a full-degree course that even basic education could supplement. Hell, you could now even enroll in Udemy for short certificate courses or what we call micro-credentials, which I have been advocating, because it is still education. However, one thing most people do not understand, just because this is the trend they see, they perceive formal education unnecessary when in fact, having one is better than none at all, because not everyone has the same grit as those they see in social media. A formal education remains a critical levelling and equalizing factor in that matter.
As a consequence of information flooding in social media and trendsetters or what Gen Z’s call “clout chasers” are so desperate to dominate — they will discredit facts, recreate, and invent contents that are baseless just to set a trend. Our facts and truths have become conventions instead of a law. They became subjective that no professionals such as lawyers or doctors could fight when these kinds of misinformation become popular, viral, or trend.
As an overview, miseducation is apparently becoming more viral and if we are serious to turn things around — the government and all sectors must work harder to catch up on this generation and the succeeding ones to have reasons why education still matters. Maybe, it is time that we also rethink our education system — like why do we have three separate agencies for basic education (DepEd), college and postgraduates (CHED), and technical skills (TESDA)? Why do we keep promoting illiterate pupils and call it compassion when we are practically condemning them out of pity? Why do we have so many unnecessary electives? What about our teachers’ behaviors and attitudes? I remember having beef with my former teachers because I called them out for sharing a lot of fake news during the pandemic. We are forgetting our basics, the core ones, and the elephant in the room — are our schools a safe space for our children?
Education is valuable but now debatable. It is not just a question of aiming for that graduation and diploma. It is just a symptom of a bigger picture, the overview — in this world and contemporary circumstances of our society and economy, our kids are asking of what good is a diploma? They know studying is important, but how will it make them feel important? We are seeing a generation without value and purpose, they need that too, and based on what they are seeing around today, it is pointless. There is not only a gap in their learning but a big gap on their why’s. Maybe ChatGPT could answer.