Analysis and Opinion
By Joe America
Senator Sonny Angara was appointed Secretary of Education last week. It's a big job. It's a huge opportunity.
It's an opportunity to recast education IN FAVOR of kids rather than against them. I don't know if Secretary Angara is bold enough. Not many are I think. But I hope so because Filipino kids are cheated by the existing school system. The only way out is to change the system.
It's a much deeper problem than priorities like ROTC vs. knowledge, although that one seems to be stupidly front burner. It is not bare walls or the ten commandments either.
The "system" I'm talking about is (1) a poor nation (2) running bricks and mortar distribution (3) of paper based material (4) through an under-paid, overworked, unexceptional army of teachers. Kids in outlying provinces have it especially tough. Try walking three kilometers in the rain with a banana leaf for cover. The paper gets soggy.
Teachers are an earnest army of dedicated souls. But knowledge is moving fast. And AI is speeding it up. The faster it goes, the further behind Filipino kids get.
The Philippines is fielding a foot-based army of teachers with old rifles, no ammunition, and bancas for transportation in an era of missiles, stealth planes, and drones. In the jungles. Where boats don't float so good.
The Philippines leaped past rotary phones and went directly to cell phones because it was systems bound and could not wire the place. It needs to do the same with education.
Education should be a blend of online and classroom work, dumping the paper and making better use of classrooms and teachers. Using notebook computers and the internet. Multiplying the reach and impact of the best teaching pros. Using AI to develop lessons. Teaching AI.
The notebook computers should be manufactured in the Philippines under license from Taiwan's tech superstars. Or Singapore's. But not China's.
"Oh look Sonny. See the system. See the system hold kids back."
Free them up to excel. Filipinos have brains. Empower them.
There is no time like the present to be bold.
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Cover photo from PeopleAsia in the article "Education Secretary Sonny Angara: In the footsteps of the wise".
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