Despite the higher incidence of poverty in the province, kids from the rural areas were able to dominate the top 20 slots in the National Achievement Test for public grade school students. This year’s result showed that only one kid from the National Capital Region (Metro Manila) made it in the topnotchers list (No 2). The average scores also showed that that the provincial lasses outclassed the city boys. I don’t really know the situation in Manila’s grade schools but if it is similar to the situation in its high schools, the outcome was not surprising at all.
I have seen a couple of Manila high schools and the situation is very dire. It is not unusual to see 50 students in every classroom. And it is also not unusual to hear stories about higher student to teacher ratios. I was also told that drug dealers have also penetrated the schools. As kids in the province, our classrooms were never jam-packed and we had whole day classes (7am ~ 4pm), from grade 1 to high school. In Manila, the high schools that I saw were mostly crowded and the student population is divided into morning, afternoon and evening classes. For that to have been made possible, some subjects were probably scrapped or sessions were shortened. That was probably a major reason.
Despite the perceived better access to books, funds, technology and other advantages, the Manila kids fell very short.
I have seen a couple of Manila high schools and the situation is very dire. It is not unusual to see 50 students in every classroom. And it is also not unusual to hear stories about higher student to teacher ratios. I was also told that drug dealers have also penetrated the schools. As kids in the province, our classrooms were never jam-packed and we had whole day classes (7am ~ 4pm), from grade 1 to high school. In Manila, the high schools that I saw were mostly crowded and the student population is divided into morning, afternoon and evening classes. For that to have been made possible, some subjects were probably scrapped or sessions were shortened. That was probably a major reason.
Despite the perceived better access to books, funds, technology and other advantages, the Manila kids fell very short.
2 comments:
Sad state of affairs... the youth is our future!
At this point, we can probably revise it a bit to read, "The provincial youth is our future!"
Post a Comment