In this year's SONA, the agenda for Philippine education is condensed to a single paragraph. And to make matters worse, President Noynoy Aquino's statistics were based on a mere website. A website which promotes overseas employment.
Sure, I have nothing against overseas employment, my father is an OFW himself. But in this day and age of brain-drain, the least our nation needs is more people seeking employment abroad. And as if that wasn't painful enough, the president proposes a review of today's curriculum to satisfy a commercialized, colonial and fascist education.
Despite his constant calls for change, the current state of education in our country seems to be consciously overlooked, the president chose not to address this issue since he is very much caught-up in his personal fight against corruption and the previous administration. When truth of the matter is, corruption arise from miseducation.
Come to think of it in these terms, if the youth is educated in a nationalist, scientific, and mass-oriented approach, there would be no need to satisfy an imperialist job market-- whose main goal is to gain cheap manpower and raw materials-- since local employment will eventually arise from the educated public's initiative. Miseducated Filipinos will be history, corruption itself will be a thing of the past since the public has now learned how to be their own watchdog. Education will give the masses it's rightful voice. Education will alleviate poverty. Education means initiative. Education means progress.
To add insult to injury, the president chose to prioritize upgrading and modernizing military equipment than giving education its deserved piece of the pie. This constant participation in wars that most of the time are not even our own has led our country into a more pitiful state of poverty. Past administrations have put the military on top of the budget hierarchy, and this proved to be a horrible decision time and again. In spite of President Noy's insistence for social change, budget allocation is still a little bit too off.
All this hope for a better Philippines was compressed to a single paragraph. A single paragraph that not only empowered foreign demands, but also failed to mention any effective budget plans for public schools, state colleges and state universities.
So forgive me Mr. President, if I am being too bold in saying that your State of the Nation Address was not a cut above the rest as you had hoped. You have only managed to affirm your lack of knowledge and concern for the plight of the youth. The state of education and the youth that should be the hope of the nation, but you chose to ignore in favor of your rhetoric and metaphors.
blakekathryn
prguitarman
janainaart
vaporwave
turnnoffyourmind
stormborns
dededos
