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by Carmelita Cochingco Ballesteros.
April 1, 2013
Commencement Address
Adelaido A. Bayot Memorial School, Inc.
Nasugbu, Batangas March 21, 2013
Ladies and gentlemen, we are here today because we have high ambitions for our children and grandchildren. What do Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore have in common? They have a 12-year basic education curriculum. They invest heavily in educational infrastructure, instructional materials and laboratory equipment, and teacher preparation and continuing education. Most of all, Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore provide their teachers with a decent salary which allow them to live in comfortable homes, drive cars, go on foreign holidays, and send their children to the best schools.
Please take note, ladies and gentlemen, that Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore do not export their labor force. In fact, they recruit Filipinos and other nationalities to work for them. I dream of the day when we Filipinos will be recruiting the Japanese, Taiwanese, and Singaporean to work for us!
In order to turn our dreams into realities, we must wake up and get down to work.
First of all, let’s consider the definition of the K-12. According to the Department of Education, the K to 12 Program covers Kindergarten, six years of primary education, four years of Junior High School, and two years of Senior High School [SHS]. It will provide sufficient time for mastery of concepts and skills, develop lifelong learners, and prepare graduates for university education, middle-level skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship. After carefully analyzing the definition of the K-12 curriculum, I believe that it can help in molding globally competitive leaders and followers who can become transformative agents of change in Philippine society. I am adding ‘followers’ to our graduation theme because nobody can lead if there are no followers. Leaders begin their leadership roles by being good followers first.
Next, let’s look at the six essential features of the K-12 basic education program.
1. strengthening early childhood education through the nationwide, compulsory kindergarten.
2. making the curriculum relevant to learners by including current issues such as climate change.
3. ensuring integrated learning through spiral progression. For example, instead of learning biology only in second year high school, biology will be taught from first year to fourth year.
4. building language proficiency through the mother tongue-based multilingual education.
5. preparing the youth for employment, entrepreneurship, or university life through the senior high school.
6. equipping the Filipino Youth with 21st century skills such as computer literacy, creative thinking, effective communication, and an entrepreneurial mindset.
Now that we know the six essential features of the K-12 curriculum, I’m sure you realize that this curriculum will make the Filipino youth globally competitive. It will build future leaders and followers who will become future mayors and law-abiding citizens, future scientists and inquisitive children, future doctors and healthy people, future entrepreneurs and satisfied customers, and yes, future teachers and top-achieving students. It will transform Philippine society from a struggling economy to a vibrant one.
I know that some of you DOUBT the K-12 basic education curriculum and the future of Philippine education. You’re probably asking yourselves, “Where will the Philippines get the money to finance this fantastic K-12 curriculum? It’s all fantasy.” However, although you doubt, you continue to invest in your children’s education. That’s why you’re all here this afternoon.
To remove the doubt from your minds, let’s consider two leaders who invested everything they had in the field of education.
To provide poor students with excellent education, Christopher and Marivic Bernido, both professors of physics, resigned in 1999 from the UP National Institute of Physics. They relocated to the remote town of Jagna, Bohol to run a poor school, the Central Visayan Institute Foundation (CVIF).
The couple’s noble vision was almost shattered by the harsh reality of running a beleaguered school. Fortunately, they had discipline as scientists and faith as Christians. They exercised their analytic and problem-solving skills while praying fervently.
In 2002, they piloted the Dynamic Learning Program to solve three huge shortages besetting Philippine basic education: qualified teachers, relevant textbooks, and state-of-the-art educational facilities.
In 2010, after ten years of dedicated, passionate work, the Bernidos were recognized by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation for “ensuring innovative, low-cost, and effective basic education even under Philippine conditions of great scarcity and daunting poverty.”
Today, the graduates of CVIF from the poor island of Jagna, Bohol get admitted to the best universities in the Philippines and in other countries. The Bernidos have proved that it is possible to produce globally competitive high school graduates and to energize a poor island. If it can be done at CVIF in Bohol, it can be done at A.A.Bayot Memorial School in Batangas! It can be done all over the Philippines!
However, although the Bernidos have proved that it is possible to transform a poor, low-achieving school, there’s a difficult question which we must answer. Is there any guarantee that the K-12 curriculum will succeed in achieving its noble aims? No, there isn’t any guarantee. The Department of Education cannot do it alone. It needs our help. Adelaido A. Bayot Memorial School cannot do it alone. It needs our help.
Well, how can we help?
First, we need to make a paradigm shift. According to the Mentoring the Mentors Program, a paradigm shift means ‘kambio sa pananaw.’ It means changing our selfish ‘akin’ mentality to the inclusive and generous ‘atin’ mindset. The K-12 curriculum does not belong only to the DepEd. It belongs to us. It is our baby. And this baby’s survival and success depends on how well we take care of it.
Second, we need to expand our concept of family. One of our strong values as Filipinos is our close family ties. But sometimes, it’s also our weakness because we exclude nonfamily members. We must expand our concept of family so that even strangers will be treated with love and respect, precisely because we are family.
Third, we must build loving and win-win relationships. Loving and win-win relationships are pleasant and productive. If you had a rose bush which has not given you any flower, would kicking it and cursing it give you the fragrant flowers you want? Of course not. To produce beautiful, gorgeous, and fragrant flowers, a rose bush needs tender, loving care. The gardener must also be a competent rose gardener. The same is true with students, teachers, and educational managers.
Fourth, we must soak everything we do with prayers. We must practice our religious faith, whatever it is, at work, in the market or the mall, in the streets, in school, and in our homes. The Bernidos are world-class scientists who kneel down and pray every day. Remember, we cannot do it alone; we need divine assistance.