The many possibilities of K to 12 if . . . .

“DepEd teams up with Peñaflorida to bring pushcart education to more areas,” headlined the Philippine STAR Education page last week. Education Secretary Luistro launched with the so-called DTC (Dynamic Teen Company) the K4 outreach program to implement the “kariton” education delivery program of Efren Peñaflorida using 1 meter by 1 1/2 meters wooden cart to marginalized urban learners in Manila, Caloocan, Pasig and Quezon City. Is this a joke Brother Luistro? Not only will this box be used as a classroom, but also a clinic and school canteen!

The “kariton” has been made the home of the poorest of the poor. It cannot contain any furniture, kitchen or bathroom toilet, whatsoever. It is likely to be run over in the busy streets and has no parking place. It is insulting to the poor who aspire to have a clean, pleasant, comfortable and functional environment that is conducive to learning. By the way, which teachers would be willing to teach in a “kariton” even if the salary were adequate?

DepEd has no provision for school building repairs and maintenance

Former Secretary Jesli Lapus was often asked why classrooms, school furniture, toilets and public school grounds were dirty and shabby. He would helplessly shrug and say that unlike private schools, DepEd does not provide repairs and maintenance in managing public schools, let alone enough janitors or security guards for a student population of thousands.

What about the much touted “Brigada Eskwela”? DepEd Secretary Armin Luistro says that this once a year volunteer effort of parents to do simple school repairs before the June school opening has generated P2 billion savings as reported by DepEd’s operation manager Merlie Asprer. He added that community businesses and civic leaders also help.

Why only once a year? I thought the children are taught to clean up their rooms daily. The least public school parents can do is to volunteer environmental clean up as a regular weekly practice throughout the year.

What provisions do private schools have for environmental care?

How do quality private schools manage? Brooms and waste cans are provided per classrooms and in school grounds for students to use. Classrooms and cafeterias undergo a weekly general cleaning. Before going home, it is a practice for students of the small Japanese school in Parañaque to clean up their premises daily. This chore is not left to janitors alone. Usually, major constructions and maintenance take place during the summer months of April and May, when the students are on holiday. The male utility personnel are kept busy re-painting tables and chairs, classroom walls, and store rooms. For large schools, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, gardeners and masons are hired full time, supervised by the ECO (Environmental Care Office) manager. The security guards and school drivers are also under ECO.

The four buildings of O.B. Montessori headquarters at Greenhills have a student population of 1,800 students served by 27 service personnel including the school cafeteria staff. Fourteen security guards are on day and night duty. The 800 students in the Sta. Ana branch have 12 service people, including 6 security guards also on day and night duty. Each of the five OBMC schools has full-time nurses. Doctors and dentists are on retainer basis.

It’s the rank and file employees who make the economy run

Entrepreneurship? Go-Negosyo? Not really. These are common catch phrases of Philippine presidents and politicians for image-building and to get re-elected with the promise of getting everyone a job. Generally, a business or enterprise has only one director or manager. The rest are regular workers or rank-and-file employees. Have you ever thought that a bowl of rice involves eight workers: the farmer, a driver that brings the rice to the miller, the laborer who packs the sacks of rice, another driver who brings these to the wholesale market or the retail grocery or store, another driver who delivers the order of the restaurant (eat as much rice as you like at “Mang Inasal” or “Chik-Boy”). These retinue of simple workers are very important for the business, but they usually need skills training to be dependable.

For a good school to provide quality education, the basis is a “prepared environment” conducive to learning and working. The personnel may have higher professional qualification than the rice dealer and the people who work with him, but all of them need clean, well organized and well equipped classrooms, libraries, cafeterias, clinics, toilets, sports ground and offices.

It is unfortunate that TESDA is not doing a good job of providing skills for the rank-and-file. Their four huge buildings including the Women’s Center donated by Japan, does not have the proper working environment. For housekeeping skills, a room was divided into a single bed space merely curtained off, while a very simple bartendering counter occupied another corner. The well-equipped kitchen was not visible except for a huge industrial stainless steel refrigerator and a working table. The culinary laboratory could be better equipped and linked to the huge cafeteria.

TESDA Chairman Joel Villanueva should visit the SEAMEO Center for Vocational Education in Brunei. During an ASEAN Olympic Competition, where our Culinary College student won, together with a Filipino female welder, I observed skilled ASEAN students join the house-wiring, brick-laying, furniture-making, garment sewing, bar-tendering, pastry cooking, and l.T., etc. competitions. The Brunei government generously provided well-equipped workshops, most of which were directed by Filipino technicians. This has paid off as the Brunei employment rate readily increased. These technological courses are given in the last two years of their six-year secondary schooling.

DOLE and DTI should get their act together with DepEd and TESDA

What is the secret of prosperity in countries that sank down to poverty after World War I and II? In Germany, England, Spain, France, Italy etc., it is their culture that upholds hard work, frugality and unity that has sustained their people during hard times.

In Japan, the Basic Education program is graphically represented in their plantilla. By high school, the Ministry of Education partners with the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Trade and Finance, which provide the national statistics of labor and industrial demands for technicians. These are matched with specific technical training for the senior high school voc-tech programs. The Tsukoba Agriculture Highschool outside Tokyo has an ideal course for fruit orchards, shiitake mushroom growing, animal husbandry and use of farm machines. ASEAN scholars undergo training here. Japanese farmers have a high reputation and earn well, so that they can even afford to travel.

Three elements provide professional credentials to the senior high school tech-voc trainees: state-certified technical instructors with lengthy work experience within the country or abroad, fully-equipped workshops, and the national professional ranking system that matches international standards.

Certified butchers are trained in the Philadelphia Technical Farm School, the Paris Ecole Culinaire, and the Melbourne Technical College. Kennel care and Florist Art are also offered. International Cuisine and Viniculture (training of sommelier) are taught at Abano di Terme, Padova near Venice, where hotel and restaurants of Switzerland and Northern Italy get their cooks and waiters. Horticulture and Landscaping courses for senior high school students take place in Florence (Gemology as well), in Adelaide and Sydney Australia and Hofburg close to Frankfurt.

With the advent of refugee dispersal from Turkey and Eastern Europe, Germany’s Tech-Voc schools included these immigrants among their students to avoid their being dependent on state welfare. They are required though to finish junior high school, where they learn the German language and get properly educated in European culture. Furniture-making, carpentry, plumbing, and welding are offered at the Saarbrucken, border of Germany and France, as well as in Bonn. Similar training takes place in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Technical skills training for the new Philippine senior high school will alleviate poverty

To reach the international standards of quality education, two additional years have to be added to the Philippine educational ladder, which has been missing the last two steps of senior high school. The impoverished and illiterate 70 percent of our population must learn sustainable occupations. Most of them are residing in upland or coastal provinces, have better chances for economic independence if they are trained in skills to conserve their environment of forestry, farmland, and the oceans.

Right now our production has been decreasing, weakening the chances for a sustainable life. Our education is geared towards acquiring a college degree course, which rural and urban poor are incapable of achieving.

The myriad possibilities for technical training to conclude K-12 should be cultivated to redeem our youth from poverty. –Preciosa S. Soliven (The Philippine Star)