KUNG EDUKASYON ANG SOLUSYON, UNSA DIAY ANG PROBLEMA?

by Dr. Edgar Gabay Agustilo

Editor

Bridging the gap between those who have more in life and those who have less could overcome      disadvantage as an effective change agent or catalyst for social change in Santa Catalina, specifically when it comes at improving education. Why education?

Needless to say, the most urgent problem in development is quality education and lack of access to quality education because quality education is concentrated only in urban centers leaving the rural areas marginalized.  

Yet schooling becomes the key institution in a meritocratic selection process. It performs an important role function in the development and maintenance of a modern, democratic society which in economic development means economic progress especially with regard to social stability, peace and the sum-total happiness for all.

Noneless, poverty is caused by lack of education and lack of education caused poverty. This twin problem of poverty and lack of access to quality education creates a generational stranglehold on certain people, produces an economic lag, which make it more difficult. 

The world as we know it is a changing. Managing change is one of the key to change, it is a necessary tool for development. Unless we learn how to effectively manage change, we will find ourselves managed by the changes that are as inevitable as the sun rising and sitting.

Change happens only through people. Change is necessary to managing change. Human resource is one essential ingredient for the success of an organization. In fact, the forces that have spawned globalization for the 21^st Century have launched us where the imperative to compete puts premium in human resources. 

In a global economy as we know it, the capability to develop depends upon our ability to provide the necessary physical and social infrastructures that would enable us to receive, diffuse, or process information into utilitarian knowledge, and thus become production bases, which is the equivalent of economic development. 

If the education system such as ours renege to diffuse knowledge, a technological lag is likely to develop into an economic lag, thus making the catching-up process more difficult than it already is. 

Thus, the existence of the Sta. Catalina Global Association, as an organization, to espouse change, is justified in so far as it has for its primary purpose, the development of society. We can impact on change and development because we believe in making a difference.

In the theory of functional change, Kurt Lewin (2004), developed a three-stage model of planned change, namely how to initiate, manage, and stabilize the change process, thus:

1.          the change process involves learning something new, as well as discontinuing current attitudes, behaviors, or organizational practices

2.            change will not occur unless there is motivation to change, which is often the most difficult part of the change process

3.          people are the hub of all organizational changes whether in terms of structure, group process, reward systems, or job design, it requires individuals to change

4.               resistance to change is found even when the goals of change are highly desirable,

5.               and effective change requires reinforcing new behaviors, attitudes, and organizational practices.

Every Santahanon should initiate change with passion and commitment to make our town a better place to live, which is a small step in the right direction for a better future for the next generation, for survival and world relevance.

Take a look at these statistics in the last decade:

Among Filipinos, Ages 10 to 64 years old,

19% are college level or higher

32% high school level or high school graduate

30% elementary school level or elementary graduate

9% zero schooling

By 2015, the Philippine Labor Force will be 41.4 million

But only 3.4 million or 8% will have college degree or higher

This include Filipinos who will migrate

For every 1,000 entering Grade One,

439 will graduate from Grade 6

249 will graduate from Grade 6 in 9.6 years

312 will not graduate

and only 7% will have at least, 75% in Mathematics,  English and Science

Thus, for every 1,000 entering Grade One,

                   395 will finish high school

                   162 will finish Basic Education in 10 years      

                   233 will finish Basic Education in 16 years

                   605 will not graduate

Put in another way, only 19% from more or less 98 million Filipinos has college education. What are the effects of all these problems?  

Illiteracy “exacerbates the cycle of poverty” and hampers efforts to effect social progress.

The costs are enormous, according to the United Nation Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Illiteracy exacerbates cycles of poverty, ill-health and deprivation. It weakens communities and undermines democratic processes through MARGINALIZATION and EXCLUSION.

These and other impacts can combine to destabilize societies.

Literacy unlocks the capacity of individuals to imagine and create a more fulfilling future. It opens the way to greater justice, equality and progress.

            Literacy can heal, advance political processes and contribute to the common good.

           The world urgently needs increased political commitment to literacy backed by adequate resources to scale up effective programs. 

This is the call of the hour.